These words irrefutably shut the mouths of heretics who say that in the resurrection the body that comes to life will not be the same, but a different one. For behold, you hear that each one is given his own body.
1 Cor. 15:39. Not all flesh is the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds.
Lest you, having heard about wheat, should think that just as all its ears grow alike, so too in the resurrection all will be alike, he wishes to show that there will be a difference among the risen (which he also hinted at before with the words: "each in his own order"), and he says that not all flesh is the same flesh, that is, not all will rise in one and the same dignity, but there will be a difference: first, between the righteous and sinners, as heavenly bodies differ from earthly ones; then there will be a great difference of degrees among the righteous themselves, as he will say below, and among the sinners themselves. For, he says, just as there is a difference between the flesh of men and the flesh of cattle and the rest of the animals, so too there will be a difference in the punishments of sinners. Therefore, everything that has been said was said about the difference among sinners. For about the righteous he speaks below, when he enumerates the heavenly bodies.
1 Cor. 15:40. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
Here, as I said above, he points out the distinction between the righteous and the sinners: he calls the first heavenly bodies, and the sinners earthly ones, and says that the glory of the righteous is one thing, and that of the sinners another—no longer glory (for this should not be implied), but life.
1 Cor. 15:41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
As a little before he spoke of the difference in the bodies of sinners, beginning with men and then mentioning birds, cattle, and fish, because sinners too, having been men at first, afterwards fell to the likeness of brute beasts (Ps. 49:20), so now he shows the differences among the righteous. All, he says, are in glory, but one light belongs to the sun, another to the moon, and to whatever body it may be; for stars also differ from stars "in glory," that is, in light; for the glory of stars consists in light. Some have understood by heavenly bodies the angels, but I think this is incorrect. And from the fact that he brought up the sun, moon, and stars, it is clear that the discourse is about them.
1 Cor. 15:42. So also is the resurrection of the dead.
How so? With much distinction, as is evident also from the examples cited above.
1 Cor. 15:42. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
Above, when speaking of seeds, he used words proper to bodies, as when, for example, he said: "it is not quickened, except it die" (1 Cor. 15:36). Now, when speaking of bodies, he uses words proper to seeds. For he says: "it is sown in corruption." By sowing he now means not our conception in the womb, but the burial of dead bodies in the earth, as if saying: the dead body is buried in the earth "in corruption," that is, in order to decay. He also well said "is raised" (ἐγείρεται), and not "springs up," lest you consider this the work of the earth.
1 Cor. 15:43. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
For what is more abased than a dead body? But it shall rise "in glory" of incorruption, though not all shall receive one and the same portion.
1 Cor. 15:43. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
For not even five days will pass before the flesh cannot withstand corruption; but it will be raised "in power" of incorruption, no longer subject to any corruption, although for sinners incorruption will serve as a greater punishment.
1 Cor. 15:44. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
"Soulish" body is that which is governed by the powers of the soul and in which the soul has dominion and sovereignty; while "spiritual" is that which has the abundant activity of the Holy Spirit and is governed by Him in all things. For although even now the Spirit acts in us, it is not in the same way and not always; for from those who sin, He departs. Although even now the Spirit is present, the soul governs the body; but then the Spirit will continuously abide in the bodies of the righteous. Or: he simply calls "spiritual" the incorruptible body, as being most refined and light, able to be carried even through the air, only not aerial and ethereal, that is, not of the substance of air and ether, as Origen says. But if you do not believe in incorruption, then look at the heavenly bodies, which to this day do not grow old and do not weaken. He who made them such will also make our corruptible body incorruptible.
1 Cor. 15:44. There is a natural body.
That which we now have in the present life.
1 Cor. 15:44. There is also a spiritual body.
That which we shall have in the future age is essentially the same—spiritual, that is, incorruptible.
1 Cor. 15:45. So also it is written: the first man Adam became a living soul; but the last Adam is a life-giving spirit.
The first is precisely written (Gen. 2:7), while the second is not written; but since it occurred by the connection of events, he says that it is written. Similarly, the prophet (Zech. 8:3) said of Jerusalem that it would be called a city of truth; but it was not literally so called. The Gospel called the Lord Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23); yet He was not so called, but His deeds give Him such a name. So then, the first Adam was a natural man, that is, he had a body governed by natural powers of the soul; but the last Adam, the Lord, is "a life-giving spirit." He did not say "living in the Spirit," but expressed something greater: "life-giving." For the Lord had the Holy Spirit essentially co-present with Him; by Him He gave life to His own flesh; and by Him He also granted incorruption to us. Thus, in the first Adam we received the pledge of the present corruptible life, and in Christ — of the life to come.
1 Cor. 15:46. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
So that no one would say: why do we now have a natural body, an inferior one, while the spiritual one is only yet to come? he says: because the origins of the one and the other have been established in that order. Adam came first, and Christ came after. Therefore our course always moves toward the better. And be assured that what is now corruptible and inferior in you will be transformed into the incorruptible and the better.