Against Celsus 5.14

He says, then, this: "It is also foolish of them to think that when God, like a cook, brings on the fire, all the rest of the race will be roasted, while they alone will remain, not only the living but also those who died long ago, rising up from the earth with those very same bodies of flesh: plainly the hope of worms. For what sort of human soul would still long for a body that has rotted? Especially as this doctrine of yours is not shared even by some of the Christians, and they declare it very foul, abominable, and at the same time impossible. For what sort of body, utterly corrupted, could return to its original nature, and to that very first composition from which it was dissolved? Having nothing to answer, they take refuge in a most absurd escape, that everything is possible for God. But God cannot do shameful things, nor does he will what is contrary to nature; nor is it the case that, if you desire something loathsome in your own wickedness, God will be able to do it and one must believe at once that it will be. For God is the author not of faulty appetite nor of wandering disorder, but of right and just nature. He could provide everlasting life for the soul; but 'corpses,' says Heraclitus, 'are more fit to be thrown out than dung.' As for flesh, full of things it is not even decent to name, God will neither wish nor be able to make it everlasting contrary to reason. For he himself is the reason of all things that exist; so he cannot do anything contrary to reason or contrary to himself."