To Autolycus 1.13

And as for your denying that the dead are raised, when you say, “Show me even one person raised from the dead, so that I may see and believe”: first, what great thing is it if you believe once you have seen it happen? Besides, you believe that Heracles, who burned himself, is alive, and that Asclepius, struck by lightning, was raised; and do you disbelieve what God has done for you? Perhaps I could even show you a dead man raised and alive, and you would disbelieve that too. God shows you many proofs so that you may believe him. If you wish, consider the ending of seasons and days and nights, how they too die and rise again. And what of the resurrection of seeds and fruits, which takes place for the use of human beings? For example, a grain of wheat or of any other seed, when it is cast into the earth, first dies and is dissolved, then is raised and becomes an ear. And the trees and fruit trees: do they not, by God's command, bring forth their fruits in their seasons out of what is hidden and invisible? Sometimes, too, a sparrow or some other bird swallows the seed of an apple or a fig or some other tree, comes to a rocky hill or a tomb and drops it there, and the seed takes hold and grows into a tree, though it had once been swallowed and had passed through so much heat. All these things the wisdom of God brings about, to show through them too that God is able to bring about the general resurrection of all human beings. And if you wish to see a still more wonderful sight that proves the resurrection, not only among earthly things but among heavenly ones too, consider the resurrection of the moon that happens every month: how it wanes, dies, and rises again. Hear, too, of a work of resurrection taking place in you yourself, O man, even if you do not know it. Perhaps you once fell ill and lost your flesh, your strength, and your looks; but receiving mercy and healing from God, you recovered your body, your looks, and your strength. And just as you did not know where your flesh went when it disappeared, so you do not know where it came from or how it came back. But you will say, “From food and juices turned into blood.” Very well; but this too is the work of God, who designed it so, and of no one else.