On the Soul and the Resurrection (Unabridged‪)‬

The resurrection from death is a strong component of the Christian faith, which the Nicene Creed, affirms stating: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." The early Christian writers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, in the second century, wrote against the widespread idea of their time that only the soul survived. In like manner, we have this later writing of St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 AD) which clearly articulates the position that a person is both soul and body and that Christ has promised to raise them both, in the same way, that his body was raised. This doctrine of the resurrection is based on Christ's resurrection, for, at that time, there was no Greek belief in a general resurrection, rather they held that once the body perished I could no longer return to life.The author, Gregory of Nyssa, was ordained bishop of Nyssa in 372. He was an accomplished theologian who made important contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity, which are enunciated in the Nicene Creed. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.