Theodore of Mopsuestia

Catechetical Homily on Baptism, 5

At one time, before the coming of Christ, death had true power over us and was fully indestructible in virtue of a divine verdict. Its power over us was immense. But through his Death and Resurrection, Christ our Lord abrogated that law and destroyed the power of death. And now the death of those who believe in Christ resembles a long sleep. As S. Paul says, ‘But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1Cor 15:20). Since Christ our Lord has subdued the strength of death with his own Resurrection, we can say, ‘We who are baptised in Christ Jesus have been baptised in his Death’; in other words, we know that Christ our Lord has killed death.

Cyril of Jerusalem

Catechetical Lectures 18:6

A felled tree will bloom again; will not fallen man bloom again? What was sown and reaped sits in the barnyard; will not man, once cut off from this world, sit in the barnyard? The branches of vines and trees, when completely cut off, receive life and bear fruit if grafted on; will not man, for whom plants exist, resurrect after being buried? Comparatively speaking, which task is the greater: creating a statue or that did not exist before , or remaking one that was broken, using the same form? Cannot God who made us out of nothing make those who lived and are now dead rise again? …. Those things that were created for us come back to life once dead; will not we, for whom they live, rise again once dead?