1 Corinthians 15:12–20

Context

This passage belongs to the long section on the resurrection in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, the letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. The letter is generally understood to have been written while Paul was staying in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8).

In 15:1–11 Paul reminds the believers of the tradition that Christ died, was buried, rose again, and appeared to many people. Then in verse 12 he raises the problem that some among them were saying "that there is no resurrection of the dead."

Verses 13–19 form a reductio ad absurdum (an argument that follows an opponent's premise to its conclusion in order to expose a contradiction), built on the repeated phrase "if there be no…" To deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the resurrection of Christ. In that case, Paul says, the apostles' preaching and the believers' faith are "vain," and the believers are "yet in [their] sins." With "But now" in verse 20, the argument changes direction. Paul declares that Christ has "become the firstfruits of them that slept" and moves on, from verse 21, to an argument contrasting Adam and Christ.

Interpretation

• Who denied the resurrection: Scholars are divided. The principal views are that these people rejected bodily resurrection under the influence of Greek thought, which held the body in low regard; that they believed the resurrection had already taken place spiritually (compare 2 Timothy 2:18); or that they denied life after death altogether (compare 1 Corinthians 15:32).
• Evangelical and Reformed readings: These traditions read the passage as a foundational text establishing that the historical, bodily resurrection of Christ is the basis of faith. Verse 17 is understood as linking the resurrection to the forgiveness of sins and to justification (God's declaring sinners righteous).
• The meaning of "firstfruits": The common interpretation finds the background in the Old Testament ordinance of offering the first produce of the harvest to God (Leviticus 23:10–11). On this interpretation, Christ's resurrection is the firstfruits that guarantees the resurrection of the saints who will follow.

Debates and Issues

• The nature of the resurrection: Some scholars in the tradition of liberal theology have interpreted the resurrection primarily in terms of the disciples' resurrection faith or its existential significance. Conservative scholars counter that the argument of this passage presupposes a resurrection that actually occurred.
• "Them that slept": Most denominations regard "sleep" as a euphemism for death and understand departed saints to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23). By contrast, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses cite such language in support of the view that the dead remain in an unconscious state until the resurrection.
• "Only" in verse 19: Interpretations differ over whether "only" in the Greek text modifies "this life" or the sentence as a whole. Read the latter way, the meaning is closer to "if all we have done is to set our hope on Christ."

In the Korean Church

This passage is commonly used as a text for Easter sermons and is frequently read, along with other parts of 1 Corinthians 15, at funeral services. It is also cited as a supporting text when explaining "the resurrection of the body" in the Apostles' Creed.

Related Passages

• 1 Corinthians 15:3–8
• 1 Corinthians 15:20–22
• Romans 4:25
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14
• 2 Timothy 2:17–18