The Resurrection Series Part 12 – 1 Corinthians 15

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By Corbin Croy

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

This gives us the earliest record of resurrection belief. The passage between 3-8 are structured in what has come to be called a “creedal form.” For us, it would be like a pledge or oath that is structured for easy memory to be repeated, like a motto. So the existence of these creedal forms is very important in understanding the resurrection, because we can be fairly sure that a creedal form existed for some time before we have record of it, just as we know that the pledge of allegiance has existed for quite some time.

What are the details, or facts, listed from this creedal confession?

1. Christ died
2. for our sins
3. according to the Scriptures
4. he was buried
5. was raised
6. on the third day
7. appeared to Peter
8. appeared to the 12 
9. appeared to 500+ at the same time
10. appeared to James
11. appeared to the apostles
12. appeared to Paul.

Now most of these facts are generally accepted, or considered non-debatable. Christ dying for our sins is a great piece of information once we believe that he died and rose again, but it is not worth debating about. This creedal form notes that Christ was buried, but it does not say that he was buried in a Tomb. It says he was raised, but it does not say that he rose from his burial location. Fact three has many various applications. It could mean that Jesus followed a script, or it could mean that we can see the Scriptures through his resurrection. Since, Paul does not list any specific scriptures which Jesus “fulfilled” it is hard to accept the first proposition on a prima facie basis. Fact 6 is a highly debated proposition that Christ rose on the third day. The debate centers on whether or not this term is of theological inflection or of historical facticity. Speaking of the “third day” could be just as theological a term as Christ “dying for our sins.” Numerology and Chronology were methods of alluding to theological concepts in Jewish literature. So at best we need to put a pin in this and not make a biased assumption. The appearances seems mixed. It seems like there were two lists of appearances that may have each been a part of similar creedal forms that got combined into one creedal form. Perhaps one list simply named, “Peter, James, and Paul” and another list named “the Twelve, the apostles, and 500+ at the same time.” Otherwise, it seems weird that Peter would be included as separate from the Twelve, and James would be excluded from the apostles. What is most important about these appearances is that Paul makes no mention of their being physical manifestations of Jesus. His vision of light is equaled to the other appearances of Jesus.

Now this is a hard reality to face, but for the readers of 1 Corinthians 15 it has to be recognized that there is no historical data to suggest that when they read this that they would have any other concept in their mind for these “appearances” to mean anything other then what we know was Paul’s appearance. Paul’s appearance is the only historically recorded autobiographical account of what a “post-mortem” Jesus appearance was like.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. – 1 Corinthians 15:12-24

I hear this a lot from my believing friends that if there is no resurrection then we are to be pitied above all men. The problem is that I agree with them. They think that they are using Paul to prove to me that the resurrection happened. They think that I am some resurrection denier, but this is a misunderstanding of my position. I affirm with all my heart that the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened. The difference is that my belief in the resurrection looks different then theirs.

What I find important about this passage is that it illustrates the translative properties I mentioned earlier in conceiving of the possibility for a spiritual resurrection. Here in the pages of Scripture Paul confirms for us that Christ’s resurrection is a translational property which correlates to our own resurrection. Thus, as Christ is raised so too shall we be raised. This property is just as important as the resurrection itself, according to Paul, because the reason why we would be pitied is because if Christ has not been raised then neither shall we. Thus, Christ’s resurrection translates to our own.

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. – 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

This ends it for me, really. What other evidence do you need? In the pages of Scripture Paul teaches that we will be raised spiritually, our bodies will perish, and our spiritual selves will rise to be with God. “Flesh and blood” cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The body is a seed. It is buried and a plant grows from it, but the seed stays in the ground. That is the metaphor that Paul is using. The splendor of our resurrection bodies will be of a different *kind* then the splendor of our natural bodies. “It is raised a spiritual body.” Paul clearly makes the distinction between spirit and flesh in this passage and it has to be concluded that our spiritual bodies will not possess flesh of any kind. Paul believed this, and this is most important to understand… He believed this AFTER having Christ “appeared” to him.

It has to be concluded from this passage, at the very least, that a post-mortem appearance does not guarantee a physically-regenerated historically factual account of a resurrection experience. It does make a good case for the spiritual resurrection model, and it does give us a hint as to how the spiritual resurrection model can overcome its one big obstacle. Paul speaks of it at the beginning of this chapter. Paul calls it “the Gospel.”

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