Paul’s Resurrection Message

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes extensively about resurrection from the dead. For Paul, with his Jewish background, it is a fact that people will be resurrected at the end of time. Some of the Christians in Corinth, however, think this is strange and do not believe it.

From 1 Corinthians 15 it seems that in the Greek city of Corinth, there are Christians who do not believe that people could ever rise from the dead. They probably think — like most other people of those days — that when someone dies his soul will live on somewhere, but his body will decay. They cannot believe that a dead body can come back to life.

Before his conversion, Paul was a member of the Pharisees (Philippians 3:5). This group of Jews believed, among other things, that the dead will one day rise again to be judged by God. Paul had no doubt about the resurrection from the dead either (Acts 23:6-8; Acts 24:15-21; Romans 6:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

In order to persuade the Christians in Corinth, Paul points to Jesus Christ. Surely they also believe that Jesus Christ was dead and came back to life? Then, according to Paul, it is not strange that later, at the end of time, Christians who have died will also rise from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-34).

What the Christians in Corinth find especially difficult to believe is that dead people can, at some point, gain a “normal” body again. In 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, however, Paul explains that the body with which deceased Christians will rise, is not a “normal” body. It is not the same body they had when they lived on earth, but a “spiritual body”, a body that is appropriate for their new life, their life with God and Jesus Christ.