Does 1 Corinthians 15 Teach
a Physical or a Spiritual Resurrection?
David
Friedman
First Corinthians 15 is
a crucial chapter for understanding the meaning of the resurrection. While
literalists claim that it supports a physical resurrection, I believe that
evidence shows the exact opposite to be true. The main focus of this article is
on what the chapter means in speaking of the natural body and the spiritual
body, which is the immortal body people are raised in. I will also consider
other verses in the chapter, in order. Gospel resurrection accounts will not be
considered. Let us examine 1 Corinthians 15 to see what type of resurrection is
spoken of.
Verses 1-4
In the first three verses,
Paul speaks of the gospel message, which he had received, and which had been
received by others whom he had preached to. In verse 3 Paul says that he delivered
first to the people that Christ died for their sins according to the
Scriptures, and follows this by saying that Christ was buried and rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures in verse 4. These verses indicate
that the main teaching of the early followers was of Christ dying for the sins
of mankind, and then being raised, or resurrected, on the third day. Verses 3-4
do not provide independent confirmation of a physical resurrection.
As Richard Carrier
states, the phrase "died...was buried...was raised"
(apeqanen...etafh...eghgertai)
can just as easily be a metaphor as an indication of a physical raising; the
"concept of the resurrection itself" does not entail any more a
physical than a spiritual idea (and since Christianity changed many Jewish
beliefs--it was, after all, new and different--we cannot appeal to Jewish
tradition in favor of the physical)." {1} In addition,
Colossians 2:12 speaks of people who were raised (resurrected) with Jesus.
Those spoken of were not physically resurrected. Ephesians 2:1, 5-6 speaks of
people who were resurrected from the dead, and the death was only spiritual. My
belief is that these passages and others suggest that the resurrection is
non-physical. More on this later.
Verses 5-8
Verses 5-8 move on to
speaking about the resurrection appearances. Paul begins by saying that Jesus
was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. After this he says that Jesus was seen
by over five hundred people at once, then by James, then by all the apostles.
What is interesting about the resurrection appearances is that immediately
after speaking of the above listed appearances; Paul says that last of all
Jesus appeared to him ("He was seen by me").
This logically means that it was the same Jesus that appeared to him, either
physical or non-physical, as with the other appearances mentioned. The same
Greek word is used for "seen"
to speak of the appearance to Paul as is used for the appearances to Peter and
the rest. The word is often used to speak of supernatural appearances, such as
for the transfiguration. It is rendered as "appeared" a few times in
the Markan appendix, a word indicating something non-physical.
As the appearance of
Jesus to Paul was not physical, the appearances mentioned prior to his were
also not physical. Literalists would probably claim I am begging the issue,
saying that we should look at the resurrection accounts of Paul and the others,
and if we do so it becomes clear that the appearances to the others were
physical, but not with Paul. But it’s hardly begging the issue, because of the
way the appearances are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15, which doesn’t suggest
any distinction between the type of appearance, just the timing. The report of
the resurrection appearance to Paul may be written more literally than the
appearances in the gospels, just being a different way of reporting the
resurrection appearance.
One might note that
while the gospels seem to depict physical appearances, the appearances sound
very much like those of angels of the Lord in the Old Testament. They also took
part in human activities like eating (Genesis chapter 19), and Judges chapter 6
and 13 both speak of an angel vanishing, as did Jesus in Luke 24:31. The two
chapters from Judges both say that the angel "appeared" to people,
and those who the angel appeared to did not realize immediately that it was an
angel, thinking that it was a man. The chapters are clearly not intended to be
read as literal history, and we know that angels are not physical.
Verses 12-20
In 1 Corinthians 15:12,
Paul says, "Now if Christ is preached that He has been
raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection
of the dead." This refers to people who believe that
Christ has risen, but deny the general resurrection that had just begun. The
two are interchangeable. This is confirmed by verse 13, which says that if
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. Verse 14 says
that if Christ is not risen, then the preaching done is empty, as is the faith
of the people. The next verse says that they would be found false witnesses of
God, for testifying of Him that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise. It
attaches to this, "if in fact the dead do not rise."
Verse 16 again shows that the general resurrection from the dead is
interchangeable with that of Christ, saying that if the dead don’t rise, then
Christ is not risen.
So what Paul is trying
to show is that one cannot believe that Christ is risen, yet deny the general
resurrection, as this is a contradiction of terms. Verses 12-16, in addition to
the physical resurrection of Jesus, supports the spiritual resurrection as
well, which claims that the resurrection of Jesus was a time when His followers
rose from their despondence to come to the realization that Christ was eternal
in being, and that He was still present with them. Colossians 2:12-13 speaks of
believers who were raised from the dead with Jesus. If a believer could be
raised with Christ, then obviously the raising of Christ was spiritually as
well, and is synonymous with the general resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:17
says, "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is
futile; you are still in your sins!" This is correct, as
the resurrection allowed Christ to dwell in the believers and guide them. If He
hadn’t been resurrected, they would not receive guidance, and would go astray.
Verse 20 speaks of Christ having risen from the dead, becoming the first fruits
of those who have fallen asleep. This shows that the resurrection had begun
with Jesus.
Verses 21-22
Verses 21-22 say, "For
since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."
It is important to establish what death and life mean in this context. The
death caused by Adam must be the same death that people are resurrected from by
Christ. Adam was the cause of the physical life of mankind. Through his
physical nature comes spiritual death. The Adam and Eve story itself indicates
that Adam was the cause of spiritual death, which results from physical life.
God promises that the day Adam eats from the tree of knowledge, he will die.
Certainly Adam did not physically die the day he ate from the tree of
knowledge, in fact he is said to have lived for a few hundred more years. Before
eating from the tree of knowledge, Adam had no knowledge of good and evil,
which means that he couldn’t have sinned in eating from the tree. Once Adam had
knowledge of good and evil, man had this knowledge, and it is the knowledge of
good and evil that leads people to sin. The chapter makes it quite clear that
Adam did "die" the day he ate from the tree of knowledge, him and Eve
being cast out of the garden of Eden. So clearly the death caused by Adam has
nothing to do with the physical body.
In Matthew 8:22, Jesus
associated the physical life with spiritual death, where, in speaking of living
people, He said, "Let the dead bury their own dead."
As 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 is clear that the death mentioned is what will be
eliminated by Christ, it is clear that Christ is the cause not of physical
life, but of spiritual life. Christ gives life to those who were dead, and
these people were spiritually dead. So one cannot claim that Christ will be the
cause of a physical resurrection of the dead. As mentioned before, Colossians
2:12 speaks of people living two thousand years ago being resurrected with
Jesus, and this was entirely spiritual.
Romans chapter 6 shows
the same thing. Romans 8:10-11 shows that those who have Christ and the Holy
Spirit dwelling in them receive life, obviously eternal life, to their mortal
bodies, through the Holy Spirit. In other words, the mortal puts on
immortality. Romans 6:4-12 is very clear that the mortal putting on immortality
is something happening within the vehicle of the human body. The "old
man," is the first body, the mortal body, "the
body of sin," and the "new man"
is the one that is in the image of God (Colossians 3:10).
Colossians 3:3 says, "For
you died," and verse 5 says to "put
to death your members," and then it explains that those things
are related to the body of sin, the mortal body, which is done away with,
according to Romans 6:6. This is the body that is dead, mentioned in Romans
8:10, and said to be the mortal body in the next verse. The things related of
the people prior to their being raised from the dead in Colossians 2:13 are
certainly speaking of the corruptible man, and those after are not.
Romans chapter 6 shows
that the resurrected body of the believer is an immortal body. The immortal
body is the new man, and contrary to suggestions of many Christians, it is not
a physical body. This is shown clearly by the above verses. Those resurrected
need to have the Spirit in them. Jude 19 speaks of the worldly people, not
having the Spirit. If they don’t have the Spirit then they cannot be "raised
with Christ," and put on the spiritual body, which can only be
a body with the Spirit dwelling in it. A bit later I will see if the rest of 1
Corinthians 15 confirms what I have just said on the issue of the meaning of the
spiritual body.
Verse 23
Verse 23 says, "But
each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are
Christ’s at His coming." This indicates that there will be a
future resurrection when Christ returns. Verse 26 says that when Christ returns,
the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Verses 22-23 indicate that all
hadn’t been made alive at the time Paul was writing, but would be once Christ
returns. If all are made alive, and none are dead, then it can be said that
death has been destroyed.
As I have shown, the
death referred to is spiritual, not physical. This appears then to say that the
world will be completely without sin. However, Isaiah 25:8 gives the same
promise for the overturning of the Babylonian captivity. Sin remained at that
time, though conditions were much better. 2 Timothy 1:10 says that the coming
of Jesus has "abolished death and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel." It is unclear
why 1 Corinthians 15:26 should be interpreted literally in light of this verse.
The coming of Christ did make humans immortal according to 2 Timothy 1:10, and
this immortality was only spiritual. There is no reason to believe that the
Bible contains two different teachings on the subject of the mortal putting on
immortality; the first spiritual, the second physical. The Bible does not
contain such a distinction, so the resurrection is obviously not physical.
Verses 29-32
1 Corinthians 15:29
asks what those who are baptized for (on behalf of) the dead will do if the dead
do not rise at all. Clearly those who have died to the world and thus came
alive are those who are baptized on behalf of the dead. The baptism is for the
benefit of the spiritually dead. So what is meant is that if there is no
resurrection, then this baptism won’t aid others.
Romans 6:3-4 speaks of
people who were baptized into Christ’s death, and the purpose of the baptism,
as Romans 6:4 states, is to be resurrected from the dead. While Romans 6:4-5
compares the death and resurrection of the individual believer to that of
Christ, the death and resurrection of Jesus was somewhat different to that of
the ordinary believer, as Jesus was without sin. He lived "in
the flesh," but this meant only a life in the physical,
material body, not that He lived according to the lusts of the world. His life
in the flesh was a mortal life, which ended on the cross.
On the other hand, His
resurrected body was immortal, unable to die (in another sense Jesus was
immortal during His lifetime, as I will later show). This is similar to the
resurrection of the believers. With Jesus, His physical life on earth can be
compared to the old man, who is mortal, and His resurrected body was immortal,
like the new man. Romans 6:5 speaks of the people being united together in the
likeness of His death, and the likeness of His resurrection. The believers
experienced these things within their same physical body, but Jesus had to
physically die. In 1 Corinthians 15:31, Paul says, "I
die daily." The death that he is speaking of is dying to the
physical world, which is what verse 29 is speaking about. Verse 32 shows that
if there has not been a resurrection from the dead there is no purpose to life.
Verses 35-42
In verse 35 we finally
reach the question, "How are the dead raised up? And with
what body do they come?" Paul then provides the explanation, the
understanding of which is crucial when determining the meaning of the
resurrection. Paul says that what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. He
says that what is sown is not that body that will be, but God gives what is
sown a body. He tells us that all flesh is not the same flesh, there being one
kind of flesh of men, and another of animals.
Verse 42 then says, "So
also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is
raised in incorruption." It is clear from what I have already
shown that the resurrection is spiritual, and these passages fit in with that
interpretation. But if we just look at the verses from verse 35, it is easy to
see how some are misled. They interpret the body sown in corruption to mean the
fleshy physical body, and "raised in incorruption"
is then interpreted to mean a different physical body, which is spiritual.
This, however, ignores 1 Corinthians 15:36-38. These verses say that what is
sown is not made alive, or resurrected, until it dies, and when it dies, God
gives it a body. It is not speaking of an afterlife here, but what I have
already mentioned. If we are to interpret verse 42 to mean what literalists
have claimed, then we would have to interpret verses 36-38 to mean that one
must physically die in order to come back to life and be made alive forever.
Aren’t those who are alive when Christ returns supposed to receive everlasting
physical life as well?
As noted before, in
verse 31, Paul says, "I die daily." Clearly
this is metaphorical, and when seen in light of verse 36, it shows that this
dying is being made alive. This is the putting off the old man, or the doing
away with the body of sin. Romans 6:7-8 shows clearly what is meant by needing
to die in order to come alive. These verses show that as soon as one has
"died" they will be made alive. Paul says that we are sown in
corruption. This means that we are naturally worldly beings. The raising
without corruption takes place in the same physical body, and it is a new body,
the change taking place within the person with a mortal physical body. The
change is independent of the physical body. Paul makes it clear that there is
only one kind of flesh of men, which shows that there could not be a physical
spiritual body, which differs from the normal body.
Verses 43-49-
The verses that follow
need little explanation in light of what I have already said. In verse 43, it
says that the body is sown in weakness and raised in power. Romans 6:8-11 and
Colossians 3:1 speak of people being resurrected spiritually at the time.
Colossians 3:3, speaking of those who have been raised with Christ, says, "For
you died." So they have fulfilled 1 Corinthians 15:36, and
clearly they can’t still have a mortal body, one which is sown in corruption.
But they have exactly the same physical body. The wording of verses 42-43
suggests that the corruptible and incorruptible body are found within a person
keeping the same physical body.
Verse 44 says, "It
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body." As I have just shown,
this is all while having the same physical body. Since the word
"body" has been used twice, this serves as a stumbling block. Based
on the overwhelming support for this chapter and others teaching a spiritual
resurrection, it is clear that people have been blinded from seeing the many
verses which show that the resurrection is spiritual.
Verse 45 speaks of the
first Adam being a living being, the last Adam being a life-giving spirit. The
next verse says that the natural (body) is first, and afterward the spiritual,
implying that Adam’s body was a natural body, and Christ’s was a spiritual
body. But both Adam and Christ had the same physical body. There is no evidence
that Christ’s flesh differed at all from that of Adam. If a spiritual body is
one that cannot physically die, how can one explain the death of Christ? Verse
47 says that the first man was made of dust, the second is the Lord from
heaven. Both were made from dust. The gospel makes it clear that Jesus gave
life and was from heaven before His resurrection, thus implying that Jesus was
always eternal in being, and that this was only realized, and His grace towards
man was able to continue, at the time of the resurrection. It is only Christ’s
spirit that is immortal, and Jesus could not have become immortal in a physical
way at the time of His resurrection, as He already had the spiritual body,
which is immortal.
This fact suggests that
the resurrection was not directly associated with Jesus, but that it was a time
where the grieving disciples realized that Christ had not really been killed,
and that His presence was still with them. They realized that while the
physical body of Jesus, which I previously compared to the old man, had died,
His spiritual body was still alive. His spiritual body was the only thing that
continued to exist after His death, showing that while Jesus had a spiritual
body during His lifetime, His physical body was unrelated to it. Jesus, being
sinless, always reflects the Father in His actions, which is why He is said to
have came from heaven with a spiritual body. With others, they will put on the
spiritual body when reaching the level of perfection required. The assurance of
the believers allowed them to be resurrected, and receive guidance from the
risen Christ. Ephesians 1:23, in speaking of the resurrection, connects the
body of Jesus with the church.
Ephesians 2:6 says that
people were made alive together with Christ. This appears strange, as Christ is
supposed to be the first to rise from the dead. Having established that the
resurrection of Jesus is connected to that of His followers, this is no
contradiction. It only says that Jesus was resurrected, as in the eyes of
others He was seen as dead, but then seen to be alive. Once they saw that He
was alive Jesus in a sense arose from the dead, and the religion started. But
they had to rise from the dead in order for Jesus to be resurrected, which
happened at the same time. The resurrection of Jesus is compared to the putting
on of the spiritual body, as the believers came to realize that Jesus was
immortal in being. He always was, but after His death they were troubled, and
saw Jesus as having been killed and triumphed over. This changed at the time of
the resurrection. Since Jesus already had the spiritual body there was nothing
else He could put on. A spiritual body is immortal, so it can’t be dead for
three days. So clearly the resurrection is related to Jesus in only an indirect
sense.
Philippians 3:21 says
that when Christ returns, He will transform the lowly body of the believers
into a glorious body like His. As the spiritual body is intangible, found
within the physical body, this verse is no promise of a physical resurrection
for the individual believer. It is now clear that verses 48-49 simply speak of
spiritual conditions within humans, not a change of physical body. The latter
verse speaks of bearing the image of the heavenly man, and as Jesus is the
image of the Father (John 14:9), Colossians 3:10 thus shows that verse 49 means
only putting on the new man, a spiritual condition. This verse is speaking of
the time of the Second Coming, as is quite evident. This is not to say that no
one living at the time this letter was written bore the image of Jesus.
Verses 51-53-
Verses 51-53 says that
at the time of the Second Coming, the people will be changed, from being dead
to raised incorruptible. Verses 52-53 equate "dead" with
"corruptible." We know that the corruptible body is contained in our
physical body. It is a mortal body, and to put on incorruption or immortality,
it must die, as verse 36 says. Romans 6:7 shows that the death is from sin. So
these verses are saying that at the time of the Second Coming, those who have
died from sin will be raised.
1 Corinthians 15:50 is
a verse that indicates the same thing, but is commonly misunderstood. It says, "Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
nor does corruption inherit incorruption." This means that
those who sow to the flesh, as spoken of in Galatians 6:8, will not inherit the
kingdom of God, but those mentioned in the same verse who sow to the Spirit
will inherit the kingdom. Romans 6:4-8 speaks of those who are carnally minded,
or live according to the flesh. Verse 8 says, "those who
are in the flesh (referring to these people) cannot please God," and
verse 9 then speaks of those who are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, as
they have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. These verses, and the verse that
precedes 1 Corinthians 15:50, show that the "flesh and
blood" mentioned in that verse does not refer to man’s
physical body, but a condition within it.
It seems strange that
the verses just mentioned should say that at the time of the Second Coming
people will be raised from the dead, as other verses say that if you die then
you are raised, not that you have to wait. But as I said before, these passages
in 1 Corinthians are speaking of the Second Coming, which is, like the
resurrection, a time when you can be with the Messenger of God. While the
living with Christ and being raised up can happen at any time, the time of the
Second Coming is somewhat different. It is a different resurrection, caused by
the appearance of a Messenger of God on earth. As opposed to what happened with
believers because of Jesus’ resurrection, the believers can at this time
literally attain the presence of the Messenger of God. His presence will cause
people to rise up from the dead, and perhaps Paul is intending to also show
this. Prior to this time mankind will be in the time of tribulation, when many
are "dead," so the coming of a Redeemer is obviously going to bring
the people to life.
Job 14:7-14 makes it
clear that man cannot rise from physical death and come back to life. Isaiah
26:19 prophesies that the dead in Israel will rise from the dead. Context
clearly shows that the overturning of the Babylonian captivity is spoken of,
meaning that the resurrection spoken of is merely a symbol. At that time all
flesh came to worship before God (Isaiah 66:23), and God was with the people
(Ezekiel 48:35), and since the effects of the Babylonian captivity made the
people "dead" (Jeremiah 30:12), it is appropriate that this time should
be symbolized by speaking of the people rising from the dead. The death is only
spiritual.
Ezekiel chapter 37 also
speaks of this time, saying that Israel will be raised up from their graves
then (verses 12-13). The way these two verses are written shows that living
people at the time are spoken of. Or are we to believe that the "O
my people" who God says "I will open your
graves, and raise you from your graves" in regards to are dead
at the time? If so, why are these words addressed to them like they are alive?
It is also important to note verse 11, which speaks of the house of Israel
saying that their bones are dried up and their hope is lost. Clearly these
people are alive at the time. In verse 5 God prophesies that the dry bones will
live. As verse 12 speaks of those with dried bones, who are spoken of in verse
11, and said to be the whole house of Israel (meaning that living people
are addressed), it is clear that the mention of graves is symbolic. In verse
14, like in verse 5, God says that He will put His Spirit within the people,
and they will live. As I have shown, this constitutes a resurrection from the
dead.
Because many Christians
interpret this chapter literally, it causes them to think that the time of the
Second Coming is spoken of. But they must be reminded that nowhere does the
chapter explicitly or implicitly state that the time of a Messiah is spoken of,
and in fact many verses, such as verse 14 itself, say that at the time of the
resurrection the people will return to their own land, which is associated with
the end of the Babylonian captivity. Since they can’t understand how the
prophecies are symbolic, and could have already been fulfilled, they somehow
manage to find justification for them referring to the time of the Second Coming.
The chapter says that this resurrection concerns only the house of Israel,
which would exclude Christians, so this suggestion could not be true.
For further evidence
that Isaiah 26:19 uses the word "dead" to mean spiritually dead, we
note that this verse, after saying that the dead will be raised, says that
those who dwell in the dust will awake (Hebrew - koots). This same
Hebrew word is used in Job 14:12, to say that man cannot rise, or awake (koots)
from physical death. I think I have given good reason to believe that the other
chapters do not speak of the physical dead, and thus shown that these verses do
not contradict, as they would with a literal interpretation of Isaiah 26:19.
My evidence, if
correct, also shows that Daniel 12:2, which is similar to Isaiah 26:19, is
speaking of the spiritually dead. This verse says that many sleeping the dust
of the earth will awake (koots), some to everlasting life, some to everlasting
contempt. Acts 24:15 says that the resurrection of the dead is for both the just
and the unjust. Daniel 12:2 is speaking of the time of the Second Coming, so no
resurrection of a physical nature is promised.
Verses 54-56
1 Corinthians 15:54
speaks of death being swallowed up at the time when the mortal has put on immortality.
This echoes verse 26, which I showed to have a spiritual meaning. Verse 56,
which says that the sting of death is sin, is explained by verses such as
Romans 6:7 and Romans 6:14.
Conclusion
This article does not
intend to convince skeptics that there was a resurrection of any sort. It’s
only aim is to offer an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15 different from the
usual one, and let the readers decide what is correct. As I said before, my
article was not meant to give evidence from the gospels that the resurrection
was non-physical. Because of this it should be evaluated solely by what it
covers.
References
{1} Richard Carrier, Review of In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case for God’s Action in History (Douglas Geivett and Gary Habermas, eds., Inter Varsity Press, 1997). , accessed 26/6/2000).