1 Corinthians 15:35-49

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

[35] But  some  man will say,  How  the dead  raised up?  and  with what  body  do they come?  [36] Thou fool,  that which  thou  sowest  not  quickened,  it die:  [37] And  that which  thou sowest,  not  that body  that shall be,  but  bare  grain,  it may chance  of wheat,  or  of some  other  [38] But  God  giveth  it  a body  as  it hath pleased him,  and  to every  seed  his own  body.  [39] All  flesh  is not  the same  flesh:  but  there is one  kind of flesh  of men,  another  flesh  of beasts,  another  of fishes,  and  another  of birds.  [40] There are also  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial:  but  the glory  of the celestial  is one,  and  the glory of the terrestrial  is another.  [41] There is one  glory  of the sun,  and  another  glory  of the moon,  and  another  glory  of the stars:  for  one star  differeth from  another star  in  glory.  [42] So  also  is the resurrection  of the dead.  It is sown  in  corruption;  it is raised  in  incorruption:  [43] It is sown  in  dishonour;  it is raised  in  glory:  it is sown  in  weakness;  it is raised  in  power:  [44] It is sown  a natural  body;  it is raised  a spiritual  body.  a natural  body,  and  a spiritual  body.  [45] And  so  it is written,  The first  man  Adam  was made  a living  soul;  the last  Adam  was made  a quickening  spirit.  [46] Howbeit  that was not  first  which is spiritual,  but  that which is natural;  and afterward  that which is spiritual.  [47] The first  man  is of  the earth,  earthy:  the second  man  from  heaven.  [48] As  is the earthy,  such  are they also  that are earthy:  and  as is  the heavenly,  such  also  that are heavenly.  [49] And  as  we have borne  the image  of the earthy,  also  bear  the image  of the heavenly. 

What does 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Paul next addressed the objection that the resurrection of the body is impossible because when a person dies his or her body decomposes and no one can reassemble it. The Corinthians seem to have wanted to avoid thinking that the material body was essentially good. Hellenistic dualism seems to have influenced their thinking about the human body and, therefore, the resurrection. Dualism is the philosophy, so common in pagan Greek thought, that the body is only the husk of the real "person" who dwells within. The more one can live without the constraints that the body imposes the better. The biblical view, on the other hand, is that the body is essentially good and just as much a part of the real "person" as the immaterial part (cf. Genesis 2:7). The original readers did not, and most people do not, view very positively a resurrection that involves simply resuscitating human corpses. Paul proceeded to show that the resurrection of believers was not that but a resurrection of glorified bodies. Paul taught a more glorious future for believers than the present "spiritual" existence that some in Corinth lauded.
"The Corinthians are convinced that by the gift of the Spirit, and especially the manifestation of tongues, they have already entered into the spiritual, "heavenly" existence that is to be. Only the body, to be sloughed off at death, lies between them and their ultimate spirituality. Thus they have denied the body in the present, and have no use for it in the future." [1]
"Dead" (Gr. nekros) appears11times in 1 Corinthians 15:1-34 but only three times after 1 Corinthians 15:34. This indicates a shift in Paul"s argument.