Moreover, (1) brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye (a) stand; (1) The sixth treatise of this epistle, concerning the resurrection: and he uses a transition, or passing over from one matter to another, showing first that he br... [ Continue Reading ]
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, (b) unless ye have believed in vain. (b) Which is very absurd, and cannot be, for they that believe must reap the fruit of faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the (c) twelve: (c) Of those twelve picked and chosen apostles, who were commonly called twelve, though Judas was put out of the number.... [ Continue Reading ]
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at (d) once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. (d) Not at several different times, but together and at one instant.... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. (2) He maintains along the way the authority of his apostleship, which was required to be in good credit among the Corinthians, that this epistle might be of force and weight among them. In the mean time he compares himself... [ Continue Reading ]
(3) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? (3) The first argument to prove that there is a resurrection from the dead: Christ is risen again, therefore the dead will rise again.... [ Continue Reading ]
(4) But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: (4) The second by an absurdity: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again.... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain. (5) The proof of that absurdity, by other absurdities: if Christ is not risen again, the preaching of the Gospel is in vain, and the credit that you gave to it is vain, and we are liars.... [ Continue Reading ]
(6) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: (6) He repeats the same argument taken from an absurdity, purposing to show how faith is in vain if the resurrection of Christ is taken away.... [ Continue Reading ]
And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; (7) ye are (e) yet in your sins. (7) First, seeing death is the punishment of sin, in vain should we believe that our sins were forgiven us, if they remain: but they do remain, if Christ did not rise from death. (e) They are yet in their sins who... [ Continue Reading ]
(8) Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. (8) Secondly, unless it is certain that Christ rose again, all those who died in Christ have perished. So then, what profit comes of faith?... [ Continue Reading ]
(9) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. (9) The third argument which is also taken from an absurdity: for unless there is another life, in which those who trust and believe in Christ will be blessed, they are the most miserable of all creatures, because in... [ Continue Reading ]
(10) But now is Christ risen from the dead, (11) [and] become the (f) firstfruits of them that slept. (10) A conclusion of the former argument: therefore Christ is risen again. (11) He puts the last conclusion for the first proposition of the argument that follows. Christ is risen again: therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
(12) For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. (12) Another confirmation of the same conclusion: for Christ is to be considered as opposite to Adam, that as from one man Adam, sin came over all, so from one man Christ, life comes to all. That is to say, that al... [ Continue Reading ]
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be (g) made alive. (g) Will rise by the power of Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
(13) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (13) He does two things together: for he shows that the resurrection is in such sort common to Christ with all his members, that nonetheless he far surpasses them, both in time (for he was t... [ Continue Reading ]
(14) Then [cometh] the (h) end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down (i) all rule and all authority and power. (14) The fourth argument with which also he confirms the other, has a most sure ground, that is, because God must reign. And this... [ Continue Reading ]
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies (k) under his feet. (k) Christ is considered here as he appeared in the form of a servant, in which respect he rules the Church as head, and that because this power was given to him from his Father.... [ Continue Reading ]
The (l) last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. (l) The conclusion of the argument, which is taken from the whole to the part: for if all his enemies will be put under his feet, then it will necessarily be that death also will be subdued under him.... [ Continue Reading ]
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, (m) then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that (n) God may be all in all. (m) Not because the Son was not subject to his Father before, but because his body, that is to say, the Church which is here in distr... [ Continue Reading ]
(15) Else what shall they do which are baptized (o) for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (15) The fifth argument taken of the end of baptism, that is, because those who are baptized, are baptized for dead: that is to say, that they may have a remedy ag... [ Continue Reading ]
(16) And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? (16) The sixth argument: unless there is a resurrection of the dead, why should the apostles so daily cast themselves into danger of so many deaths?... [ Continue Reading ]
I protest by your (p) rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. (p) As though he said, "I die daily, as all the miseries I suffer can well witness, which I may truly boast of, that I have suffered among you.... [ Continue Reading ]
(17) If (q) after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? (18) let us (r) eat and drink; for to morrow we die. (17) The taking away of an objection: but you, Paul, were ambitious, as men commonly and are accustomed to be, when you fought... [ Continue Reading ]
(19) Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (19) The conclusion with a sharp exhortation, that they take heed of the wicked company of certain ones. And from this he shows where this evil sprang from: warning them to be wise with sobriety to righteousness.... [ Continue Reading ]
(20) But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? (20) Now that he has proved the resurrection, he demonstrates their doltishness, in that they scoffingly demanded how it could be that the dead could rise again: and if they did rise again, they asked mocking... [ Continue Reading ]
(21) [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: (21) You might have learned either of these, Paul says, by daily experience: for seeds are sown, and rot, and yet nonetheless they are far from perishing, but rather they grow up far more beautiful. And whereas they are sown... [ Continue Reading ]
(22) But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. (22) We see a diversity both in one and the self same thing which has now one form and then another, and yet keeps its own type: as it is evident in a grain which is sown bare, but springs up far after another sor... [ Continue Reading ]
(23) So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is (s) sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: (23) He makes three manner of qualities of the bodies being raised: first, incorruption, that is, because they will be sound and altogether of a nature that can not be corrupt. Second, glory,... [ Continue Reading ]
It is sown in (t) dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in (u) power: (t) Void of honour, void of glory and beauty. (u) Freed from the former weakness, in which it is subject to such alteration and change, that it cannot maintain itself without food and drink and s... [ Continue Reading ]
(24) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (24) He shows perfectly in one word this change of the quality of the body by the resurrection, when he says that a natural body will become a spiritual body: which two qualities b... [ Continue Reading ]
(25) And so it is written, The (x) first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a (y) quickening spirit. (25) That is called a natural body which is made alive and maintained by a living soul only in the manner that Adam was, of whom we are all born naturally. And that is said to... [ Continue Reading ]
(26) Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (26) Secondly, he wills the order of this twofold state or quality to be observed, that the natural was first, Adam being created of the clay of the earth. And the spiritual follo... [ Continue Reading ]
The first man [is] of the earth, (z) earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from (a) heaven. (z) Wallowing in dirt, and wholly given to an earthly nature. (a) As Adam was the first man, Christ is the second man; and these two are spoken of, as if they were the only two men in the world; because as t... [ Continue Reading ]
(27) As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. (27) He applies both the earthly naturalness of Adam (if I may so say) to our bodies, so long as they are naturally conversant upon earth, that is, in this life, and in t... [ Continue Reading ]
And as we have borne the (b) image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (b) Not a vain and false image, but such a one as indeed had the truth with it.... [ Continue Reading ]
(28) Now this I say, brethren, that (c) flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (28) The conclusion: we cannot be partakers of the glory of God unless we put off all that gross and filthy nature of our bodies subject to corruption, that the s... [ Continue Reading ]
(29) Behold, I shew you a (d) mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (29) He goes further, declaring that it will come to pass that those who will be found alive in the latter day will not descend into that corruption of the grave, but will be renewed with a sudden change, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
In (e) a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (e) He shows that the time will be very short.... [ Continue Reading ]
(30) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the (f) Lord. (30) An exhortation taken from the profit that ensues, that seeing they understand that the glory of the other life is lai... [ Continue Reading ]