1 Corinthians 15:19-26

In this life only?

This passage begins with verse 19 of 1 Corinthians 15, but it is helpful to look at the bigger context and the argument that Paul has been making up to this point where the passage commences. Sometimes we stumble upon a conversation already in progress, and it is advantageous to have someone catch us up.

Paul is responding to those who deny the possibility of resurrection, those who say, “there is no such things as resurrection from the dead.” For the most part, the ancient pagans denied the possibility of resurrection. Some in Corinth just couldn’t wrap their heads around this central proclamation made by the Apostles; it didn’t fit with what they’d been taught. Perhaps there were some who merely affirmed a metaphorical…