# 1 Corinthians 15.42-44 > So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable > body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, > it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in > power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. > If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. > (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, NASB95) The decisive Pauline text on the *nature* of the resurrection body. Four "sown... raised" antitheses, climaxing in the *soma psychikon* / *soma pneumatikon* contrast. The verse is the canonical answer to "with what body do they come?" (15:35) and the load-bearing text behind every Christian doctrine of embodied resurrection. ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 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 dishonor; 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.** > > 45. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:40-46, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 40. There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. 41. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. > > **42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. 43. It is sown in dishonor; 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. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.** > > 45. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46. However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:40-46, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 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. There is a natural body, and there is 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. (1 Corinthians 15:40-46, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 40. and [there are] heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but one [is] the glory of the heavenly, and another that of the earthly; 41. one glory of sun, and another glory of moon, and another glory of stars, for star from star doth differ in glory. > > **42. So also [is] the rising again 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; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body;** > > 45. so also it hath been written, 'The first man Adam became a living creature,' the last Adam [is] for a life-giving spirit, 46. but that which is spiritual [is] not first, but that which [was] natural, afterwards that which [is] spiritual. (1 Corinthians 15:40-46, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Paul the Apostle - **Audience:** the church at Corinth; specifically Corinthians who doubted bodily resurrection (15:12) - **Location:** composed in Ephesus; addressed to Corinth - **Time period:** composed c. AD 55-56 ## Theological reading The Corinthians' problem was not whether the soul survived death. That Greeks already assumed. Their problem was whether the *body* would rise. Pauline cosmology answered "yes," and 15:35 records the sneer this provoked: "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" Verses 42-44 are Paul's structural answer. The four antitheses come in pairs. - *Sown perishable / raised imperishable* (*phthora* / *aphtharsia*). The present body decays; the resurrection body cannot. - *Sown in dishonor / raised in glory* (*atimia* / *doxa*). The present body, especially in its corpse-state, is shameful; the resurrection body bears glory. - *Sown in weakness / raised in power* (*astheneia* / *dynamis*). The present body wears out; the resurrection body is capacitated for the new creation. - *Sown a natural body / raised a spiritual body* (*soma psychikon* / *soma pneumatikon*). The last one is the load-bearing pair, and it is constantly misread. *Pneumatikon* does not mean *immaterial*. Paul does not say "raised a spirit." He says "raised a *body*," with the qualifier *pneumatikon*. The Greek pattern -*ikos* makes adjectives of a thing's *animating principle* or *governing power*, not its material composition. So *soma psychikon* is a body animated by *psyche* (the natural life-principle, the soul-as-life, Adam in Genesis 2:7); *soma pneumatikon* is a body animated by *pneuma* (Spirit). The contrast is not body-versus-spirit. It is body-animated-by-soul versus body-animated-by-Spirit. This is why Paul moves immediately to Adam and Christ (15:45). "The first man Adam became a *psyche zosa*" (a living soul; Genesis 2:7); "the last Adam became a *life-giving pneuma*." The contrast is between two heads of two humanities, two animating principles, two modes of embodied life. The resurrection body is fully material, fully physical, fully *somatic*, and fully animated by the Holy Spirit. This reading is decisive against three errors. (1) The materialist objection ("you cannot rise from rot") misses the *sown / raised* agricultural metaphor: seeds rot to produce the plant, and Paul has already used that figure in 15:36-38. Continuity is real but is not material reassembly of every atom. (2) The platonizing Christian read ("the resurrection body is just a spiritual essence") contradicts the empty tomb, the eat-fish appearance (Luke 24:42-43), and the explicit *soma* in this verse. (3) Reincarnationist and Gnostic readings ("the body is the prison; we escape") have nothing to do with Paul's eschatology: he wants *more* embodiment, not less. Apologetically the passage is also the answer to the standard sneer that the New Testament's resurrection idea is a "spiritual" (meaning vague) one. Paul stipulates the *opposite*: the body is raised, and it is the same body in continuity (as the plant is in continuity with its seed) but glorified, capacitated, and Spirit- animated. See [Resurrection of the Body](/codex/resurrection-of-the-body/) and [Resurrection of Jesus](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus/) for the connected hubs. ## Key words - [G4983 - soma](/codex/g4983-soma/), *soma*, "body"; load-bearing for the passage. Paul keeps the word in both halves of the contrast. - [G0386 - anastasis](/codex/g0386-anastasis/), *anastasis*, "resurrection," "rising up." - [G1453 - egeiro](/codex/g1453-egeiro/), *egeiro*, "raised," the verb of every resurrection appearance in the Gospels and of the *raised* half of each contrast here. - [G1391 - doxa](/codex/g1391-doxa/), *doxa*, "glory"; the third antithesis. - [G3498 - nekros](/codex/g3498-nekros/), *nekros*, "dead"; the resurrection *of the dead* (plural, generic, all believers). - [G4151 - pneuma](/codex/g4151-pneuma/), *pneuma*, "spirit"; the animating principle of the resurrection body. Not the substance of it. - [G5590 - psyche](/codex/g5590-psyche/), *psyche*, "soul" / "natural life"; the animating principle of the present body. ## Theological themes - **Continuity with transformation.** The seed-plant analogy carries both. The same body, glorified. - **Bodily resurrection, not disembodied immortality.** Christianity is not Platonism. The hope is embodied. - **Spirit-animated, not immaterial.** *Pneumatikon* names the animating power, not the substance. - **Adam / Christ federalism.** Two heads, two humanities, two modes of embodied existence. - **Eschatology shapes ethics.** The body's destiny in glory conditions how we treat it now (cf. 6:13-20). ## Cross-references - [1 Corinthians 15.45-49](/codex/1-corinthians-15-45-49/), the Adam-Christ federal contrast that immediately follows. - [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), the chapter hub. - [Philippians 3.20-21](/codex/philippians-3-20-21/), "He will transform our lowly body to conform with His glorious body." Direct parallel. - [Romans 8.11](/codex/romans-8-11/), the Spirit who raised Jesus will raise our mortal bodies. - [1 John 3.2](/codex/1-john-3-2/), "we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is." - [Genesis 2.7](/codex/genesis-2-7/), "man became a living soul" (the *psyche zosa* Paul cites in 15:45). - [Luke 24.39-43](/codex/luke-24-39-43/), the risen Christ as the prototype: "Touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." The fish-eating empirically refutes the docetist read. ## See also - [Resurrection of the Body](/codex/resurrection-of-the-body/), concept hub. - [Resurrection of Jesus](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus/), Christ as the firstfruits, the prototype of the *soma pneumatikon*. - [Substance Dualism](/codex/substance-dualism/), the philosophical anthropology in conversation with this passage. - [Heaven](/codex/heaven/), the wider eschatological frame. - [Reincarnation](/codex/reincarnation/), the contrasting position the verse rules out. ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Anonymous Gospels Objection Defeater](/codex/anonymous-gospels-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Anthropology Defeats Christianity Objection Defeater](/codex/anthropology-defeats-christianity-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Argument from Personal Identity](/codex/argument-from-the-memory-continuity-convergence/), via [1 Corinthians 15.35-58](/codex/1-corinthians-15-35-58/) - [Argument from Prophecy Fulfillment](/codex/argument-from-prophecy-fulfillment/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Argument from the Fear of Death](/codex/argument-from-the-fear-of-death/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), [1 Corinthians 15.35-49](/codex/1-corinthians-15-35-49/) - [Argument from the Information-Conservation Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-information-conservation-convergence/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), [1 Corinthians 15.35-58](/codex/1-corinthians-15-35-58/) - [Argument from the Memory-Continuity Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-memory-continuity-convergence/) - [Argument from the Narrative-Identity Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-narrative-identity-convergence/) - [Argument from the Proportionate-Causality Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-proportionate-causality-convergence/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Argument from the Resurrection](/codex/argument-from-the-resurrection/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Argument from the Universal Burial Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-universal-burial-convergence/) - [Argument from Twin Asymmetries](/codex/argument-from-twin-asymmetries/) - [Causal Adequacy Argument](/codex/argument-from-the-proportionate-causality-convergence/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Christ Before Jesus Thesis Defeater](/codex/christ-before-jesus-thesis-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Conditional Immortality from Text-First Method](/codex/conditional-immortality-from-text-first-method/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity Objection Defeater](/codex/inherited-guilt-and-visiting-iniquity-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Jesus Was Not Buried in a Tomb Objection Defeater](/codex/jesus-was-not-buried-in-a-tomb-objection-defeater/) - [Job Bet Objection Defeater](/codex/job-bet-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), [1 Corinthians 15.12-58](/codex/1-corinthians-15-12-58/) - [Manuscript Variants Bible Corruption Objection Defeater](/codex/manuscript-variants-bible-corruption-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Marks Ending Proves the Resurrection Was Invented Objection Defeater](/codex/marks-ending-proves-the-resurrection-was-invented-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Nag Hammadi Suppressed Gospels Objection Defeater](/codex/nag-hammadi-suppressed-gospels-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Paul Invented Christianity Objection Defeater](/codex/paul-invented-christianity-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Stolen Body Hypothesis Defeater](/codex/stolen-body-hypothesis-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [The Gospels Copied Each Other Objection Defeater](/codex/the-gospels-copied-each-other-objection-defeater/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) **Concepts:** - [Apostles' Creed](/codex/apostles-creed/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Biblical Dignity](/codex/biblical-dignity/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Christ vs Other Religion-Founders](/codex/christ-vs-other-religion-founders/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/) - [Church at Corinth](/codex/church-at-corinth/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Debate Logic Toolkit](/codex/debate-logic-toolkit/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Dying and Rising God Motif](/codex/dying-and-rising-god-motif/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Eschatology](/codex/eschatology/), via [1 Corinthians 15.35-57](/codex/1-corinthians-15-35-57/) - [Federal Headship](/codex/romans-5-12-21/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Heaven](/codex/heaven/) - [Lesson 2.2, The Six Structural Commitments of Christianity](/codex/lesson-2-2-the-six-structural-commitments-of-christianity/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Lesson 3.6, The Resurrection, Historical Evidential](/codex/lesson-3-6-the-resurrection-historical-evidential/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Lesson 4.5, Comparative Religion Engagement](/codex/lesson-4-5-comparative-religion-engagement/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Original Sin](/codex/original-sin/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Pre-Pauline Creeds](/codex/pre-pauline-creeds/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Resurrection of Jesus](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Resurrection of Jesus - Naturalistic Counter-Theories](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus-naturalistic-counter-theories/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Resurrection of Jesus - Scholarly Landscape](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus-scholarly-landscape/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Resurrection of Jesus - Theological Significance](/codex/resurrection-of-jesus-theological-significance/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Soul](/codex/h5315-nephesh/) - [Spiritualism](/codex/spiritualism/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Substance Dualism](/codex/substance-dualism/) - [Synoptic Problem](/codex/synoptic-problem/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Theistic Evolution](/codex/theistic-evolution/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Young's Literal Translation](/codex/ylt/), via [1 Corinthians 15.44-45](/codex/1-corinthians-15-44-45/) **People:** - [Gary Habermas](/codex/gary-habermas/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Irenaeus of Lyons](/codex/irenaeus-of-lyons/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Jesus](/codex/jesus/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Paul the Apostle](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [Plato](/codex/plato/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) **Lexicon:** - [G0386 - anastasis](/codex/g0386-anastasis/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), [1 Corinthians 15.12-58](/codex/1-corinthians-15-12-58/), [1 Corinthians 15.42](/codex/1-corinthians-15-42/), [1 Corinthians 15.42-49](/codex/1-corinthians-15-42-49/) - [G1453 - egeiro](/codex/g1453-egeiro/) - [G3498 - nekros](/codex/g3498-nekros/) - [G4983 - soma](/codex/g4983-soma/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/), [1 Corinthians 15.35-49](/codex/1-corinthians-15-35-49/), [1 Corinthians 15.44](/codex/1-corinthians-15-44/) - [G5590 - psyche](/codex/g5590-psyche/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [H0001 - ab](/codex/h0001-ab/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [H0120 - adam](/codex/h0120-adam/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [H1320 - basar](/codex/h1320-basar/) - [H4191 - mut](/codex/h4191-mut/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) - [H4194 - mavet](/codex/h4194-mavet/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) **Guides:** - [Ris3n Arguments](/codex/ris3n-arguments/), via [1 Corinthians 15](/codex/1-corinthians-15/) **Passages:** - [2 Corinthians 3.18](/codex/2-corinthians-3-18/) - [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.