Will the Righteous Rise Mortal or Immortal?

We regret that we have not sufficient space at our disposal to publish all the letters we have received on this subject. Some of the writers are most critical of our previous comments, while others seem to share our view that 1 Corinthians 15:52 cannot be cited as proof of “immortal emergence” This month we publish the following comments from a Birmingham reader.

As far as I know, there is only one verse in the Scripture which has raised the question, namely, 1 Corinthians 15:52. “The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, etc.” Read by itself, this seems to teach that the dead will come out of the grave incorruptible. But is that the Apostle’s meaning? What was the subject under discussion? Not how the dead come out of the grave, but (1) whether there is any resurrection of the dead, and (2) what body will they have after the resurrection?

In reasoning out these points, he says in v. 36, “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die,” and in v. 37, “Thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain.” In v. 38 he says, “God giveth to each seed a body of its own” (R.V.), and then in v. 42, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in in corruption,” and, v. 44, “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

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Author: P. H. Adams

Keywords: Incorruption, Incorruptible, Raised incorruptible, Raised incorrupted, Immortal emergence, Raised immortal, Come from their graves immortal, mortal emergence, emergence, resurrection, resurrection from the dead, Return of Jesus, Last trump, Dead shall be raised, resurrection of the dead

Bible reference(s): 1Co 15:42, 1 Cor 15:52

Source: “Will the Righteous Rise Mortal or Immortal?,” The Testimony, Vol. 20 No. 239, November 1950, pp. 427-8.

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