ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 15 v29 - 34

OVERVIEW:

There would be no point in taking risks for faith if there were no resurrection (DIDYMUS THE BLIND, CHRYSOSTOM, AMBROSIASTER). But providence is always greater than our risks and problems (CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORET OF CYR). The Corinthians are rebuked for their bad company (CHRYSOSTOM) and called to awaken to their right minds (DIDYMUS THE BLIND, CHRYSOSTOM). The Marcionite practice of baptizing the living on behalf of dead unbelievers does not adequately grasp that baptism saves only the person who receives it freely (DIDYMUS THE BLIND). Those who follow the Epicureans (AMBROSE) are dead already (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). Withdraw from all those who distort the Christian hope (CYPRIAN, ORIGEN, JEROME).

15:29 | Baptized on Behalf of the Dead

REASON FOR BAPTIZING THE DEAD. AMBROSIASTER: It seems that some people were at that time being baptized for the dead because they were afraid that someone who was not baptized would either not rise at all or else rise merely in order to be condemned. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE MARCIONITE PRACTICE. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The Marcionites baptize the living on behalf of dead unbelievers, not knowing that baptism saves only the person who receives it. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

BAPTISM MEANINGLESS WITHOUT RESURRECTION. CHRYSOSTOM: Sin has brought death into the world, and we are baptized in the hope that our dead bodies will be raised again in the resurrection. If there is no resurrection, our baptism is meaningless and our bodies will remain as dead as they are now. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 40.2.

15:30 | In Peril Every Hour

THEME. AMBROSIASTER: The theme here is that unless there is such a fact as the resurrection of the dead, all this is pointless. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

TAKING RISKS FOR FAITH. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: If the soul is not immortal, if the body does not rise from the dead, there would be no point taking risks on behalf of the faith. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WHY IN PERIL? CHRYSOSTOM: Who would choose a life of constant danger if there was no point to it? Some people do this kind of thing in a moment of vain boasting, but that is not the same as dedicating one’s whole life to it over a number of years. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 40.3.

15:31 | Dying Every Day

THE FRUIT OF SUFFERINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul rejoices in his sufferings because he sees what wonderful results they produce in people like the Corinthian Christians. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 40.3.

THE GREATNESS OF PROVIDENCE. THEODORET OF CYR: Here Paul outlines both the magnitude of the problems he faces and the greatness of God’s providential care for him. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 275.

15:32 | What Do I Gain?

DEAD ALREADY. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: They are in fact dead, not tomorrow but already—dead to God. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 3.11.81.

A PROPHETIC QUOTATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul quotes Isaiah [22:13-14] in order to mock this suggestion. Isaiah after all was speaking about hard and reprobate people who were in the habit of talking like this. If they could find no forgiveness under the law, how much less will they be ready to be pardoned by the gospel of grace! Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 40.4.

THE EPICUREAN ILLUSION. AMBROSE: If all hope of the resurrection is lost, let us eat and drink and lose not the enjoyment of the things present, for we have none to come. … The Epicureans say they are followers of pleasure because death means nothing to them, because that which is dissolved has no feeling, and that which has no feeling means nothing to us. Thus they show that they are living only carnally, not spiritually. They do not discharge the duty of the soul but only of the flesh. They think that all life’s duty is ended with the separation of the soul and body. LETTER 59.

15:33 | Do Not Be Deceived

BLIND GUIDES. CYPRIAN: The Lord teaches and admonishes that we must withdraw from such. “They are blinded guides of the blind. But if the blind man guide a blind man, both shall fall into a pit.” Such a one is to be turned away from, and whoever has separated himself from the church is to be shunned. Such a man is perverted and is condemned by his very self. Does he seem to himself to be with Christ, who acts contrary to the elders of Christ, who separates himself from association with his clergy and his people? That man bears his arms against the church; he fights against God’s plan. THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 17.

GOOD CORRUPTED BY EVIL. ORIGEN: We see quiet and respectable men who, when they have become associated with turbulent and shameless people, have their good manners corrupted by evil conversations. They are turned into men of the same sort as those who are steeped in every kind of witness. This sometimes happens to men of mature age, who prove that they have lived more chastely in youth than when advanced years had granted them the opportunity of a freer life. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.1.5.

THE CHASTISEMENT OF GOD. CYPRIAN: An enemy of the altar, a rebel against Christ’s sacrifice, a traitor to his faith, a blasphemous renegade, a disobedient servant, an undutiful son, a hostile brother, he scorns the bishops, turns his back on God’s priests and dares to set up another altar, to offer another prayer in unlawful words, to profane the true offering of the Lord with false sacrifices. Does he not know that the presumption which strives against the ordinance of God is punished by the chastisement of God? THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 17.

DISCRETION. JEROME: You despise gold; someone else loves it. You spurn wealth; he eagerly pursues it. You love silence, weakness and privacy. He takes delight in talking and effrontery in the public square, and streets, and apothecary shops. … Do not remain under the same roof with him. Do not rely on your past continence. You cannot be holier than David or wiser than Solomon. … If in the course of your clerical duty you have to visit a widow or a virgin, never enter the house alone. Let your companions be persons who will not disgrace you. … You must not sit alone with a woman secretly and without witnesses. If she has anything confidential to disclose, she is sure to have some nurse or housekeeper, some virgin, some widow, some married woman. She cannot be so friendless as to have none except you to whom she can venture to confide her secrets. LETTER 52.

THE REBUKE OF BAD COMPANY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says this both in order to rebuke their past conduct and to show that he makes some allowance for them, in the hope that they will now repent and return to the right path. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 40.4.

15:34 | Sin No More

AWAKING FROM IGNORANCE. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The wise are on the lookout for wrongdoing and have awakened from the sleep of ignorance. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

COME TO YOUR RIGHT MIND. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul sounds here as if he were talking to drunkards and madmen, for it is people like that who are in the habit of making sudden changes of behavior. Those who have no knowledge of God are those who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 40.4.