Abstract
The central focus of this study is Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 15 in favour of a resurrection of the dead. To date, the secondary literature shows no clear consensus regarding the nature of Paul’s argumentative strategy, its internal structure, its coherence with the broader epistle, the worldview it reflects, the rhetorical mode he uses, or the logical validity of his reasoning.
A semiotic approach was employed to investigate these issues. It involved a detailed reading of 1 Corinthians 15, emphasising Greco-Roman rhetoric and Paul’s use of the Septuagint. The chapter’s relationship to the epistle as a whole was examined, along with the reasons why Paul deemed it necessary to engage in this extensive argument. Paul held a Christological view of morality, believing that a Christian life is fundamentally rooted in the hope of the resurrection of the dead. His argument consisted of two parts. First, that the resurrection of Jesus necessarily implied the resurrection of the faithful. Second, he challenged the notion that a decaying corpse could not be resurrected and that it was impossible to imagine how such an event could occur.
To clarify his argument, relevant sections were compared with other Pauline texts. Views on death and the afterlife current at the time were also examined. Generally, there was a dualistic view of human beings as comprising a body and a soul. The soul was seen as immortal. Paul did not share this view but argued for the resurrection of bodies. According to Paul, for the dissenters, the baptism ritual was intended to provide material benefits in this life; it had no significant reference to the afterlife or implications for moral living. Paul nowhere refers to hell as a place of eternal punishment. In this mindset, only believers would enter the Kingdom of God after their resurrection and transformation. The sentence for non-believers would be non-participation in this resurrection, that is, eternal destruction.
The strategies Paul used to persuade his readers included appealing to emotion, referring to those who accepted his arguments as brothers, and ...