The Resurrection Body and the Hope Jesus Brings In First Corinthians 15:35-38, Paul continues his quest to encourage the people in the churches of Asia Minor to keep their faith and trust in God. Throughout 1st Corinthians, Paul took on a role of interlocutor. He treats his letter as a conversation between him and a third person. In his conversations, Paul practices the rhetorical method of questioning and answering in the same dialogue. He also makes many appeals to the logic and the emotional aspect of the third person. At the same time, Paul brings his own passion and zeal in his conservations. Paul hopes, through his letters and his art of persuasion, his recipients can make the necessary changes in their lives to be more like Christ.
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First, he appeals to the logic of the readers as indicated in verses 36, 37, 38, 42-44, and 50. Paul explains the logic of human-initiated growth. What humans sow is “not the body which is to be… only God gives it a body as he has chosen.” When humans trust Jesus Christ, what He sow will become glorified, powerful, and spiritual. God will be pleased. The most important indicative Paul makes is “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” only spiritual bodies that is created through Jesus Christ. Second, Paul uses emotion to impact his reader. The readers can feel the sense of the climactic conclusion in verses 51-52 and 55-57. Third, Paul frequents the use of the Old Testament. According to Collins, Paul cites the Scripture “as an authority on the basis” for [his] evidence of his arguments (Collins 570). The passage is apparent of Paul’s emotions as shown by the exclamation marks in verses 36 and 51, as well as his apocalyptic language. Paul also stresses God’s character as the ultimate authority over life and death as indicated in verses 38 and 57. Throughout the passage, Paul arranges his arguments by primarily proposing questions and answering the question through imagery, metaphors, and apocalyptic language already described above. Paul features parallelism to make his argument stronger, and they can be found in verses 45 and 47, and 53 and 54, among others. Paul includes heavy use of metaphors and imagery through seeds, heavenly bodies, Adam and Christ in order to ensure the clear understanding of his readers in Paul’s time. Paul also uses hyperboles. One example of a hyperbole can be found in verse 36, “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” Paul uses many of these devices to enhance his rhetorical arguments and to paint a picture for his readers, so they could easily understand what Paul is trying to
First, he appeals to the logic of the readers as indicated in verses 36, 37, 38, 42-44, and 50. Paul explains the logic of human-initiated growth. What humans sow is “not the body which is to be… only God gives it a body as he has chosen.” When humans trust Jesus Christ, what He sow will become glorified, powerful, and spiritual. God will be pleased. The most important indicative Paul makes is “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” only spiritual bodies that is created through Jesus Christ. Second, Paul uses emotion to impact his reader. The readers can feel the sense of the climactic conclusion in verses 51-52 and 55-57. Third, Paul frequents the use of the Old Testament. According to Collins, Paul cites the Scripture “as an authority on the basis” for [his] evidence of his arguments (Collins 570). The passage is apparent of Paul’s emotions as shown by the exclamation marks in verses 36 and 51, as well as his apocalyptic language. Paul also stresses God’s character as the ultimate authority over life and death as indicated in verses 38 and 57. Throughout the passage, Paul arranges his arguments by primarily proposing questions and answering the question through imagery, metaphors, and apocalyptic language already described above. Paul features parallelism to make his argument stronger, and they can be found in verses 45 and 47, and 53 and 54, among others. Paul includes heavy use of metaphors and imagery through seeds, heavenly bodies, Adam and Christ in order to ensure the clear understanding of his readers in Paul’s time. Paul also uses hyperboles. One example of a hyperbole can be found in verse 36, “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” Paul uses many of these devices to enhance his rhetorical arguments and to paint a picture for his readers, so they could easily understand what Paul is trying to