Immediately after the brilliant outlook Paul gives in 1Cor 15,20-28, a rather strange sentence follows:
“Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead?”
1Cor 15:29 Rev. Elbf.
Reading this sentence by itself, one could get the impression that there was a custom according to which people were baptized “for the dead”. At least that is how it is interpreted and sometimes translated, as here in the “Hope for All” translation:
“With you, some have been baptized vicariously for people who have already died. What would be the point if the dead are not resurrected at all?”
1Cor 15,29 Hope for all
However, the fact that some are baptized “on behalf of people who have already died” is likely to be more of a myth and legend that has been perpetuated in the 2. and This is a practice that was established in some circles in the 3rd century and is still practiced today by various groups (New Apostles, Mormons). In the Bible, the practice could not be found anywhere, and it is interpreted into this verse. In fact, this verse looks quite different once we read it in a translation that is close to the basic text, for example, in the concordant rendering:
“Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized? After all, it would be for the dead if dead people in general were not raised! What else should one be baptized for them? For what purpose do we put ourselves in danger every hour? Day by day I die – by all the boasting I have in you in Christ Jesus our Lord! What benefit would I have if I only fought with wild beasts after the manner of men in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be misled: Evil talk corrupts kind characters. Become righteous, sober up, and sin not! For some have no right knowledge of God; to your shame I must speak thus to you!”
1Cor 15:29-34
The key to understanding is context. Only when we read this verse in context can we understand the connections. Two things are important here:
- What is the context of this verse?
- What is the wording in context? What is referred to?
Understanding the text in context
The verse follows on from the insertion in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. Or in other words: If we take Paul’s theological excursion aside for a moment, verse 29 connects directly with verse 19.
In the passage 1Cor 15:12-19 Paul described that there were some in Corinth who denied the resurrection (1Cor 15:12). So there would be no resurrection in general, according to some. If this were true, then logically Christ would not have been resurrected either and no justification of sins would have taken place. Yes, we would be the most pitiful of all men if we believed this (1 Cor. 15:19). Paul now picks up where he left off in verse 29:
“Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized? After all, it would be for the dead if the dead in general were not raised!”
In the church at Corinth was baptized. Paul now follows up with the practice of baptism. However: Baptism was not so important for Paul because Christ did not commission him to baptize (1Cor 1:17). In Corinth, however, there was baptism, and this ritual would be meaningless if dead people did not rise and thus Jesus had not risen. All these rituals would be meaningless, without a justified prospect of a resurrection and without a living Christ! Baptism – it would be for the dead (logical consequence!), if dead people in general would not be raised (1Cor 15,29). There would then be no further hope.
The useless baptism
So a baptism for the dead is not meant here, but in context baptism is said to be “useless” if there were no resurrection. “What else is there to be baptized for?” shows the superfluousness of the ritual if there were no outlook beyond death. So Paul is not a ritualist, but he is questioning ritual based on the strange views among some in Corinth.
Paul then goes on to explain the further consequences with regard to his own work: How useless it would be for him, too, to constantly put himself in danger! For if the dead in general are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! (1Cor 15:32 Isa 22:13).
Without a view beyond this life (the theme of “resurrection”!), not only does baptism have no meaning, but then the whole faith becomes useless. If Jesus had been only a preacher of good morals, only a man of special ethics, only a teacher of wisdom or a reformer of Judaism, only a freedom fighter or a founder of religion, then everything we derive from this would have no meaning. Because tomorrow we die and everything is over.
The meaning of the resurrection is therefore the pivotal point in the Gospel. It is about more than we have in mind here in this world and here and now. If we do not grasp this, we miss the core and outlook of God’s action in His Christ.
Do not be misled
In summary, Paul now assesses the statements in the church that there is no resurrection and writes:
“Do not be misled: Evil talk corrupts kind characters. Be sobered up righteously, and sin not! For some have no right knowledge of God; to your shame I must speak thus to you!”
1Cor 15:33-34
Do not be misled! This concerns the erroneous opinion that there is no resurrection. Such bad conversations spoil people. The core of the Good News is lost. Instead, the Corinthians were to behave “righteously sobered” and not sin (not miss the mark). In other words, we could understand Paul saying to the Corinthians, “Wake up! This is false doctrine and leads nowhere. This distracts from the core of the gospel.
Of the people who claim that there is no resurrection, he now says, “For some have no right knowledge of God!” Paul does not mince his words. He says straight out what’s what. The Corinthians should learn to make the right difference. However, these are harsh words and actually it should not have been like this. “To your embarrassment, I must speak to you in this way!”
Chaos in the community
The church in Corinth was chaotic. Paul had to bring order into the chaos. There was strife and sectarianism (1Cor 1), raving about derailed spiritual gifts (1Cor 12) and now this, the denial of the resurrection (1Cor 15)! It was truly not an easy letter and the community should be ashamed that it had come to this. He has already written extensively about difficulties before:
“So, brethren, I could not speak to you as to the spiritually minded, but only as to the carnally minded, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you could not yet receive it. Now this is still not possible for you, because you are still carnally minded.”
1Cor 3,1-2
“These things I write not to shame you, but I exhort you as my beloved children. For though you had ten thousand companions in Christ, yet you have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I say unto you, Be ye imitators of me.”
1Cor 4,14-16
“For what have I to judge those outside the church? You do not even judge those inside! But those outside God will judge! Remove the wicked from among you!”
1Cor 5:12-13
“But when maturity comes, this will be dismissed from the fraction. When I was a minor, I spoke like a minor; I was minded like a minor, and I estimated everything like a minor. But when I became a man, I dismissed the things of immaturity.”
1Cor 13:10-11
“Brothers, do not become like little children in your senses and thoughts. In evil you should be immature, but in sense and thought you should be matured!
1Cor 14,20
The Right Knowledge of God
These and other passages show that Paul is struggling for spiritual growth in the church in this letter. He corrects, makes an effort, criticizes and clarifies. He wants to build the community. The apostle wants them to grow to maturity in thought and sense. The second letter to the Corinthians then shows the first fruits of this correction.
Here, the resurrection is about nothing less than the right knowledge of God. To let go of the foundation of the gospel (the resurrection) results in the loss of the gospel. Paul is not wishy-washy in his statements, nor does he simply mean “bygones be bygones” in the case of missteps, but he clarifies and corrects so that the Corinthians have a healthy foundation in faith and life. Because that’s what it’s all about: life in this world. Paul does not correct them to become “orthodox,” much less have “self-righteous opinions.” It is about the impact of the teaching in the here and now.
