Resurrection in 3 Corinthians

(avg. read time: 4–7 mins.)

Now that we have reviewed the early acts of the New Testament Apocrypha, it only makes sense to move on to the early apocryphal letters. While there are a few of these letters, only two of these are of interest to this series: 3 Corinthians and the Epistula Apostolorum.¹ The first of these letters has been included in the Acts of Paul, but I am treating it separately here.

This letter is a mix of Pauline statements, near-Pauline statements, and other early Christian traditions. It draws especially from 1 and 2 Corinthians but develops them to address matters like whether there will be a resurrection “of the flesh.” While I have argued that this formulation is theologically consistent with the NT, including Paul’s works, that phrasing is clearly not native to the NT and it is the result of a matter of later emphasis. It is to that later era that this letter belongs.

But now we must turn to the details of this short letter. As with the rest of this series, I will examine first the explicit references, which it is dense with. Then I will look at a few other implicit links.

Explicit References

This letter is a response to one the Corinthians sent asking “Paul” about teachers that had come among them claiming there is to be no resurrection (αναστασι)² of the flesh, as well as that the prophets should be ignored, God is not almighty, God did not create humans or the rest of the material world, and Christ did not come in the flesh. When “Paul” responds, he uses vocabulary similar (but not identical) to 1 Cor 15:3 to summarize what he first proclaimed to the Corinthians (4).³ The summary of the gospel that follows is much more extensive than 1 Cor 15:3b–7, and it is clearly constructed to directly refute the false teachers (5–18).

Included in this summary is a reference to Jesus’s resurrection, as “Paul” says that Jesus came so that he might raise (εγειρη) us in the flesh “from the dead” (εκ νεκρων), of which he presented himself as an example (6). This is similar to the notion from 1 Cor 15:20–23 that Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection, as well as the general Christomorphic resurrection belief in 1 Cor 15 (on which, see my dissertation). Of course, as I mentioned the description of our being raised “in the flesh” fits early Christian language that became more common in a later era than the NT. I have noted references most extensively here and here (but also see here, here, here, here, and here). Finally, the phrasing here is noteworthy for how it refers to our future resurrection as “from the dead.” As noted in the linked study, the relatively few times this prepositional phrase is applied to the eschatological resurrection in early literature refer specifically to the resurrection of the righteous. That is, this resurrection to everlasting life separates the righteous from the rest of the dead.

More ambiguous is a phrase in 8. In a sentence stating the Father’s purpose in seeking to redeem humans because he created them, “Paul” says the Father sought to make them live (ζωοποιηθη) by adoption (υιοθεσιας). The verb is one of the less common verbs for resurrection in the NT that we have seen multiple times in this series beyond the NT. As with other resurrection verbs from the NT, it does not perforce refer to resurrection, as that depends on context. It could simply refer to God’s general salvific action, which implicitly has its goal in our conformity to Jesus’s resurrection life. What may make this reference to that goal more probable is the use of the term for adoption. Again, this term that is also used in the NT does not necessarily refer to resurrection (Rom 9:4; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5). But its use in Rom 8 (vv. 15, 23) may be particularly informative here, as Paul refers to our future resurrection, the redemption of our bodies, as our adoption (Rom 8:23). That is, resurrection is the consummation of this adoption we have in receiving the first fruits who is the Spirit (for more on resurrection in this chapter and in Romans as a whole, see here and here). Still, while this may be an explicit reference built out of Pauline statements elsewhere, it is the least clear one in this letter.

As it is, there are many other much clearer references to resurrection. The next one says that for those who claim there is/will be no resurrection (αναστασις) of the flesh, there is/will be no resurrection (αναστασεις; 24). After all, those who say such things do not have faith in the one who arose (ανασταντα; 25). This is similar to the declaration in m. Sanh. 10:1 that those who deny the resurrection will have no share in the age to come. The present tense copulas used here probably have a futuristic sense, meaning that they think there will assuredly be no resurrection, and so “Paul” says they get the future they want (of course, a gnomic present sense might be possible as well). While this notion is not reflected anywhere in the NT, the linking of resurrection to everlasting life to the bond of faith with the risen Christ fits the NT’s Christomorphic resurrection belief, especially in how conformity to Jesus’s resurrection life, including resurrection to everlasting life for those who die, is the theo/logical goal of our union with Christ (besides my dissertation, see here and here). This also applies in the case of 31, where it is said God will raise up (εξεγειρει) those who have faith in Christ as Jesus also was raised (ηγερθη). This is similar to how this terminology is used in 1 Cor 6:14, the only use of the first verb in the NT, although the verb applied to Jesus appears in the active voice.

In 26, we find another similarity to 1 Cor 15. This time, it is similar to 1 Cor 15:36–38 in that “Paul” makes an analogy of resurrection with seeds. Having perished naked in the ground, a seed is raised up (ηγερθη) by the will of God in a body and clothed. God also raises (εγειρετε) the body that was sown and gives it manifold blessing.

The letter also adds analogies that Paul never used in his writings. The first is an analogy to Jonah, considering how he was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights and emerged without corruption (28–31). How much, then, can we expect that God will raise us who have had faith in Christ? This analogy is likely inspired by Jesus’ own references to the sign of Jonah (Matt 12:39–40 // Luke 11:29–30). It may also be in the background of expositions on the significance of the three days/third day related to the resurrection, as the Matthean form of Jesus’s teaching may indicate (also see here).

Another analogy is made with what God did when the corpse was thrown in Elisha’s grave and then arose (ανεστη). How much more, then, will the faithful Christians be raised (αναστησεσθε; 32)? This is a story I have addressed elsewhere as one of the historical examples of resurrection in the OT.⁴

Finally “Paul” speaks of bearing the marks of Christ so that he may attain to “the resurrection from/out of the dead” (την εκ νεκρων αναστασιν; 34). This similar to the language of Phil 3:11, and it is further notable for its similarity with Acts 4:2 (besides the post on the prepositional phrase, see here). Again, this is resurrection that separates from the rest of the dead and which is in conformity with Jesus’s resurrection. After all, it presents an everlasting distinction from the rest of the dead, since it is resurrection to everlasting life.

Implicit Links

With so much of this short text being taken up with explicit references to resurrection, there are not many other implicit links to pursue. One of the few is the customary reference to Jesus’s Second Coming (3). The others appear in how “Paul” indicates the importance of the resurrection of the flesh in connection with other beliefs. God sent the Spirit into Mary so that the evil one should be conquered by the same flesh he sought to hold sway over (13, 15), a conquest which is accomplished in Jesus’s resurrection and the general resurrection of the flesh to everlasting life. Likewise, when “Paul” stresses that by his body Jesus Christ saved all flesh, the emphasis on “flesh” is of one piece with the emphasis on the resurrection of the flesh. This further relies on the theological undergirding of the theme of union with Christ.

1. There is a singular reference in the letter from Abgar to Christ (correspondence that I have mentioned previously), but it is a simple statement from Abgar that he has heard Christ raises the dead.

2. I have only been able to find the Greek of this letter in the Bodmer papyrus X, which does not have the accents and breathing marks. The original Greek is written in all capitals, but I have modified that here.

3. παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον in 1 Cor 15:3 compared to εγω γαρ εν αρχη παρεδωκα υμιν α και παπελαβον here.

4. In that same post, I address the other analogy that appears in some mss with 33, which references Elijah raising the widow’s son.