The “Spiritual Body” Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42–46)
“So also is the resurrection of the dead…it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:42–46, bolding mine)
While Christians agree this passage refers to the resurrection, there are different opinions as to what kind of resurrection it refers to. The disagreement stems from what Paul, the writer, meant by “spiritual body.” Many commentators say that although Paul described it as a “spiritual body” resurrection, he did not mean that fleshly bodies would not rise. All Paul meant was that it would be a spirit-infused fleshly resurrection.
“We understand the…spiritual body as flesh which is fully alive with the Spirit of God, the Lord and giver of Life. The spiritual body which Paul describes here evokes not disembodied forms or apparitions, but [fleshly] bodies saturated in the Spirit…This conception of a spiritual body as ‘the body saturated with the Spirit’ forces us to wrestle with Paul’s teaching that the body can be spiritual, but not in the way which the word ‘spiritual’ has come to be used in most contemporary discourse, and certainly not by becoming any less of a body.”[1]
While there is some truth in this statement, I believe it falls short of what Paul had in mind. The key is to figure out what Paul meant by “natural body” and “spiritual body.” And we don’t have to guess because Paul himself defined these terms a few chapters earlier:
“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them…But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one” (1 Cor. 2:14–15, bolding mine).
Just like in chapter 15, Paul contrasts the “natural” man with the “spiritual” man. However, it is clear in this chapter (chapter 2) that Paul is describing spiritual differences. Simply put, the “natural” man rejects the things of God, while the “spiritual” man receives the things of God. The “natural” man lives according to his fleshly, animal-like desires, while the “spiritual” man follows God’s ways and is raised to life in Christ (Col. 3:1–2; Eph. 2:5–6). But this has nothing to do with physical resurrection. And it doesn’t in chapter 15 either!
The resurrection Paul described in chapter 15 is spiritual; it has nothing to do with physical corpses rising out of the dirt. Both the “natural body” and the “spiritual body” refer to spiritual states.
For more about the resurrection, visit The Bible Fulfilled, then click on the “Category” page, then click on the topic “Resurrection.”
Or, for a more in-depth discussion about the topics discussed in this article, see my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled.
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 9/16/24
[1] Matthew Stanley, “What Is the Spiritual Body in 1 Corinthians 15?” July 30, 2023
