The Generic sense of the Resurrection Body in 1 Cor. 15

35 ¶ But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:



Paul is answering an objection (v. 35) and his answer takes up verses 36-42. The first response is to call a person a "fool" who does not understand what is raised up first had to die (v. 36). Thus body under consideration is one that suffered death as only a "fool" would use the term "resurrection" to something that never went down into the grave. However, the church of Christ is promised that the gates of hades shall never prevail against it (Mt. 16:18) but this a body that has died first and is under the victory of hades until it is raised (1 Cor. 15:55-56). Therefore, this is a resurrection of "THE DEAD" rather than something that hades can never prevail over.

Notice that in verse 38 that God giveth "a body" to "every seed" and thus each "his own body." Thus "the body" under consideration is to be understood in the generic sense because "every seed" is given "his own body."

Thus "the body" refers to that body which is "his own body" that each believer possesses in the resurrection. Moreover, notice the plural "bodies" in verse 40. Yet, he continues to refer to these plural "bodies" under the generic sense as "the celestial" and "the terrestial." Thus these plural "bodies" are regarded under the generic nouns.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. Each man is given "his own body" and yet he is speaking of "the body" given in the resurrection of the plural "dead" (masculine plural).

Finally, this is the resurrection of "FROM (ek out from among) THE DEAD". The Greek noun is PLURAL not singular. It is the masculine genitive plural. This the very same description used in this very same context for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and refers to his PHYSICAL body that was put in the grave.

20 ¶ But now is Christ risen from the dead,

Therefore, "from the dead" refers to the PHYSICAL DEAD BODIES found in plural graves. Christ's physical dead body was raised up out from among other literal dead physical bodies in the grave yards. Hence, when Paul uses this of "the body" he is referring to the physical dead body in the generic sense raised up from among other dead bodies (the lost) in the graves as the "dead in Christ rise "FIRST! - 1 Thes. 4; 1 Cor. 15:21-22

Paul argues that only "false witnesses" and "fools" argue that the "resurrection of the dead" does not refer to something that has first died and in both cases the only kind of body that has died in this context is the PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY as the "church' is promised that the gates of hades shall never prevail against it (Mt. 16:18) but "the body" of this context has been subjected to Hades and Hades has been and continues to be victorious over "it" until its resurrection (1 Cor. 15:55-56).

The generic use of nouns is common in Pauline epistles and it is the obvious meaning in this context and it is easy to see UNLESS you have some theory to defend.

 

If you want to discuss 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 then open up a thread to do that. This thread is about the "generic" use of nouns in 1 Cor. 15