Resurrection 5 - 1 Corinthians 15:34-41

Paul’s contrast of the Christian faith with the Epicurean philosophy notes that the main difference between the two is belief in the resurrection. Christianity without a belief in the resurrection would just be “eat, drink, and be merry.” But Paul also recognizes that the concept of someone being risen from the dead can be a difficult thing to understand, especially for people who had never been taught the principle before. Understandably, they must have asked him some specific questions, or at least, he understood that they would have specific questions about the how, when, where, what, and who about the resurrection.

As far as the “how” and “what” goes, Paul asks then answers, “how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” During this time people died so much younger, more often, and much more publicly than they do these days. It’s possible that some people imagined decayed corpses walking around as “resurrected” being, or dancing skeletons or something like that. This would not be a desirable state to exist in, so I can understand their apprehension about embracing a concept where we would basically be zombies forever.  

Putting it in a way that this largely agricultural society would understand, Paul uses an analogy of a seed, saying, “that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.” The word “die” is cross referenced with John 12L24 in which the Savior says, “except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” The planting process involves taking a seed, which I think is usually dried out or something, or at least is not usable anymore for anything except planting. If we liken that to our deaths, our body’s energies are expended and are not usable anymore, and are really not good for anything anymore.

Paul continues explaining “how” the body is to be resurrected, saying “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: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.” When we plant a seed, what grows from that isn’t a bunch of other seeds, it is a plant. So, the seed completely breaks down and what elements are left grow into a magnificent plant. This is another reason why I have to believe that we are divinely created, humans have not been able to create something that spontaneously germinates into a full-grown plant.

This analogy is incredibly powerful if we envision a dead, dried out seed going into the dirt, decomposing and then using the dirt, water, and sunshine around it to combine its original elements with these natural ones and becomes a new being. It’s like when we die and are decomposed, our remaining remnants might combine with those natural or supernatural elements around us to become new and glorious bodies.

The gospeldoctrine.com article on this chapter gives a great quote by Harold B. Lee that further explains this process, saying, “Here we have… the comparison of the resurrection to the lowing of a seed of grain, as suggested by the Apostle Paul… although a seed of grain decomposes, in order to give new life, there remains sufficient of its fundamental elements to give the new seeds the same look, size and shape, just as there will be retained those essential elements of our human bodies sufficient to give each of us the same identity and personality our bodies possessed during our mortal lives.”

Seeds regenerate into what they had been previously, or what their parent plant is. Could you imagine what would happen if you planted a pumpkin seed and strawberries came out? That would screw human history forever, we probably wouldn’t have survived as a species. But just like the seeds become what they came from, our bodies that come back are our personal, individual bodies, just glorified. The “what” is Paul’s explanation answers his previous question “and with what bodies do they come?” It’s a really interesting concept because I’m a short, white girl, I’m not going to be resurrected into the body of a tall, black man. I will receive my same body back, just glorified and perfected, meaning no stretchmarks or scars or anything like that. I will still be me, just more shiny.

Even though we will have our own bodies back, like we discussed yesterday, there will be varying degrees of glory that our bodies will receive, consistent with the place where we will be spending eternity. Paul notes that there are “celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial” and the JST adds, “and bodies telestial,” each with decreasing levels of glory. The celestial body will have the glory of the sun, the terrestrial body will have the glory of the moon, and the telestial body will have the glory of the stars. Joseph Smith described Moroni as shining like lightning, and I wonder if that’s what glory means, being shiny.

First off, if everyone is that bright, then how will we even see each other? But then that begs the question, how did Joseph Smith see Moroni if he was as bright as lightning or the sun at noon day? There has to be some way provided to accommodate that. But second off, if the only difference between the degrees of glory is the brightness of your body, then that doesn’t sound like that big of a deal. Let’s think about this. We know that those with celestial bodies will be able to have “eternal increase” meaning children, but the terrestrial and telestial bodies will not have reproductive capabilities.

The article quotes Joseph Smith as teaching, “They who obtain a glorious resurrection from the dead, are exalted far above principalities, powers, thrones, dominions and angels, and are expressly declared to be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, all having eternal power.” So we will have the power to create life, the power to control the universe, that sounds pretty good to me. One last thought that I had was that “if the glory of God is intelligence,” then when we shine with the brightest degree of glory, then it isn’t just an optical experience, but might also mean that we have all knowledge in the universe. Interesting to think about.

But why the differences in resurrected bodies? Why not just give everyone the same glory in the resurrection? I always thought that all resurrected bodies were the same, so this is kind of a lesson to me as well. The article quotes Joseph Fielding McConkie as commenting, “All are called forth from the grave, and all except those who are sons of perdition are redeemed from the ‘second death,’ but all are not resurrected on equal grounds. At this point our redemption becomes conditional. We cannot concoct a doctrine of redemption that denies the necessity of repentance and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. The kingdom of heaven cannot be made up of those who have an appetite and propensity for sin, notwithstanding the goodness and perfection of Christ. Each of its citizens must claim their own victory over the powers of the flesh through personal striving and ultimately by virtue of the mercy and goodness of Christ.”

It’s like the concept that people can refuse the take advantage of the atonement and can suffer for their own sins. But this doesn’t mean that they are worthy for or would want to be in the celestial kingdom. There is an aspect to repentance that does more than just absolve us of sin, there is a transformative element to repentance that not only takes away our sin, but also enables us to become more Christlike. Those who will inherit the celestial kingdom won’t think that dirty jokes are funny, won’t be racist, will be kind to others, will feel love for others and the pure love of Christ. Those who are so stubborn that they would rather suffer for their own sins than repent and become more Christlike, probably will not be interested in spending time with Christlike people. So through suffering for their own sins, they maybe absolved, but they still won’t want to be in the celestial kingdom.

The resurrection is a free gift to everyone because it’s not our fault that Adam transgressed and therefore made all of us eventually die. However, what kind of body we get in the resurrection and what kingdom we end up in is completely up to us and our devotion to Christ’s cause and our good works.