Paul next points out the implications of unbelief (15:12–19). The Corinthians had been reminded that the resurrection lay at the heart of the gospel that was proclaimed to them. But was it necessarily the center, or did the call to a spiritual life in union with the risen Christ demonstrate that, unlike Christ, Christians were called to be those who pursued and received spiritual immortality rather than resurrection from the dead? Some such question appears to have led various persons within the church to deny any connection between the fact “that Christ has been raised from the dead” and their idea “that there is no resurrection of the dead” (in general; 15:12).

But the disjunction is a false one, for if in fact there is no such thing as a “resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14; Ac…