Baptism for the Dead; Dying Daily; a Brief Exhortation (1 Corinthians 15:29–34)

1 Cor. 15:29. What will those do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

This passage is somewhat obscure. It is clear that the holy Paul draws the necessity of faith in the resurrection from the sacrament of baptism, but in what way exactly is not evident.—Is it not so?—We are baptized into the death of the Lord with a participation in the power of His resurrection, for he who comes forth from the font now lives a new life. This renewal of life is a pledge of the resurrection, as the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the resurrection of the dead. The Apostle says to them: you baptize yourselves for the dead, though you will come to life—here spiritually, and then bodily as well. Suppose now that someone is baptized without this hope of resurrection and consequently without participation in the power of Christ’s resurrection; what is he doing?—A dead man enters the font, and a dead man comes forth. Such persons are baptized for the dead, that is, for themselves, and nothing more. What then is the point of being baptized? Thus does the blessed Photius explain it through Oecumenius. “What,” he says, “do the baptized do to avoid being dead forever and forever held in Hades? That is, if there is no resurrection, what do the baptized do in such hopes? If the dead are not raised, what is the point of being baptized in order to rise? But he expresses it more strikingly, saying: what are they doing being baptized for the dead, speaking as it were for those who, by your disbelief in the resurrection, you assign to be eternally dead. Since you are assigning others, and yourselves, and all to be eternally dead, what do you accomplish by being baptized for yourselves, who will never rise, and who are condemned to remain dead forever?—He does not speak directly to them, but rather speaks of outsiders (that is, not in the second person, but in the third), so as not to strike them too forcefully.”

The holy Chrysostom takes this in much the same sense. Here is his extended treatment: “The Apostle now turns to another proof of the matter, bringing even the opponents themselves as witnesses to the truth. What does he say? But I will first tell you how those infected with the Marcionite heresy distort these words. When one of their catechumens dies, they hide a living person beneath the bier of the dead one, approach the dead one, and ask whether he wishes to receive baptism. The one hidden beneath the bier answers on his behalf that he wishes to receive baptism; then they baptize this living one in place of the dead, staging what seems to be a theatrical performance. Then when they are condemned for this, they point to the words of the Apostle and say: the Apostle said, ‘those who are baptized for the dead’. Do you see how ridiculous this is? And is it worth refuting them? I do not think so. What does the holy Paul say? But first remember what we do when we approach holy baptism. We confess the dogmas sent down from heaven, among which we pronounce the following: ‘I believe in the resurrection of the dead’. In this faith we are baptized, for after this confession we descend into the spring of those sacred waters. Remembering this very thing, the Apostle says: if there is no resurrection, then why are you being baptized ‘for the dead’, that is, for bodies? For in baptism you believe in the resurrection of a dead body—that it will not remain dead. You confess in words the resurrection of the dead, and the priest, as it were in symbol, shows you in deed that in which you have believed and which you have confessed in words; you do what lies in your power, and God then assures you. How and in what manner? By water. For descent and immersion in water, and then rising forth from water is the sign of descent into Hades and rising thence. Therefore Paul calls baptism a grave, when he says: ‘we were buried with Him through baptism into His death’ (Rom. 6:4). By this he assures us of the certainty of the future, that is, of the resurrection of the body. For it is far more difficult to wash away sins than to raise a body. In the bath of rebirth the grace touches the very soul and tears sin out by the root. The soul of the baptized becomes cleaner than the very rays of the sun, becoming what it was at the beginning, or even far better, for it receives the Spirit, who completely sets it ablaze and makes it holy. Just as you, by melting iron or gold, make it pure and new, so likewise the Holy Spirit, by melting the soul in baptism as if in a furnace, and destroying sins, makes it the purest and most brilliant of all pure gold. From this you can now convince yourself of the truth of the resurrection of bodies. Since sin brought in death, then with the destruction of the root, without any doubt, its fruit will be destroyed as well. Therefore you speak first of ‘the remission of sins’ (I confess one baptism for the remission of sins), and then you confess the ‘resurrection of the dead’ (I look for the resurrection of the dead), passing from the first to the last and further, since the word ‘Resurrection’ does not yet show everything, you are commanded to say also ‘the life of the world to come’ (and the life of the age to come), so that no one thinks death will come again after that resurrection. Thus, remembering these words, Paul says: ‘What will those do who are baptized for the dead’? If there is no resurrection, he says, then these words are a joke; if there is no resurrection, how do we persuade others to believe what we do not give them? We compel them to confirm by agreement the truth of the Resurrection, which they will not receive? What need is there for the confession itself, if it is not followed by deed?”

The blessed Theodoret expresses the Apostle’s thought in his own way, holding to the same underlying idea—the power of baptism. According to him the Apostle says: “The one being baptized is buried together with the Lord, so that, having shared in His death, he might become a partaker also of the resurrection. But if the body is dead and will not rise, then why be baptized at all?”

“Therefore, in explaining this passage, one must either accept some opinion from our commentators or leave it among the things that are not understood. Modern commentators do a very poor job by supposing that the Apostle speaks here of baptism for the dead, that is, of that which the holy Chrysostom so ridicules. Can we suppose that the Apostle Paul would have left such an absurd novelty unconfuted if it had been practiced in Corinth? And is it consistent with his character to use an error to confirm a truth that he has already proven so firmly from other sources?”

1 Cor. 15:30. Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

The second proof the holy Paul draws from the selfless labours of apostolic preaching of the Gospel, among the subjects of which belongs the dogma of the resurrection of the dead. He speaks as if saying: how could we resolve to endure hardships, deprivations, deaths, if the Gospel were not tangibly certain, and in it the truth of the resurrection, after which those who labour in the Gospel await a bright reward?! This is unthinkable. “See what else he strives to confirm this dogma by,” says Chrysostom,—“by his own resolve (that is, his readiness for all hardships and death), or rather, not only his own, but that of the other Apostles as well. And this is no trivial proof—to point to teachers fully convinced of the truth and confirming it not only by words but by deeds. Therefore he does not simply say: we are convinced of this—this alone would not have been sufficient to convince—but he presents proof from deeds and speaks as if in this way: to confess this in words may seem to you not at all surprising; but if we present to you proof from deeds, what will you say against this? Listen then to how we preach this every day by our sufferings. He did not say ‘I’ but ‘we,’ having in view all the Apostles together, and thus on the one hand showing his own humility, and on the other making his words credible. What can you say? Are we deceiving you by preaching this, and are we not teaching from vanity? But to hold such an opinion is prevented by our sufferings, for who would constantly expose himself to sufferings vainly and pointlessly? Therefore he says: ‘why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?’ Out of vanity, perhaps someone might resolve to do this once or twice, but not for his whole life, as we have; but we have devoted our entire lives to this.”

1 Cor. 15:31. I die daily, just as surely as I have reason to be proud of you, brethren, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

After pointing to all the Apostles, he fixes his gaze upon himself alone, confirming by his own example the sufferings of the other Apostles. Behold, he says, I die every day—why, if there is no resurrection? “I die every day” means: every day I find myself in such circumstances that death threatens me; but I do not turn back, but I commit myself to the resolve of my will to this death and so conduct myself as one about to die at once. Thus, although death does not actually come, I nevertheless experience the feelings of a dying man, as if I pass through the shadow of death. The holy Chrysostom says: “How does he die ‘every day’?—By zeal and readiness for it. And why does he say this? Again, in order to confirm by this means also the truth of the resurrection. Who would resolve,” he says, “to expose himself to so many kinds of death if there is no resurrection and future life? If it requires great courage even for those who believe in the resurrection to expose themselves to dangers for it, how much more would an unbeliever not resolve to expose himself to so many and such heavy kinds of death.”

“Just as surely as I have reason to be proud of you”—this is an asseverative turn of phrase. It means either: you yourselves will give me this boast, because I have always been in the same position among you. Or: I swear by your boast (Photius), as though I were pledging the boast which I have concerning Christ Jesus in you, for your conversion and salvation,—if I speak falsity. The first thought is the most natural, for such an intense proving of this circumstance, which is known to all and which the second thought assumes, is completely unnecessary. It is enough to point to it.

1 Cor. 15:32. If from human motives I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead are not raised, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

In the course of the speech one expects that here the Apostle mentions something greater than what he has already indicated by the words: “‘we stand in jeopardy every hour’,” and “‘I die every day’.” Therefore the words “‘I fought wild beasts at Ephesus’” must be understood in the literal, not the figurative sense. The holy Chrysostom says: “The Apostle shows by what kinds of death he died: I fought, he says, with wild beasts. God delivered me from dangers; but what of that?” The same with the blessed Theodoret: “I became food for wild beasts, but I was miraculously saved. What then is the fruit for me from this danger, if there is no resurrection of the dead?” That this is not mentioned in the Acts, and that the holy Paul himself does not mention it in the second epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter 11, this does not prevent us from understanding this passage in such a way, for neither do the Acts say everything about the Apostle, nor does he himself. How could this have come to pass?—“From human motives,” κατὰ ἄνθρωπον,—by human accusation. His ill-wishers became enraged and resolved to deliver him to wild beasts. God delivered him, shutting the mouths of the beasts. Some think that God frustrated the very plot, and the Apostle, though he did not actually fight, nonetheless in his resolve had himself given up to the beasts. But “I fought” suggests the reality of the event.

The word “from human motives” is difficult to settle here. The holy Chrysostom says: “To the extent that is possible for a human.” Theodoret: “According to human reasoning.” Photius, through Oecumenius, like Chrysostom, and further: “If it was not for the sake of future hope and reward that I fought with the beast, but for human glory, what advantage is it to me?”

“What advantage is it to me?” “If the time of reward does not come and all our deeds are confined to the present, then we suffer greater loss; you have believed without dangers, but we are slaughtered every day. However, he says all this not because he laboured for reward, but because of the weakness of many, in order to establish them in the truth of the resurrection. For him it would have been sufficient reward to do what is pleasing to God. And indeed (for the believer), great is already the reward to please Christ in all things, and without reward it is already great for him to endure dangers for His sake” (the holy Chrysostom).

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If there is no resurrection, no other life and reward, which can be full only when human nature is whole, that is, when one is not just spirit and soul, but also body, then why deprive yourself of any pleasures? Eat and drink, you will die—and that is the end of it. “By these words now the Apostle puts them to shame and speaks not from himself, but brings the words of the great prophet Isaiah against the careless” (Isa. 26:13–14) (the holy Chrysostom). “And the Apostle brought these words aptly, speaking as it were in this way: fasting is useless, abstinence is useless, let us enjoy the pleasures of the present life, if those who love virtue have no reward appointed for them” (Theodoret). This consequence followed directly from disbelief in the resurrection. For although it is still possible to believe in the immortality of the soul even then, this is not sufficient. The soul alone is not a human being, and life by the soul alone is an incomplete human life. All the saints at the present time live by soul and spirit and, strengthened by God’s power, help those who call upon them, but even this activity and the enjoyment of good things, until the resurrection, is not complete; it is only a beginning and a pledge of what will be after the resurrection. And it is because there is a resurrection. If there were not, neither would this be. The holy Paul does not distinguish the immortality of the soul from the resurrection, but holds that as soon as there is no resurrection, there is no immortality either; consequently, death ends all, and from this follows directly: “‘let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’.”