Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:19

"If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable." — 1 Corinthians 15:19 (ASV)

If in this life only we have hope in Christ. If our hope in Christ is not to be followed by the resurrection of the dead and future glory, and if all our hopes are to be disappointed.

We are, etc. Doddridge, Macknight, Grotius, and some others, suppose that this refers to the apostles only. They argue that the sense is that if there were no resurrection, the apostles, of all people, would be most to be pitied, since they had exposed themselves to such a variety of dangers and trials, in which nothing could sustain them but the hope of immortality. If they failed in that, they failed in everything. They were regarded as the most vile of the human family; they suffered more from persecution, poverty, and perils than other people. If, after all, they were to be deprived of all their hopes and disappointed in their expectation of the resurrection, their condition would be more deplorable than that of any other people. But there is no good reason for supposing that the word 'we,' here, is to be limited to the apostles. For:

1. Paul had not mentioned the apostles particularly in the previous verses; and,
2. The argument demands that it should be understood of all Christians, and the declaration is as true, substantially, of all Christians as it was of the apostles.

Of all men most miserable. This means more to be pitied or commiserated than any other class of people. The word used here (eleeinoteroi) properly means more deserving of pity, more pitiable. It may sometimes mean more wretched or unhappy, but this is not necessarily its meaning, nor is it its meaning here.

It refers rather to their condition and hopes than to their personal feeling. It does not mean that Christians are unhappy, or that their religion does not produce comfort, but that their condition would be most deplorable; they would be more deserving of pity than any other class of people. This would be for the following reasons:

1. Because no other people had such elevated hopes, and, of course, no others could experience such great disappointment.
2. They were subjected to more trials than any other class of people. They were persecuted and reviled, and subjected to toil, privation, and want, on account of their religion; and if, after all, they were to be disappointed, their condition was truly deplorable.
3. They do not indulge in the pleasures of this life; they do not give themselves, as others do, to the enjoyments of this world. They voluntarily subject themselves to trial and self-denial. If they are not admitted to eternal life, they are not only disappointed in this, but they are also cut off from the sources of happiness that their fellow human beings enjoy in this world. —Calvin.
4. On the whole, therefore, there would be disappointed hopes, trials, poverty, want, and all for nothing. No condition could be conceived to be more deplorable than that of a person who was looking for eternal life, and for it subjecting themselves to a life of want, poverty, persecution, and tears, only to be finally disappointed.

This passage, therefore, does not mean that virtue and piety are not accompanied by happiness. It does not mean that, even if there were no future state, a person would not be happier walking in the paths of virtue than living a life of sin. It does not mean that the Christian has no happiness in religion itself—in the love of God, in prayer and praise, and in purity of life.

In all this, a Christian has enjoyment; and even if there were no heaven, a life of virtue and piety would be happier than a life of sin. But it means that the Christian's condition would be more deplorable than that of other people; they would be more to be pitied.

All the Christian's high hopes would be disappointed. Other people have no such hopes to be dashed to the ground; and, of course, no other people would be such objects of pity and compassion. The argument in this verse is derived from the high hopes of the Christian. "Could they believe that all their hopes were to be frustrated? Could they subject themselves to all these trials and privations, without believing that they would rise from the dead?

Were they prepared, by the denial of the doctrine of the resurrection, to put themselves in the condition of the most miserable and wretched of the human family—to admit that they were in a condition most to be deplored?