John Calvin Commentary 1 Thessalonians 4:16

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;" — 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (ASV)

For the Lord himself. He uses the term κελεύσματος (shout), and afterwards adds, the voice of the archangel, by way of explanation, intimating what the nature of that arousing shout will be—that the archangel will discharge the office of a herald to summon the living and the dead to the tribunal of Christ. For though this will be common to all the angels, yet, as is customary among different ranks, he appoints one in the foremost place to take the lead of the others.

Regarding the trumpet, however, I leave to others to dispute with greater subtlety, for I have nothing to say in addition to what I briefly noted in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Apostle unquestionably had nothing further in view here than to give some taste of the magnificence and venerable appearance of the Judge, until we behold it fully. With this taste, it is fitting for us in the meantime to rest satisfied.

The dead who are in Christ. He again says that the dead who are in Christ, that is, who are included in Christ’s body, will rise first, so that we may know that the hope of life is laid up in heaven for them no less than for the living. He says nothing regarding the reprobate, because this did not contribute to the comfort of the godly, which he is now discussing.

He says that those who survive will be carried up together with them. Regarding these, he makes no mention of death; therefore, it seems as if he meant to say that they would be exempted from death. Here Augustine is greatly troubled, both in the twentieth book on the City of God and in his Answer to Dulcitius, because Paul seems to contradict himself, since he says elsewhere, seed cannot spring up again unless it die (1 Corinthians 15:36).

The solution, however, is easy, since a sudden change will be like death. Ordinary death, it is true, is the separation of the soul from the body; but this does not prevent the Lord from destroying this corruptible nature in a moment and creating it anew by his power. For in this way is accomplished what Paul himself teaches must take place—that mortality shall be swallowed up of life (2 Corinthians 5:4).

What is stated in our Confession, that “Christ will be the Judge of the dead and of the living,” Augustine acknowledges to be true literally. He is only perplexed about this—how those who have not died will rise again.

But, as I have said, that is a kind of death, when this flesh is reduced to nothing, since it is now liable to corruption. The only difference is this—that those who sleep put off the substance of the body for some time, but those who will be suddenly changed will put off nothing but the quality.