Thomas Aquinas Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

"Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to the [child] untimely born, he appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Whether then [it be] I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed." — 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (ASV)

After instructing the Corinthians about the sacrament and the reality it contains and signifies—namely, grace and its effects—the Apostle now instructs them about a reality that is not contained but is signified in the sacraments: the glory of the resurrection. This glory is not contained in a sacrament, since the one who receives it does not obtain it at once. Instead, the glory of the resurrection is signified in the sacraments, because the grace by which we reach beatitude is conferred in them.

In regard to this, he does two things: first, he introduces a discussion on the resurrection; second, he uses this to prove the general resurrection of all people (see verse 12). Concerning the first point, he again does two things: first, he commends the doctrine of the gospel; second, he declares what should be known about the resurrection of Christ (see verse 3).

He commends the excellence of the gospel’s doctrine in four ways:

1. First, regarding the authority of the preachers, because they are apostles. This is what he says: Brethren, connecting himself to what went before, I would remind you in what terms I preached to you the gospel. The gospel is the good news, which begins with Christ. Therefore, whatever pertains to or concerns Christ is called a gospel. In what terms I preached to you is as if to say: What I have preached to you about Christ I now make known to you—that is, I recall it to your memory, as though the things I write are not new: To write the same things to you is not burdensome to me (Philippians 3:1). In this, the authority of this doctrine appears, because it is from Christ, from Paul, and from the other apostles: It was declared at first by the Lord and was confirmed for us (Hebrews 2:3).

2. Second, regarding the common faith of all people. Therefore, he says: which you received, meaning all of you. Augustine says that this pertains to the evidence of this faith, using this argument: To believe the articles of faith, either miracles are performed or they are not. If miracles are performed, I have proven my point that they are most worthy and certain. If none are performed, this is the greatest of all miracles: that a few men converted an infinite multitude of people to the faith. Rich men were converted by poor men preaching poverty; wise men and philosophers were converted by men of one language who preached things that surpass reason: Their voice goes out through all the earth (Psalms 19:4). If it is objected that the law of Mohammed has also been received by many, the answer is that the cases are not alike. He subjugated people through oppression and by force of arms, but the apostles brought others to the faith by dying and by working signs and wonders. For he proposed things that pertain to pleasure and sensuality, but Christ and the apostles taught contempt for earthly things: When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you received it… as the word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

3. Third, regarding its strength, because it confirms and elevates us to heavenly things. Therefore, he says: in which you stand, namely, elevated to heavenly things. For a person is said to stand who is upright, and this the law of Christ alone does: Justified by faith, we have access to that grace in which we stand (Romans 5:1). The Old Law made one stand, but it bent one toward earthly things: The eye of Jacob in a land of grain and wine (Deuteronomy 33:28).

4. Fourth, regarding its usefulness, because the New Law alone leads to the end of salvation, but not the Old Law: The law brought no one to perfection (Hebrews 7:19). And therefore he says: by which you are saved. Here, you are already saved by the certainty of hope through its beginning, which is our faith, and you will be saved in the future in the fullness of that reality: Receive with meekness the implanted word which can save your souls (James 1:21); But these things are written that you may believe and that believing you may have life (John 20:31). Here he lays down two conditions. The first is when he says: If you hold it fast. A Gloss explains this as: If you hold to the reason I preached that gospel to you—that is, the resurrection of the dead—by the same reasoning with which I confirmed it for you—that is, by the resurrection of Christ. In other words, you will be saved provided that you hold fast to, or preserve, the reason I preached the gospel of Christ to you. He presents the second condition when he says: Unless you believed in vain. This is as if to say: You will be saved through faith, if you have not believed in vain—that is, if good works are added to faith, because faith without works is dead (James 2:26). For something is said to be in vain when it exists for an end it does not achieve. The end of faith is the vision of God. Therefore, if you are not saved, you have believed in vain—not absolutely, but because your faith did not achieve its end. In other words: If you hold it fast. As if to say: You should hold it fast, unless you want to have believed in vain.

For I delivered to you. Here he clarifies his proposition. He does this in three steps: first, he shows the origin of the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection; second, he shows what is contained in this doctrine (see verse 3b); and third, he shows the agreement of the preachers on this doctrine (see verse 11).

First, therefore, he says: You should hold fast to that—meaning, keep in your memory what I delivered to you as of first importance, and what I continue to deliver. Therefore, what I delivered to you as of first importance, namely, about the Incarnation, I delivered it not from myself or on my own authority, but as something I received from Christ or from the Holy Spirit: Paul, an apostle (Galatians 1:1); For I received from the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23); What I have heard from the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 21:10).

The things he received and delivered are four: the death, burial, resurrection, and appearance of Christ.

1. First, I have delivered to you the death of Christ; therefore he says, that Christ died. In these words, he removes two suspicions that can arise about the death of Christ. The first is that He died for His own actual sins or for original sin. He excludes this when he says: for our sins, not His: He was stricken for the transgressions of my people (Isaiah 53:8); Christ died once for all for our sins, the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). The other suspicion is that the death of Christ was by chance or by the violence of the Jews. This he excludes when he says: according to the Scriptures: Like a lamb he was led away to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7); I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter (Jeremiah 11:19); Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests (Matthew 20:18).

2. Second, I delivered to you the burial of Christ; therefore he says: that he was buried. But is the burial a special article of faith, since he makes special mention of it? The answer is that according to those who number the articles of faith by the things to be believed, it is not a special article but is included in the article of the passion and death of Christ. The reason for this is that faith is concerned with things that are above reason. Therefore, an article of faith begins where reason falls short. The first is that the Lord was conceived, and so the conception is an article of faith. The second is that God was born of a virgin, and so this is another. The third is that God, who is incapable of suffering, suffers and dies, and this is another article, and the burial is understood along with this. Hence, it is not a special article. But the Apostle mentions the burial for three reasons. First, to show the truth of Christ’s death, for the evident sign of one’s death is burial. Second, to show the truth of the resurrection, because if He had not been buried, guards would not have been placed at the tomb, nor could they say that the disciples had stolen His body. Third, because the Apostle wants to persuade them to believe in the resurrection, and it seems more difficult that a buried person should rise: And his tomb shall be glorious (Isaiah 11:10); They made his grave with the wicked (Isaiah 53:9).

3. Third, I also delivered to you the resurrection, that he rose on the third day: After two days he will revive us (Hosea 6:2). He says, on the third day, not because there were three full days, but two nights and one day, which is an example of synecdoche. As Augustine says, the reason for this was that God, by His single nature, signified by the one day—that is, by the evil of punishment—destroyed our double problem of punishment and guilt, which is signified by the two nights.

4. Fourth, I delivered to you the appearance of Christ, because he appeared to Cephas. He first presents the appearances made to others, and second, the appearance made to himself alone (see verse 8).

It should be noted, regarding the first point, that the appearances of Christ were not made to everyone in common, but to certain special persons: God raised him up on the third day and made him manifest not to all the people (Acts 10:40). The reason for this was to preserve order in the Church, so that belief in the resurrection would reach others through certain key individuals. It should also be noted that not all of Christ’s appearances are mentioned, nor those that were made to the women. But some not mentioned in the gospel are mentioned here. The reason for this was that the Apostle wants to refute unbelievers by reason, and therefore he wanted to present only authoritative testimonies. Consequently, he remained silent about the appearances to the women and mentioned some which are not found in the gospels, to show that He also appeared to many others. But he mentions Peter and James because they were like pillars, as it says in Galatians 2:9.

Then again he appeared to more than five hundred. Nothing is mentioned in Scripture about this, except here. Yet it can be said that this appearance was the one about which Dionysius speaks in The Divine Names III, when all the disciples assembled to see the body of the one they considered the prince of life. But against this seems to be the fact that this was before the ascension, namely, when Christ appeared to James. The assembly of disciples to see the Blessed Virgin, about which Dionysius seems to speak, was much later. Therefore, it seems better to say that He appeared to five hundred brethren all at once before His ascension. It is not a problem that there were said to be 120 disciples, because although the ones in Jerusalem were 120, there were nevertheless many disciples in Galilee, and perhaps all were assembled at one time when He appeared. To make his testimony more certain, he says that most of them are still alive, but some of them have fallen asleep—that is, died—in the hope of the resurrection. The death of the saints is called "sleep" because they die with corruptible flesh and rise with incorruptible flesh. We know that Christ being raised from the dead, will never die again (Romans 6:9).

Then, after this, he was seen by James, that is, the son of Alphaeus. A reason for this can be given: as it is written, James vowed that he would not eat until he saw the Lord. But according to this, the order of appearances is not observed, because if an appearance was made to James after all those listed, he would have been without food for too long, which is hard to believe. Therefore, it must be said that Christ made a special appearance to James because James had a special devotion to Christ, and furthermore, nothing is found in the gospel about that appearance. Then, after this, He was seen by all the apostles at the ascension, as it says in Matthew 28:16 and in Acts 1:3 and following.

Last of all. Here the Apostle recalls the appearance made to him alone. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows the order of the appearances; second, he gives the reason for it (see verse 9).

He says, therefore: I have said that Christ was manifested to all, but last of all—that is, finally and after the resurrection—he appeared to me as to one untimely born, and therefore as the last. He says, as one untimely born for three reasons. The term "untimely born" refers to a fetus because it is born outside the proper time, brought forth with violence, or not born with the proper size. Because the Apostle saw these three things in himself, he says: as one untimely born. First, he was reborn outside the time of the other apostles, for the other apostles were reborn in Christ before the coming of the Holy Spirit, but Paul was reborn after. Second, the other apostles were converted to Christ spontaneously, but Paul by compulsion: He fell to the ground and heard a voice (Acts 9:4). This is of great value against heretics who say that no one should be forced into the faith, because Paul was forced. As Augustine says, Paul made more progress in the faith, although he was forcibly converted, than many who came spontaneously. Third, he regards himself as less than the others and believed that he had not attained the virtue of the other apostles.

Therefore, as if giving a reason, he says: I am the least of the apostles. In this regard, he does two things: first, he shows his lowliness; second, he explains the reason for this (see verse 9b).

He explains his lowliness, first, in comparison to the apostles, when he says: for I am the least of the apostles: The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation (Isaiah 60:22); The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself . And although he is the least in relation to the apostles, it could be said that he is great in comparison to others. Therefore, second, he shows his lowliness in comparison to others, when he says he is unfit not only to be an apostle but even to be called an apostle, although he is called one: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5).

But it could be said: "O Apostle, no one should say something false for the sake of humility. Therefore, since you are great, why do you call yourself the least?" When he says, because I persecuted the church of God, he shows in what way he is the least and in what way he is not. He calls himself the least when he considers his past deeds. And he says: I am not worthy. Why? Because I persecuted the church of God, which the other apostles did not do: I persecuted the church of God violently (Galatians 1:13); Though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him (1 Timothy 1:13). And although by myself I am the least, yet by the grace of God I am not the least. Therefore he says: by the grace of God I am what I am. In this regard, he does two things: first, he commends his condition as to its state; second, as to the execution of his state (see verse 10b).

Therefore he says first: By myself I am nothing, but what I am, I am by the grace of God—that is, from God, not from me: Of this gospel I was made a minister (Ephesians 3:7). And he says, what I am, because without grace a person is nothing: If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries (1 Corinthians 13:2). But how he used and executed his state he shows, saying: and his grace.

Here he shows, first, how he used that grace, namely, for good. Therefore he says: his grace toward me was not in vain—that is, it was not idle, because he used it for the purpose for which it was given to him: Lest somehow I should be running in vain (Galatians 2:2). Second, he explains how he exceeded others, adding: on the contrary I worked harder than any of them—that is, harder than any of the other apostles individually. He did this by preaching, for no one preached in so many places and announced Christ as he did. Hence he says: So that from Jerusalem to Illyricum I fully preached (Romans 15:19). He also did this by working, for although he, like the other apostles, could have requested necessary expenses, he chose to provide for his own needs through the labor of his hands, as he says in 2 Thessalonians 3:8: Night and day we have worked with our hands. Finally, he did this by enduring tribulation, for none of the apostles endured such persecutions and tribulations as he mentions in 2 Corinthians 11:23: With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings. Third, he shows the effectiveness of this use, because this was not from himself alone but from the prompting and help of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he says: though it was not I alone acting but the grace of God, which is with me, which moves the will to do this: You have brought about for us all our works (Isaiah 26:12); God is at work in you both to will and to work (Philippians 2:13). For God not only infuses grace but also moves us to use the infused graces well, and this is called "cooperating grace."

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach. Here he shows the agreement of the preachers. This can be understood in two ways. First, as confirming what has been said. It is as if someone were to object: "You preach this, but we do not believe you alone, because you are the least of the Apostles." The Apostle replies: "Indeed you should believe me, because I do not preach anything different; whether it was I or the other apostles you saw, they preached that Christ rose and was seen, and you also believed, just as I and those who preached believed—namely, that Christ rose and was seen": Since we have the same spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13). Second, it can be read so that the effectiveness of the apostles' preaching comes from one source: the grace of God. As if to say: Whether I preach or they, the other apostles, preach, we have done this by the help and strength of God’s grace. And so you also have believed, inspired by the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, without which we can do nothing: Without me you can do nothing (John 15:5).