Thomas Aquinas Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:53-58

"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord." — 1 Corinthians 15:53-58 (ASV)

Here the Apostle establishes the necessary effect of the resurrection proceeding from its cause. Concerning this, he establishes two points corresponding to the two he had established in the progression of effects from the cause itself. The first is general for all: that the dead will rise incorruptible. And so he first says, for this corruptible must put on incorruption. The second is particular for the apostles and the good, namely, And we shall be changed, and so he secondly says, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Because the corruptible is contrasted with the incorruptible, and in our present state of life we are subject to corruption, he says that when we rise, this corruptible must put on incorruption by a necessary congruence. This is for three reasons:

1. For the completion of human nature. As Augustine says (Genesis ad Litteram 12.35), the soul, inasmuch as it is separated from the body, is imperfect and does not possess the perfection of its nature. Existing separately, it is not in such beatitude as it will be when united to the body in the resurrection. Therefore, so that it might enjoy perfect beatitude, this corruptible body must put on incorruption as an adornment, so that “this mortal” will not be afflicted further in any way.
2. For the necessity of divine justice, so that those who have done good or evil in the body are rewarded or punished in those same bodies.
3. For the conformity of the members to the head, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

It should be noted that he compares incorruption or immortality to a garment when he says, “put on.” For a garment is present to the one who wears it and can be absent, while the substance of the person remains numerically the same. By this, he shows that the same individual bodies will rise, and the same people will be numerically the same in the state of incorruption and immortality as they are now. This excludes the error that says the same individual body will not rise. Hence he says expressly, this corruptible—namely the body—must put on incorruption, for the soul is not corruptible. Likewise, he excludes the error that says glorified bodies will not be the same as these but will be heavenly. In a similar way, 2 Corinthians 5:2 says, Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling.Isaiah 52:1 says, Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. And Job 40:10 says, Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

But against this, it seems impossible that this corruptible could put on incorruption—that is, that the same individual bodies will rise—because it is impossible for things that differ in genus or species to be numerically the same. But corruptible and incorruptible do not differ in species, but in genus. Therefore, it is impossible that resurrected bodies will be incorruptible and remain numerically the same. Moreover, the Philosopher (Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption 2.9) says that it is impossible for a corruptible substance that has changed to be restored as numerically the same, but only as the same in species. But the substance of human bodies is corruptible; therefore, it is impossible for it to be restored as numerically the same.

I respond: It should first be said that each thing attains its genus or species from its own nature, and not from something extrinsic to it. Therefore, I say that if the resurrection of bodies were to proceed from the principles of their own nature, it would be impossible for those bodies to rise numerically the same. But I say that the incorruption of resurrected bodies will be given from a different principle than the nature of the bodies themselves—namely, from the glory of the soul, from whose beatitude and incorruption all beatitude and incorruption of the body will be derived. Therefore, just as free will is the same in nature and numerically the same, both while it is changeable and when it is firmly fixed in the final state, so too the body will be the same in nature and numerically the same. It is the same body in its corruptible state and when it is made incorruptible by the glory of the soul.

To the second objection, the Philosopher’s reasoning is advanced against those who maintained that all things in the sublunary bodies are caused by the movement of heavenly bodies, and that the same revolutions of these superior bodies would produce the same numerical effects that had occurred previously. Hence, they said that the same individual Plato would again lecture in Athens and have the same schools and pupils that he had before. The Philosopher argues against this, saying that although the heaven is numerically the same and the sun is in its same revolutions, the effects that arise from them do not result in numerical identity, but only in identity of species. This is according to the course of nature.

In the same way, I say that if bodies were to put on incorruption and rise according to the course of nature, they would not rise numerically the same, but only the same in species. But since the renewal and resurrection will occur by divine power, as was said, we say that the bodies will be numerically the same, since the principles of that individual person are nothing other than this soul and this body. In the resurrection, the soul will return numerically the same, since it is incorruptible. And this body will be numerically the same, restored by divine power from the same dust into which it was dissolved. Thus, it will be the same individual man who rises. I do no violence to the idea of intermediary forms, because I do not hold that there is any other substantial form in man except the rational soul. It is from this soul that the human body is animated with a sensible and vegetative nature, and is rational. Accidental forms in no way hinder the numerical identity that we maintain.

Then, when he says, But when this mortal, he confirms what he had said by authority. Concerning this, he does two things. First, he establishes the authority; second, from this he concludes three things (verse 55).

Therefore, he first says: I said that this corruptible must put on incorruption, but when this mortal puts on immortality—which will happen in the future, countering those who say the resurrection has already happened—then shall come to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” This saying, according to our translation, is not found in any book of the Bible. But if it is found in the Septuagint translation, it is not certain from where it is taken. It is possible that this saying is taken from Isaiah 26:19, The dead shall live, their bodies shall rise, and Isaiah 25:8, He will swallow up death forever. In Hosea 13:14 (Vulgate), we have, I will be your death, O Death. The Septuagint has, Death is swallowed up in victory, that is, on account of the victory of Christ. And he states the past for the future on account of the certainty of prophecy (1 Peter 3:22).

Then, when he says, Where, O death, is your victory?, he concludes three things on the basis of this authority: the scorn of the saints against death, the giving of thanks to God (verse 57), and his admonition to the Corinthians (verse 58). Concerning the first point, he does two things. First, he mentions the scorn; second, he explains it (verse 56).

The Apostle, therefore, speaking of the victory of Christ over death as if established in some special joy, takes on the persona of a resurrected man, saying, Where, O death, is your victory? This is not found anywhere in Sacred Scripture; whether the Apostle got this from himself or from another source is not certain. If, however, he took it from another place, it appears he took it from Isaiah 14:4: How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! He says, therefore, Where, O death, is your victory?—that is, your victory of corruption, the power by which you overthrew the whole human race and triumphed over all. As it is written, We must all die (2 Samuel 14:14), and, He is brought to the king of terrors (Job 18:14). Where, O death, is your sting?

What the sting is, he explains in what follows, saying, the sting of death is sin. Therefore, he sets forth two points: one explaining what he said, and the other excluding an objection (verse 56b). It should be understood that the sting of death can be described either as a goad to death, or as that which death uses or makes. But the literal sense is “the sting of death,” meaning the goad to death, because man is propelled and cast down to death by sin: For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But because someone could object that this sting is removed by the Law, the Apostle immediately excludes this, adding, and the power of sin is the Law. This is to say that sin is not removed by the Law; rather, the Law is the “power” of sin in the sense that it provides an occasion for it. The Law does not impel one to sin, but it gives an occasion for sin and does not confer the grace by which concupiscence is overcome; instead, desire was aroused all the more: Law came in, to increase the trespass (Romans 5:20); But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness (Romans 7:8).

There is, however, another sense, though not the literal one, in which “the sting of death” is said to be that which death itself uses. In this sense, “death” is understood as the devil: And its rider’s name was Death (Revelation 6:8). And so “the sting of death” is the temptation of the devil. Thus, all that is said about death is interpreted as being about the devil, as in the Gloss of Peter Lombard. Alternatively, “the sting of death” could mean that which is made by death, namely, concupiscence of the flesh: Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin (James 1:15). For concupiscence:

1. First, it draws those who are willing, as in the intemperate.
2. Second, it drags those who resist, as in the incontinent.
3. Third, it contends but does not conquer, as in the continent.
4. Fourth, it is weakened in its contention, as in the temperate.
5. Finally, it is totally defeated, as in the beatified, about whom it is fitting to say, Where, O death, is your contention or your victory?

Therefore, because the sting of death is destroyed not by the Law but by the victory of Christ, thanks are given to God. This is what he says: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory over death and sin through our Lord Jesus Christ, not through the Law. As it is written: And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith (1 John 5:4); Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24–25); and, For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do (Romans 8:3).

Then, when he says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, he adds an admonition. As was said, the false apostles were harming the Corinthians by denying the resurrection. So, after establishing faith in the resurrection and demonstrating it with examples, he admonishes them to occupy themselves with good works and not be seduced by the false apostles. Concerning this, he does three things:

1. He confirms them in the faith. He calls them brethren by faith, by which we are all sons of God: He gave power to become children of God (John 1:12). He calls them beloved through the love we owe one another: And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also (1 John 4:21). He tells them to be steadfast in the faith of the resurrection, not withdrawing from it: so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro (Ephesians 4:14). And he tells them to be immovable, not to be seduced by others: provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast (Colossians 1:23).
2. He encourages them to good works, saying, always abounding in the work of the Lord. As it is written: So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men (Galatians 6:10), and, The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight (Proverbs 11:5).
3. He confirms them in hope, saying, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain, for, the fruit of good labors is renowned .