What Does 1 Corinthians 15:35 Mean?

(35) **But some man will say, How are the** **dead raised up?**—The proof of the truth of the doctrine of the resurrection is concluded in the last verse. The truth of it is, in the early part of this chapter, maintained—(1) by the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection; (2) by a *reductio ad absurdum,* showing the consequences logically involved in a denial of it; (3) by an *argumentum ad hominem.* The former two arguments are still those on which we must rest our belief in the doctrine. The latter is, like every argument of that nature, only of force *to* those to whom it was actually addressed. The Apostle in this verse turns aside to another line of thought. He assumes that his previous arguments are conclusive; there still remain, however, difficulties which will suggest themselves. The difficulty is expressed in two questions, the second being an enlargement of the first—a more definite indication of where the suggested difficulty lies. “How are the dead raised up”—that is, not by what power? but in what manner? as is further explained by the next question, “In what body do they come?”