Journal: Global Journal of Classical Theology
Volume: GJCT 19:3 (Mar 2023)
Article: The Enigma In 1 Corinthians 15, A Judge’s View
Author: Ken Handley

The Enigma In 1 Corinthians 15, A Judge’s View

Ken Handley

Chancellor Sydney Anglican Diocese 1980–2003.

Judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal 1990–2012.

I have long reflected on the enigma in 1 Corinthians 15 and attempted to identify the scriptures Paul was referring to in the second limb of this well-known passage: “For I delivered first of all… that which I also received that Christ…died…and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.” I am not a theologian or a biblical scholar, and I cannot read Greek. I am a layman, a retired judge, who spent half a lifetime interpreting documents and drawing inferences from established facts. As an appellate judge I was accustomed to approach the meaning of a text by giving effect, if possible, to every word without any presuppositions. I naturally expected to find the relevant scriptures in the Old Testament but never could.

My annotated revised King James version lists passages in three Psalms as the “Scriptures” referred to in the second limb, but on examination they fall well short. The most relevant is Psalm 16:10 which includes: “…nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.” This might not refer to death and resurrection, and it does not refer to burial or the third day. In Book 18, chapter 28 of the City of God, St. Augustine identified passages in Hosea 6:2 and Amos 9:11 as the scriptural basis. The latter states: “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down, and repair its damages, I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.” There is no clear reference to the Messiah, His death, burial, or resurrection on the third day. The raising up could refer to the call of God to an earthly kingship. Hosea 6:2 reads: “Come let us return to the Lord…He has stricken but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up that we may live.” There is no reference to the Messiah, His death, burial, or resurrection. The Gospels do not record anything of relevance happening on the second day, and the references to “us” and “we” cannot apply to Christ.

The absence of any clear basis in the Old Testament for the second limb drove St. Augustine to select these passages in Hosea and Amos, but they cannot be “the Scriptures” referred to. Paul wrote in the first limb that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” There is a clear basis for this in Isaiah 53. One w...