The Rhetorical Strategy of 1 Corinthians 15‪.‬

No doubt portions of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul's famous treatise on the resurrection, are read most frequently in the pastoral context of offering hope and sympathy to those who are grieving the death of a loved one. Church orders for funeral services regularly include quotations as part of the assigned ritual or as recommended lessons. In such cases the rhetorical strategy is to provide consolation, not unlike Greco-Roman epideictic letters and speeches of condolence. Alternatively, 1 Corinthians 15 is read liturgically in the context of the church's celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord. Surprisingly, however, the Revised Common Lectionary's three-year cycle includes texts from this chapter only twice during Eastertide--on Easter Day itself in Years B and C. Elsewhere, also in Year C, pericopes from this chapter are appointed for the Fifth through Eighth Sundays after Epiphany and for a Sunday in late May. (1) In this case the rhetorical strategy is to promote acknowledgment of the reality of Christ's resurrection, not unlike ancient judicial or forensic speeches. Such attempts to prove the resurrection are largely misplaced, however, since this was not Paul's goal.