THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS - Chapter 15 - Verse 40

Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies. The planets; the stars; the host of heaven. See 1 Co 15:41.

And bodies terrestrial. On earth; earthly. He refers here to the bodies of men, beasts, birds, etc.; perhaps, also, of trees and vegetables. The sense is,

"There is a great variety of bodies. Look upon the heavens,

and see the splendour of the sun, the moon, and the

stars. And then look upon the earth, and see the bodies

there—the bodies of men, and brutes, and insects. You see

here two entire classes of bodies. You see how they

differ. Can it be deemed strange if there should be a

difference between our bodies when on earth and when in

heaven? Do we not, in fact, see a vast difference

between what strikes our eye here on earth and in the sky?

And why should we deem it strange that between bodies

adapted to live here and bodies adapted to live in heaven

there should be a difference, like that which is seen

between the objects which appear on earth and those which

appear in the sky?"

The argument is a popular one; but it is striking, and meets the object which he has in view.

The glory of the celestial is one. The splendour, beauty, dignity, magnificence of the heavenly bodies differs much from those on earth. That is one thing; the beauty of earthly objects is another and a different thing. Beautiful as may be the human frame; beautiful as may be the plumage of birds; beautiful as may be the flowers, the fossil, the mineral, the topaz, or the diamond, yet they differ from the heavenly bodies, and are not to be compared with them. Why should we deem it strange that there may be a similar difference between the body as adapted to its residence here and as adapted to its residence in heaven?

{a} "are also celestial" Ge 1:16