In the first half of the chapter Paul focused on the importance of believing in the resurrection. Now he turns to a possible counterargument (as indicated by the first word, but). He evidently suspects that this counterargument plays a role in the Corinthians’ drunken stupor (1 Corinthians 15:34).

To believe in Christ’s rising from the dead after three days is one thing. To believe in the resurrection of God’s people after many, many years is quite a different matter. If a person’s body has decayed completely, what is there to raise? On the other hand, if people will be given completely new bodies, how is it possible to speak of a resurrection of the body?

The two questions in this verse reflect this difficulty. They are not innocent questions, however. They were being asked by foolish people (1 Corinthians 15:36) – people who wanted to undermine belief in the resurrection. Both questions focus on the same issue: the nature of the resurrected body.

Unlike the Jews, who were taught by Scripture to have a high view of the body, the ancient Greeks tended to consider the body as inferior to the soul. They could believe in the immortality of the soul, but not in the resurrection of the body. When Paul proclaimed the gospel in Athens, the Greeks rejected his message precisely on account of this point (Acts 17:32).