Commentary on 1 Corinthians

Didymus the Blind (313–398)

This means that the things which we now hear on the authority of the Scriptures we believe to be so. After the resurrection we shall see them with our eyes and know them in reality, when partial knowledge has ceased, for the knowledge which depends on hearing is part of the knowledge of an eyewitness and of experience.

The Marcionites baptize the living on behalf of dead unbelievers, not knowing that baptism saves only the person who receives it.

If the soul is not immortal, if the body does not rise from the dead, there would be no point taking risks on behalf of the faith.

The wise are on the lookout for wrongdoing and have awakened from the sleep of ignorance.

Just as the rational soul is not good or bad in itself but is capable of becoming either of these, so our body is neither perishable nor imperishable by nature but acquires these immanent, essential qualities in due course.

When the body formed by the copulation of male and female is sown, dishonor and weakness will be in it because it is the body of a perishing soul and shares its characteristics. But when it rises again by the power of God, it appears as a spiritual body, having imperishability, power and honor.

See also

• More works by Didymus the Blind

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