---
title: 1 Corinthians 15:12
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-15-12/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-15-12.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Corinthians 15:12
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Corinthians 15:12

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

## JW Usage

JWs do not give 1 Cor 15:12 a distinctive doctrinal handling. The verse functions in Watchtower publications as a passing reference to the resurrection chapter generally. What JW publications rarely note is that the verse names the precise problem Paul is addressing throughout chapter 15 — and therefore sets the context in which v.33 ("bad associations spoil useful habits") was written.

## Protestant Usage

This verse is the exegetical key to the rest of 1 Cor 15. Paul asks, "How is it that some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?" The "some among you" are insiders — members of the Corinthian church teaching against the resurrection. Everything that follows in the chapter, including the famous proverb at v.33, is responding to this internal doctrinal threat. When Watchtower applies v.33's "bad associations" to ordinary friendships with non-Witnesses, the application has lost the chapter's anchor. Paul's worry was resurrection-deniers in the pews, not neighbours over the fence.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [When 'Bad Associations' Becomes a Categorical Ban](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worldly-association-1cor15-categorical.md) — 1 Corinthians 15:33 — A Greek Proverb About Resurrection Deniers, Not All Outsiders [Practice]