1 Corinthians 15:14

The context

Paul has just restated the tradition he handed on: Christ died, was buried, was raised, and appeared (15:3–8). Now he turns to the Corinthians' denial. The argument of 15:12–19 is a chain of consequences: no resurrection of the dead means Christ was not raised (15:13), which empties the proclamation (15:14), falsifies the witnesses (15:15) and leaves the dead lost (15:17–18).

Verse 14 is the second link, and it is a specific conditional claim rather than a general observation about religion.

The words

Kenon, "empty," is a predicate adjective meaning hollow, without content, without effect. It is not the word for "unimportant." Paul says the content would be missing, not that the consequences would be minor.

Kērygma, "proclamation," is what the herald announces — the message rather than the act of announcing. Paul's point concerns the content preached.

Pistis, "faith," covers both the act of trusting and the body of belief. In this sentence the two senses run together: if the content is empty, the trust has nothing to rest on.

Verse 17 then uses a different word, mataia, "futile," and adds the consequence that the Corinthians would still be in their sins. The two adjectives are not synonyms; the argument intensifies from emptiness to ruin.

What this passage establishes

That the resurrection is load-bearing. Paul does not insulate the claim from testing or treat doubt about it as a failure of loyalty; he states in public the condition under which his preaching and the Corinthians' faith would be worthless. The Christian message is presented as a claim that stands or falls on an event.

What it does not establish

It does not prove the resurrection. This is the premise of an argument, not evidence for it. The evidence offered is the tradition and the witnesses in 15:3–8; the positive case is built in 15:20–28.

It does not say what "empty" costs. Paul spells the consequences out in the following verses, and interpreters differ over whether he means the message is false, the faith pointless, or both. The sentence names the emptiness and leaves the accounting to what follows.

It does not describe the doubter. The verse concerns the truth of a claim, not the inner state of a person who struggles to believe it. Paul's argument is about what is the case, not about who is sincere.

How the church has read it

The verse has served both apologetics and criticism: as evidence that Christianity stakes itself on a checkable claim, and as Paul's own admission of how much depends on it. Bultmann's program sought to keep the proclamation while conceding the historical question, and critics have asked whether 15:14 permits that move — a dispute that remains open.

First pass, written October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• How do we know Christianity is right?
• What does it mean to be a Christian? There are over 30,000 different groups, all of which answer this question differently. If agreement cannot be found on THIS issue, can the claims of Christians be taken seriously?
• Doesn't evolution account for the origin and diversity of life on earth, thereby eliminating the need to appeal to God?
• It’s irrational to believe that people rise from the dead. Even if it is possible, shouldn’t it always be judged improbable since it has happened so few times…even according to Christians?
• Aren't naturalistic explanations for the resurrection stories more probable than the resurrection itself, since they appeal only to elements common to our experience, whereas the resurrection must appeal to God?
• There's no evidence outside of the Bible that indicates the miracle stories about Jesus are authentic!
• If you want to know the truth, read the Gnostic gospels – you’ll then understand why the Christian church repressed them for 1,700 years.
• On what basis do Christians accept miracle-stories in the New Testament while rejecting those of other religions?
• Wouldn't we expect SOME evidence of the exodus from Egypt, if it took place? 2.5 million people wandering for 40 years in a specific geographic location... and NOTHING!
• How can religious claims be meaningful if they are not empirically falsifiable?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.