I have noted the present passive indicative tenses that abound in I Cor. 15. The dead “are being raised”; the Death “is being destroyed” and Christ “must currently reign.” Christ affirmed that “even now the dead hear my voice and pass over from death to life.” God “is” the God of the living, not the dead. The resurrection of the dead is not something that simply “will” happen in the future. It is something that was seen as “already” occuring, something that had “already” begun and was in progress – not that Paul had attained to “the resurrection out of the dead” yet, but he had attained to something already put into motion through the Spirit of the resurrected Life in Christ. Hymenaeus and Philetus erred in that they had no future “not yet” prior to the consummation of the Parousia.
Now, when we come to the Greek, we understand our grammars to teach that the present indicative is mainly, “the Descriptive present” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek NT in Light of Historical Research, p.879 – THE standard of all Greek grammars). This is “the most frequent use.”
However, there are other present “aspects” as well. Some are more plain than others. Some are simply interpretive guesses.
1. The Descriptive: This is the “prgressive” aspect of something occuring while the writer is speaking. I am typing on this keyboard right now. “I am typing” is happening write now. I am in the middle of it. This is what I believe I Cor. 15 means when it says, “the dead are being raised” “the death is being destroyed” and “it is being sown, it is being raised.”
However, 2. The Progressive Present: This is the present action of a past event, much like a perfect, but in a present tense form. “And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’” “I have come” is present indicative, but we would not translate “For three years I am coming seeking fruit….” The CONTEXT (“three years”) provides the “past” clue….he has CONTINUALLY come for three years. So, the perfect “have come” is rightly seen. But, note, the progressive nature and continual force is still felt.
So, what if I Cor. 15 is Progressive? Good! Something that began in the past as the Spirit “in you” became a reality, the resurrection of the dead BEGAN….No problem.
But, 3. The Iterative or Customary Present: Robertson pictures its action as (………). “I give thanks for you…” Paul is not continually giving thanks every waking moment of his life. He does other things, too. But, punctuated through out his life, he occassionally gives thanks on a regular basis. A very fine distinction here, but one, again, that deserves a look. Again, note the action as continual, though punctuated.
So far, the first three major listings of the Present Indicative are aspects that focus on the continual nature, the present nature from the standpoint of the writer. In grammars, the major descriptions are listed first, down to the rarest usages (and more controversial ones). Rule: assume the “frequent” use UNLESS there is something from the context that explicitly demands warrant for something else.
4. The Inchoative or Conative Present: “Either the act just beginning…or an act begun but interrupted…”(880). Robertson gives Mark 4.17 as an example: “But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” “They quickly fall away” in Greek is “immediately they are falling away.” KJV has “immediately they are offended” (note the past tense translation). They don’t fall away on the first instance. Theycontinue on. But a series of these things interrupts their continuing in the faith. We can safely rule this one out for I Cor. 15.
5. The Historical Present: Mostly occurs in narratives. We can rule this one out safely. “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert” (Mark 1.12). “Sent” is present tense. “At once the Spirit is sending him out into the desert.’ Was the Spirit doing this during the time Mark wrote? No. Context tells us such. This is a narrative of a past event. Some also call this the Dramatic Present.
6. The Delibertive Present: Safely ruled out. This is for rhetorical questions.
7. The Periphrastic Present: “It is rare in the NT” (881). See the “rarer” we get the more we head down the line. Anyhow, the syntax of I Cor. 15 is not periphrastic, so that’s ruled out on that basis alone.
8. Presents as Perfects: “the axe lies at the root of the trees” where “lies” is present (“is lying”), but the idea is that the axe has ALREADY been placed there before this utterance by John the Baptist is given. A good preterist, that John was. Nonetheless, the action is Durative: the axe has already been placed at the tree, and remains there, being swung and is still swinging….. We can see that this would not apply to I Cor. 15.
9. Futuristic Presents: Well, we have come to the BOTTOM OF THE LIST. This is the RAREST form. Gildersleeve, another Greek scholar in his day (Robertson’s work was written in 1934, Gildersleeve was around 1902), called this the praesens propheticum. Care to guess what that means? Robertson uses II Cor. 5.1 for this feature: “For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” See the phrase, “we have”? It is present tense. Here, it is translated (ESV) as perfect, “have.” Robertson lists it as Future Present: “we WILL have….” See the problem? Who is right?
Greek is not an exact science. In many ways, it is an art. It does not solve all our theological or exegetical problems, and many times creates more problems than simply reading the good ole’ KJV. However, it can be abused. Here’s an example:
DRA 1 Corinthians 15:26 And the enemy, death, shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet. And whereas he saith:
ESV 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
KJV 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
MRD 1 Corinthians 15:26 And the last enemy, death, will be abolished.
NIV 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
PNT 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemie that shalbe destroyed, [is] death.
YLT 1 Corinthians 15:26 the last enemy is done away — death;
“shall be” is future. “to be” is infinitive future. “will be” is future. Only Young gives “is done away” using “is” as present, but his translation remains vague. My translation is simply, “the last enemy currently being destroyed is the Death.” this means, at the time of Paul’s writing, “the death” was being abolished and would be abolished at the parousia. Much like the Old Covenant in Hebrews 8.13, since “the death, the sin and the LAW” are connected together in I Cor. 15 and in Romans 5-8. Hebrews 8.13 reads:
DRA Hebrews 8:13 Now in saying a new, he hath made the former old. And that which decayeth and groweth old is near its end.
ESV Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
KJV Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
MRD Hebrews 8:13 In that he said a New [Covenant], he made the first old; and that which is old and decaying, is near to dissolution.
NIV Hebrews 8:13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
PNT Hebrews 8:13 In that he sayth a newe [couenaunt] he hath worne out the first: For that which is worne out and waxed olde, is redie to vanishe away.
YLT Hebrews 8:13 in the saying ‘new,’ He hath made the first old, and what doth become obsolete and is old is nigh disappearing.
Wow…..the translations magically agree here because we all see the dissolution of the old covenant. However, if “death” is physical death, then that CANNOT be seen as the Durative Present…..that would be absurd. It must be a Prophetic Present, and so must all the presents in I Cor. 15 dealing with resurrection.
Stop and think: isn’t this enough to at least raise a red flag? All the tenses in I Cor. 15 are translated exactly alike in all the versions I gave above EXCEPT WHEN DEATH OR RESURRECTION is used…….all the sudden, the RAREST category for the Present Indicative is found in ABUNDANCE in this one chapter!!!!
Nah. I’ll stick with the rule: unless something from the context DEMANDS one of the rarer categories, I am within full rights to translate these occurences in I Cor. 15 as Durative Presents – and based on the framework of Biblical Preterism, the resurrection of the dead was, indeed, something already in progress…….up until the Parousia of Christ.
