1 Corinthians 15:45 (WEB)
So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
1 Corinthians 15:45–47 (KJV)
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Key words
- ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδάμho eschatos Adam · Greek
- 'the last Adam' — Christ as the new head of humanity.
- πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦνpneuma zōopoioun · Greek
- 'a quickening spirit' — the last Adam gives life where the first brought death.
- ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος ἐξ οὐρανοῦho deuteros anthrōpos ex ouranou · Greek
- 'the second man… from heaven' (v. 47).
Why it matters
Paul calls Christ the last Adam and the second man from heaven. Pitre quotes this with Romans 5:18–19 as the premise of the whole New Eve chapter (p 20): once Jesus is seen as the new Adam, salvation is the undoing of the fall, and the question follows at once — if Jesus is the new Adam, who is the new Eve?
Catechism · 3
Man
“The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:” — Catechism footnote: Cf. I Cor 6:19-20; 15:44-45.
"Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary"
- §504Paragraph 2 · "Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary"Read at vatican.va
“Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."” — Catechism footnote: I Cor 15:45, 47.
On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead
“At Jesus' Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is "the man of heaven".” — Catechism footnote: Cf. 1 Cor 15:35-50.
Fathers and councils · 14
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Wherefore also “the first Adam was made” by the Lord “a living soul, the second Adam a quickening spirit.”” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 45.
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John Chrysostom
“Then, man was formed last, when the creation had been accomplished; now, on the contrary, the new man is formed before the new creation; he is born first, and then the world is fashioned anew. ( 1 Cor. xv. 45.)” — the author cites it
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Augustine of Hippo
“…“when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,” that is, this flesh shall have put on incorruption, “and this mortal shall have put on immortality;” the now perfected sons of God, in whom is no more need to be tempted, neither to be scourged, shall all creatures acknowledge: subjected to us shall all things…” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 44–49.
Read the whole comment“Wherefore He will judge as the Son of man, yet not by human power, but by that whereby He is the Son of God; and on the other hand, He will judge as the Son of God, yet not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in which He is God equal to the Father, but in that [incarnate form] in which He is the Son of man.” — editor's note: [Augustin in this discussion, sometimes employs the phrase “Son of man” to denote the human nature of Christ, in distinction from the divine. But in Scripture…
Read the whole comment“And to show what the animated body is, he says, “Thus it was written, The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 42–45.
Read the whole comment“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 44–49.
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Tertullian
“Indeed, in a previous passage He is called “the second Adam,” deriving the identity of His name from His participation in the substance, because not even Adam was flesh of human seed, in which Christ is also like Him.” — editor's note: Ver. 45.
Read the whole comment“…the court of heaven itself, all flesh and blood whatsoever; since Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God—the last Adam, yet the primary Word—flesh and blood, yet purer than ours—who “shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven” the same both in substance and form,…” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 45.
Read the whole comment“And therefore he confirms the passage afresh, by putting on it the impress (of his own inspired authority), saying, “For so it is written;” that you may not suppose that the “being sown” means anything else than “thou shalt return to the ground, out of which thou wast taken;” nor that the phrase…” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 45.
Read the whole comment“For in order that you may understand it in this sense, he points to this same conclusion, when in like manner, on the authority of the same passage of Scripture, he displays to us “the first man Adam as made a living soul.”” — editor's note: Compare ver. 45 with Gen. ii. 7.
Read the whole comment“For to this effect he just before remarked of Christ Himself: “The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 45.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“But look at it in this manner: that as for my sake He was called a curse, Who destroyed my curse; and sin, who taketh away the sin of the world; and became a new Adam to take the place of the old, just so He makes my disobedience His own as Head of the whole body.” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 45.
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Aphrahat
“For the Apostle said:—There is an animal body and there is a spiritual body, seeing that it is thus written:—The first Adam became a living soul and the second Adam a quickening spirit.” — editor's note: 1 Cor. xv. 44, 45.
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Leo the Great
“For the first man received the substance of flesh from the earth, and was quickened with a rational spirit by the in-breathing of his Creator, so that living after the image and likeness of his Maker, he might preserve the form of God’s goodness and righteousness as in a bright mirror.” — editor's note: Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 45, and Gen. ii. 7.
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Cross-references · 21
Cross-reference given by the World English Bible's translators.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 53.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 53.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Catechism §411.
Cited together in Catechism §504.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Homilies on John Homily 24 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Homilies on John Homily 24.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Against Heresies V.12.
Cited together in Homilies on John Homily 24.
Cited together in Catechism §504.
Cited together in Catechism §504.
Cited together in Homilies on John Homily 24.
Cited together in Catechism §411.
Cited together in Catechism §411.