8. And last of all I myself saw the risen Christ,
9. last as though I were the least and unworthiest of all, the persecutor that is to say of that divine Church of God, which is His infinite body.
10. But the grace of God pierced even down to those depths where I lay, and made me such as I am, and abode with me, in my labours, labours exceeding those of all the others; for the grace of God has worked with me in an extraordinary manner in every way, not only in my first conversion from the lowest depths of opposition to God but in my subsequent labours.
11. This then is the gist and burden of the message, I care not who it be that preaches it, whether I or they.
12. Then what means this contention amongst some of you that the dead do not rise?
17. it falls to earth, empty, void, a perfect nothing, a falsity.
18. The testimony we bear concerning God, namely, that He raised the Christ-man from the dead, has no meaning in it.
19. If the Christ exists for this world only and has no eternal existence, we are the most miserable of all the dwellers on this planet!
20. But the Christ has risen, and his rising is the commencement of a similar resurrection for the whole world.
23. The increase and growth of this vast divine process will first include all who belong to him, when his eternal presence will become apparent throughout the world;
24. and this process will continue till “the end” when there shall exist not one single power, influence or authority that moves contrary to His will, but everything will be subordinate to the infinite God and Father of All, the Creator.
28. All things, but not the Christ himself, for though the Christ has appeared amidst these things, he is not their subject, he is not conditioned by them, he is eternally, spiritually royal, existing only as subject to God, the All-in-all.
29. That is the only significance of that practice which obtains amongst some of you, whereby the living are baptised on behalf of those already dead. It means that this progressive victory over death will ultimately include all who have died. The purpose of the Christ penetrates far beyond the little sphere of this life. But if you think that the Christ only comes to you on earth and for this life, what significance has this rite of baptism on behalf of those already beyond its pale? Unless they too are changed by the infinite operation of the Christ life, the rite is meaningless. And if the dead rise not, if there be no such victory and struggle at work, what is the significance of present struggles?