What kind of farming is Paul referring to in his sowing illustration in 1 Corinthians 15?
Paul refers to ordinary, mundane agriculture: sowing grain such as wheat, rye, or corn. The sower plants bare grain, not the whole stalk, and expects first the stalk and then the grain. This everyday farming picture illustrates the resurrection body.
Les explains that Paul is talking about the mundane things of agriculture—sowing wheat, rye, corn, or whatever else produces a crop. When you plant something, you do not sow the whole stalk of wheat; you sow the seed, the bare grain, the individual kernel. You do not expect the seed to suddenly come up above the ground by itself, but first comes the stalk, and then the grain. Paul uses that farming process as a total illustration of our own resurrection experience, making it plain so people can get things straight without a shadow of a doubt.
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
More Questions
Why does Paul use such a simple and almost ridiculous farming illustration in 1 Corinthians 15?
Paul deliberately makes the agricultural comparison so plain, even to the point of sounding almost ridiculous, so that people will get the point straight without a shadow of a doubt.
Does Romans 6:5 mean the same thing as being sown in corruption in 1 Corinthians 15:36?
Romans 6:5 uses the same kind of language as Paul's statement that the body is sown in corruption, only with a different word, but it means the same thing.