Some things in our Catholic religion have changed over the years. For most of us, the most obvious changes have occurred since Vatican Council II. The changes which have occurred have, in general, been changes in practices such as the vernacular in our liturgy, anticipated Sunday Mass on Saturday evening, and so on. However, certain things can never change. The things that never change are the essential elements of our faith. There has been development in certain ways of formulating our faith, but the essence must always remain unchanged.

In Chapter 15 of his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul is concerned to point out the intrinsic logic of our fundamental belief in the resurrection of Jesus. That belief implies certain logical consequences, and to deny that logic in any way makes our faith worthless, as Paul says. There have been different ways of speaking intelligently and even creatively about the resurrection of Jesus and our own resurrection, but they are only intelligent and creative if they maintain the essential doctrine: Jesus "was handed over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification" (Rom 4:25), and so we may live for ever in eternal blessedness.