A frequent misinterpretation treats this verse as Paul questioning or doubting Christ's actual resurrection, whereas he is using a hypothetical reductio ad absurdum to refute skeptics who denied the resurrection of the dead; taken out of context from the surrounding argument in 1 Corinthians 15, it might falsely suggest uncertainty in early Christian belief rather than a robust defense of resurrection as essential to salvation.
I Corinthians 15:16
King James Version (1769)
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
Paul emphasizes the inseparable link between Christ's resurrection and the general resurrection of the dead, arguing through logical consequence that denying the latter undermines the former; if there is no hope for believers to rise, then Christ's own resurrection—a cornerstone of Christian doctrine proclaimed earlier in the chapter—must also be false, rendering faith futile and leaving humanity in sin's grip.