For to this end was the Gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
This verse with such a mention of preaching "to the dead" has been grossly misunderstood; but the real motivation for the misunderstanding does not lie in any unusual difficulty in the text itself, but in the desire of people who are enraptured with the thought of a second chance.  As Barclay put it, "It gives a breath-taking glimpse of a gospel of a second chance!"[13]