The Importance of 1 Corinthians 15:3-7
- Tony Vance
- Sep 19, 2015
- 6 min read
Do you know the significance of 1 Corinthians 15:3-7? From a historical point of view, this very well (and I believe it to be true) could be the oldest Christian Creed known. From an apologetic point of view, this may actually (and again, I believe it does) point to the most ancient proof of the resurrection of Christ. Many scholars have laid out the case, notably Gary Habermas and William Lane Craig, in which this creed is of utmost importance in resurrection evidences. Habermas is the Distinguished Research Professor at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School; Chair, Department of Philosophy, and his current appointment: teaching in the PhD Seminary program. His research and explanation of the significance of 1 Corinthians 15 to the truth of the resurrection is significant, and I will be using much of his research and writings to help explain my point.
Habermas writes that this account in 1 Corinthians 15, as well as other early formulas:
“predate the written Gospels. A famous example is the list of Jesus’ resurrection appearances supplied by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. Most critical scholars think that Paul’s reception of at least the material on which this early creedal statement is based is dated to the 30s AD. Other examples are supplied by the brief creedal statements that many scholars find embedded within the Book of Acts, which Gerald O’Collins dates to the 30s AD. From the so-called “Q” material in the first and third Gospels, another instance is the statement of high Christology found in Matthew 11:27/Luke 10:22. Further, Paul’s earliest epistles date from the 50s AD.” (http://winteryknight.com/2009/04/03/gary-habermas-explains-the-earliest-source-of-resurrection-facts/)
The significance is mind blowing, at the least. Habermas is stating that Paul’s writing takes us to within 2-5 years of Christ’s resurrection.
William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He makes much of the same argument:
“Paul is passing on a prior tradition that he himself received and in turn mediated to the church in Corinth. We know this from the vocabulary that he uses, for one thing. In verse 3, the words “delivered to you what I also received” are the typical rabbinical terms for the transmission of tradition. This passage, then, in verses 3 to 5 is filled with all sorts of non-Pauline characteristics – traces of primitive Aramaic, for example, the language of the New Testament church in Jerusalem.1 So what this suggests is that Paul is, as he says explicitly, passing on here to the Corinthians the tradition about Christ that he also received. This tradition has been dated by New Testament scholars to within five years after the crucifixion of Jesus. So we are dealing here with some of the earliest, most primitive, materials in the New Testament.” (http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/transcript/s6-14#ixzz3lzLHcG00)
*(As a side note, Craig believes the Creed may end at verse 5, instead of 7, but the point is the same, regardless.)
Paul’s writings are the most authenticated, and widely accepted, sources of early church and Christian writings.
“In all of these epistles, Paul does claim to be the author and writer. However, the contested letters may have been forgeries, as that seems to have been a problem among the early church as a whole, Seven letters (with consensus dates) considered genuine by most scholars:
First Thessalonians (ca. 50 AD)
Galatians (ca. 53 AD)
First Corinthians (ca. 53–54 AD)
Philippians (ca. 55 AD)
Philemon (ca. 55 AD)
Second Corinthians (ca. 55–56 AD)
Romans (ca. 57 AD)” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_epistles#Authenticity)
I purposely used Wikipedia as the above source, to show that even an open source, prone to editing by anybody, demonstrates the consensus of scholarly work. Notice the date of 1 Corinthians, 53-54 AD, a significant date, as well as Galatians, and that both fall within the ‘least’ disputed category of Pauline letters. Again, we are looking at this from a historical/apologetic point of view.
Let’s look at the text, 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (KJV) “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.” Another translation states “of first importance” that Paul received. What did he receive? Was it the Gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection is the Gospel in its simplest form. But Paul said, Galatians 1:11-12 (KJV) “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Paul very clearly states that no one, not any man, but Christ Himself, revealed the Gospel to him. So what is it that Paul “received”?
Galatians give us some insight, also, Galatians 1:17-18 (KJV) “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.” Three years after Christ revealed Himself, and the great mysteries and truths of the Gospel to Paul, Paul met with Peter and James (Galatians 1:19 (KJV) “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.”). What did that meeting accomplish? Paul gives no insight in Galatians, which brings us to this passage in 1 Corinthians 15, the Creed. This Creed; death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, in the form as Paul used it in Corinthians, is the ‘thing’ Paul passed on, to this church, and most assuredly to others. We need to take a moment and discuss dates for these events. We know that Christ was crucified around 30 AD, and because Luke was such a good historian we can deduce that Paul was converted about 34 AD (Acts 9:1-9). Paul gives us a very clear time frame as well. He spent three years in Arabia (Galatians 1:17) and then makes the trip, I referenced earlier, to Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-29; Gal 1:18), in which the Creed was given to him. That makes it about 37 AD for this meeting, a mere seven years after Christ's resurrection, and it is safe to believe the Creed existed earlier than that.
Again, let me use Habermas to explain why this is riveting and so important.
“Do critical scholars agree on the date of this pre-Pauline creed? Even radical scholars like Gerd Lüdemann think that “the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion . . . no later than three years after the death of Jesus.” Similarly, Michael Goulder contends that Paul’s testimony about the resurrection appearances “goes back at least to what Paul was taught when he was converted, a couple of years after the crucifixion.” An increasing number of exceptionally influential scholars have very recently concluded that at least the teaching of the resurrection, and perhaps even the specific formulation of the pre-Pauline creedal tradition in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, dates to AD 30! In other words, there never was a time when the message of Jesus’ resurrection was not an integral part of the earliest apostolic proclamation. No less a scholar than James D. G. Dunn even states regarding this crucial text: “This tradition, we can be entirely confident, was formulated as tradition within months of Jesus’ death.”
— Gary Habermas, “Tracing Jesus’ Resurrection to Its Earliest Eyewitness Accounts,” God is Great, God is Good (InterVarsity Press, 2009), 212.
This becomes, in my opinion (and I’m not alone), one of the strongest evidences that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, or at the least (conceding a little here) the earliest disciples BELIEVED He did. This is a strong argument and should be used with honest seekers, searching for the truth and investigating the evidences that Christ is who we say he is. Many skeptics will claim there were no eyewitness accounts, this is one. They will talk of the Gospels being late (and that argument is flimsy at best), 1 Corinthians is one of the most widely accepted authenticated writing in the New Testament, by the harshest of critics. I’ve come to the conclusion that this 1 Corinthian Creed is a good argument to use as an initial evidence for ‘proof’ of Christ's resurrection.
The Resurrection is the central tenant upon all that the Church stands. Paul’s case in the balance of 1 Corinthian 15 is predicated on that truth, as well. The early sermons, recorded in the book of Acts, have in common, one great truth, the emphasis on the resurrection. Peter on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:24 (KJV) “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Peter again, Acts 3:15 (KJV) “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” Paul at a synagogue in Antioch, Acts 13:30 (KJV) “But God raised him from the dead.” Paul, again, at Thessalonica, Acts 17:3 (KJV) “Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” We have something no other Faith can claim, a resurrected Savior, let us proclaim, as the early church surely did.