Having established a very early date for the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus, we now ask if we can discern whether the claim had a real referent in time and space. That is, did the disciples, by making this claim, really believe that they had witnessed something extraordinary happen to Jesus. In this article, we address what some might consider “inconsistencies” between the creed recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 and the gospel accounts. We will show that these texts are not only consistent with each other, but that they are mutually corroborative as well.
                                                           
First, Paul’s text never mentions the women at the tomb. However, we must acknowledge that the story of the women at the tomb in the Gospels passes the criteria of critical scholarship. Since first-century Jews considered the testimony of women unreliable and unacceptable in a court of law, including such an element in the Gospels makes it highly unlikely that the event was fabricated. Why risk offending and alienating your readers if the account is not true? Therefore, scholars call this the criterion of offensiveness or embarrassment. 

The account of the women also appears in all four gospels. Therefore, since there are multiple independent sources that document this same event, the event's historicity is greatly enhanced. Scholars call this the criterion of multiple attestation. So by the standards of accepted critical scholarship, we would seem bound to accept this account as authentically historical, and to conclude that these women really witnessed something remarkable in space and time. The Corinthian creed, which originated early in Jerusalem, may exclude this information for “seeker-sensitive” reasons, since Jewish unbelievers would have likely rejected the creed had it included the testimony of the women.      

In addition, the Corinthian text may be construed to imply that Peter was the first witness to the resurrected Jesus when the Gospels identify the women as the first. We must note, however, that Peter actually is not identified as the first witness to the resurrection; he only appears first in the Corinthian text. This also would be consistent with a “seeker-sensitive” approach to evangelism, since the implied priority of the male witness would be much more palatable to first century Jews.
 
Finally, regarding the five hundred that saw Jesus all at once, the gospel accounts concern themselves primarily with the appearances in and around Jerusalem. A group appearance such as this would have had to happen in a large open area, perhaps when the disciples met the risen Master in Galilee. The fact that this account does not appear in the Gospels, but in Paul's text alone, does not warrant dismissing it as mythical or legendary. In fact, Paul invites his readers to verify this tradition themselves by mentioning that many of these witnesses were still alive and available for cross-examination. 
                                                                     
We must always keep in mind that the creed that appears in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 was constructed early in Jerusalem within a religious context that was quite skeptical of the new movement. In such an environment, it would make sense to strategically include only core information that was critical and to refrain from including peripheral information over which the creed's Jewish audience might stumble. A couple of decades later, as the message moved outward into the Gentile world and it began to appear that Jesus may tarry, more detailed accounts were included in the Gospels to preserve the tradition for future generations.

Therefore, it is much more reasonable to consider the differences between the Corinthian creed and the Gospels as matters of strategic discrimination rather than inconsistencies or contradictions. That the gospel accounts pass the criteria of critical historical scholarship should compel us to weigh their historicity seriously rather than to casually dismiss them. At the very least, we should recognize that the Gospels, although written decades after the event, make the same proclamation found in the Corinthian creed, which scholars date no later than three to five years after the event. Such corroboration over decades is stunning evidence that something really happened in space and time.     

In our next post, entitled "The Transformation of the Disciples," we will consider the evidence provided by the radical change in the attitudes and the belief systems of the disciples. What does this transformation tell us about the reality of the event to which the creed in 1 Corinthians alludes and which the Gospels corroborate? By answering this question, we hope to lovingly coax our skeptic out of the dampness and darkness of his or her stone house and further into the warmth of the light.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentle