Conclusion: Bringing It All Together
Conclusion: Bringing It All Together
The Gospels contribute many worthwhile items to a discussion of Jesus' resurrection. These texts fall well within the range of admissible sources, especially for the ancient world. However, by following the critical model and emphasizing the “authentic” epistles of the apostle Paul, we begin at a point perhaps 10 to 40 years before the Gospels. But this strategy also brings additional benefits, such as the early creedal traditions which Paul reports.
In the case of 1 Cor 15:3ff., critical scholars agree that Paul's reception of at least the content of this proclamation, and probably the creed itself, go back to the mid-AD 30s, when he spent two weeks with Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. But these two apostles had the material before Paul did, and the events behind the reports are earlier still.
This is probably the chief argument that persuades the majority of scholars today that the proclamation of Jesus' resurrection originated in the earliest church. Virtually all critical scholars think this message began with the real experiences of Jesus' earliest disciples, who thought that they had seen appearances of their risen Lord.30 It did not arise at some later date. Nor was it borrowed or invented. As Bauckham asserts, “There can be no doubt that…Paul is citing the eyewitness testimony of those who were recipients of resurrection appearances.”31 This is the chief value of this argument. It successfully secures the two most crucial historiographical factors: (1) the reports of the original eyewitnesses, which are (2) taken from the earliest period. This is the argument that has rocked a generation of critical scholars. The historicity of Jesus' resurrection appearances is indeed strongly evidenced.