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Is God Dead?
Over the last few weeks, we have presented the Gospel accounts of the resurrection of Jesus as nothing less than ancient historical documents, written within the living memories of the eyewitnesses, by those eyewitnesses, or their close associates.
Nonetheless, resurrection skeptic and critic Bart Ehrman has often been quoted saying that the Gospel accounts were corrupted through a long string of oral transmissions by multiple people over decades of time, resulting in a distorted and false story ultimately being recorded in the Gospel accounts.
Even so, as noted in the previous articles, Ehrman’s assertions are deceptive and inaccurate. Nevertheless, the Gospels are not the only source of evidence for what happened to Jesus after the crucifixion. To be sure, there is an older source that reaches back nearly to the event itself. During the mid-first century, Paul of Tarsus wrote a letter to a church at Corinth. In this ancient historical document, Paul wrote something exciting.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Now, what makes this quotation interesting is that it is actually an early Christian creed (Credo) that Paul has embedded in his letter. Bible scholars base this based upon several observations. First, Paul uses a particular phraseology as being an indication that an oral tradition (received from another) was being imparted (delivered to) to a listener or reader.
This received-delivered structure was a well-known rabbinical formula in Paul’s day and culture and would have been easily recognized by his listeners and readers. In fact, Paul likewise uses this formula concerning the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23, where again he writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.” Second, Paul uses particular phrases that are extremely uncommon or altogether missing in his other writings.
For example, here, Paul writes “for our sins: rather than his customary singular “sin.” Also, the phrase “according to the Scriptures” does not appear anywhere else in the entire New Testament. Nor is it of Aramaic origin but rather Hebrew. Third, the sentence structure of the text indicates a particular style that aids in oral recitation.
That is, the text is constructed with parallelism where the first and third sentences are longer, ending in “the Scriptures,” followed by shorter sentences. This structure is very similar to what is found in poetry and in the lyrics of songs, and it creates a rhythmic cadence that encourages memorization. Beyond that, this parallelism yields evidence indicating it originated out of Jerusalem due to its “heavy Semitic” influence upon the Greek text.
But, this quotation by Paul raises another question: when and from whom did Paul “receive” this tradition? Paul writes in another historical document, a letter to the church at Galatia, that some three years after his conversion experience, he traveled to Jerusalem to visit Peter, a visit that lasted some fifteen days. Now, fifteen days is a long time to spend with anybody, especially with someone whom you have not previously met.
But Paul gives us a hint as to what he was doing with Peter during this time. Paul uses the Greek word for “visit,” which translates into our English word, history. This would indicate that Paul spent fifteen days with Peter “to get information from” him. Of course, Peter, some three years after the crucifixion of Jesus, was considered to be at the top of the Jerusalem leadership. This is important because Jerusalem set doctrine for the church (cf Acts 15).
Since the Credo represents the bedrock foundational doctrine of Christianity, no doubt the Jerusalem leadership established it. The very leaders Paul went to “visit” three years after the crucifixion. Further, Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:11 that all the apostles preaching this oral tradition seem to point to Jerusalem as the place of origin of the formula (Credo). For when Paul here speaks of the apostles, he undoubtedly includes Peter and The Twelve.
Consequently, for them to all preach the same oral tradition, it seems that it must have stemmed originally from Jerusalem. Since the events captured in the Credo are the pillars of Christianity, it seems very likely that Paul, at a minimum, “received” the oral creed from Peter at this same time. At any rate, while it is extremely likely Peter and Paul discussed the early Credo during the fifteen days together, Paul probably first received this oral tradition in Damascus immediately after his conversion.
Join us again next week as we continue to look at this fascinating piece of early and important evidence established as oral tradition very early after the events it describes. More importantly, the Credo affirms the three minimal bedrock facts.
It unequivocally affirms 1) That Jesus died by crucifixion; 2) that shortly after His death, His disciples had experiences they interpreted to be appearances to them; and 3) a few years later, Paul had an experience He interpreted to be an appearance of the risen Jesus. Until then, is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife, Vicki, are members of the Waurika church of Christ and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at [email protected].
