This is an excerpt from the book:The Case for Christ.
How early can we date the fundamental beliefs in Jesus' atonement,his resurrection,and his unique association with God?
(The author is Lee Strobel, he is interviewing Dr.Craig L. Blomberg,PH.D.)
"It's important to remember that the books of the New Testament are not in chronological order,"he began. "The Gospels were written after almost all the letters of Paul, whose writing ministry probably began in the late 40's.
Most of his major letters appeared during the 50's.To find the earliest informatiom, one goes to Paul's epistles and then asks,'Are there signs that even earlier sources were used in writing them?"
"And." I prompted,"what do we find?"
"We find that Paul incorporated some creeds, confessions of faith, or hymns from the earliest Christian Church.These go way back to the dawning of the Church soon after the Resurrection.
The most famous creeds include Phillipians 2:6-11,which talks about Jesus being "in very nature God,' and Collossians 1:15-20,which describes him as being "the image of the invisible God.' who created all things and through whom all things are reconciled with God 'by making peace through his blood,shed on the cross.'
"Those are certainly significant in explaining what the earliest Christians were convinced about Jesus.But perhaps the most importatnt creed in terms of the historical Jesus is 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul uses technical language to indicate he was passing along this oral traition in relativley fixed form."
Blomberg located the passage in his Bible and read it to me.
For What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried,that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve.After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time*,most of whom are still living,though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
"And here's the point," Blomberg said."If the crucifixtion was as early as A.D. 30, Paul's conversion was about 32.Immediatley Paul was ushered into Damascus, where he met with a christian named Ananias and some other disciples.
His first meeting with the apostles in Jerusalem would have been about
A.D.35. At some point along there,Paul was given this creed,which had already been formulated and was being used in the early Church.
"Now, here you have the key facts about Jesus' death for our sins, plus a detailed list of those to whom he appeared in resurrected form -- all dating back to within two to five years of the events themselves!
"That's not later mythology from forty or more years down the road, as Armstrong Suggested.A good case can be made for saying that Christian belief in the Resurrection, though not yet written down, can be dated to within two years of that very event.
"This is enormously significant," he said, his voice rising a bit in emphasis."Now you're not comparing thirty to sixty years with the five hundred years that's generally acceptable for other data - you're talking about two!"
I couldn't deny the importance of that evidence.It certainly seemed to take the wind out of the charge that the Resurrection --- which is cited by Christians as the crowning confirmation of Jesus' divinity----- was merely a mythological concept that developed over long periods of time as legends corrupted the eyewitness accounts of Christ's life.
For me (Lee Strobel),this struck close to home----as a skeptic, that was one of my biggest objections to Christianty.
Convince Me it's A Creed?
This is Lee Strobel's interview with Dr. Gary Habermas,PH.D,D.D.
Initially I wanted to determine why Habermas,Craig, Blomberg,and others were convinced this passage is a creed of the early Church and not just the words of Paul, who wrote the letter to the Corinthian Church in which it's contained.
My challenge to Habermas was simple and direct: "Convince me it's a creed."
"Well, I can give you several solid reasons.First, Paul introduces it with the words received and delivered[or passed on in the NIV], which are technical Rabbinic terms indicating he's passing along Holy tradition.
"Second," Habermas said, looking down at his hands as he grabbed a finger at a time to emphasize each point he was making, "the texts parrellelism and stylized content indicate that it's a creed.Third, the original text uses Cephas for Peter, which is his Aramaic name.In fact, the Aramaic itself could indicate a very early origin.Forth, the creed uses several other primitive phrases that Paul would not customarily use, like 'the Twelve.' 'the third day." 'he was rasied." and others.Fifth, the use of certain words is similar to Aramaic and Mishnaic Hebrew means of narration."
Having run out of fingers, he looked up at me."Should I go on?" "OK, OK," I said."You're saying that these facts convince you as a conservative evangelical Christian, that this is an early creed."
Habermas seemed a bit offended by that admittedley barbed remark."It's not just conservative Christians who are convinced," he insisted indignantly."This is an assesment that's shared by a wide range of scholars from across a broad theological spectrum.The eminenet scholar Joachim Jeremias refers to this creed as "the earliest tradition of all."and Ulrich Wilckens says it indubitably goes back to the oldest phrase of all in the history of primitive Christianity."
That raised the question of how primitive the creed is."How far back can you date it? I asked.
"We know that Paul wrote Corinthians 1 between A.D. 55 AND 57.He indicates in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 that he has already passed on this creed to the church at Corinth, which would mean it must predate his visit there in A.D.51.Therefore the creed was being used within twenty years of the resurrection, which is quite early.
"However, I'd agree with the various scholars who trace it back even further, to within two to eight years of the resurrection, or from about A.D. 32 TO 38,when Paul received it in either Damascus or Jerusalem.So this is incredibly early material--primitive,unadorned testimony to the fact that Jesus appeared alive to skeptics like Paul and James, as well as to Peter and the rest of the disciples."
"But," I protested. "it's not really a firsthand account.Paul is providing the list second-or thirdhand.Doesn't that diminish it's value as evidence?
Not to Habermas."Keep in mind that Paul personally affirms that Jesus appeared to him as well, so this provides firsthand testimony.And Paul didn't just pick up this list from strangers on the street.The leading view is that he got it directly from the eyewitness Peter and James themselves, and he took great pains to confirm it's accuracy."
That was a strong claim."How do you know that?"I asked.
"I would concur with the scholars who believe Paul received this material three yrs.after his conversion, when he took a trip to Jerusalem and met with Peter and James.Paul describes that trip in Galations 1:18-19, where he uses a very interesting Greek word-- historeo."
I wasn't familiar with the meaning of the word."Why is that significant?"
"Because this word indicates that he didn't just casually shoot the breeze when he met with them.It shows this was an investigative inquiry.Paul was playing the role of an examiner, someone who was carefully checking this out.So the fact that Paul personnally confirmed matters with two eyewitnesses who are specifically mentioned in the creed---Peter and James---gives this extra weight.
One of the very few Jewish New Testament scholars,Pinchas Lapide, says the evidence in support of the creed is so strong that it, may be considered as a statement of eyewitnesses."
And later in, 1 Corint 15:11, Paul emphasizes that the other apostles agreed in preaching the same Gospel, this same message about the Resurrection.This message means that what the eyewitness Paul is saying is the exact same thing as what the eyewitnesses Peter and James are saying."
I know your eyes are tired so I will end it here. This post is for anyone looking to verify the Epistles,Creed.I find it very fascinating evidence,and no we are not saying anything new here, but the same things that need to be said again and again with fierce conviction.Anyone interested get the books:The Case for Christ,and The Case for Faith by,Lee Strobel*****