Paul In 1 Corinthians: A Thematic Analysis

When Jesus was sentenced to death on the cross, he accepted to die for the sins of all people. He looked to redeem the world and be a savior against the evils of sin. The excruciating pain and agony he was put during the Passion leaves no question that he did in fact die on the cross. After being taken down from the cross and buried, it was later found that his tomb was empty. This empty tomb in itself does not necessarily mean that Christ rose from the dead. In chapter thirteen, however, three separate sources were provided to corroborate the story that Jesus was seen alive after his death on the cross. The words found in Paul’s creed, the gospel accounts, and the Acts of the Apostles are a testament that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead …show more content…
Although there is no descriptive story of his actual body rising, there is still a plethora of trusted evidence describing events of Jesus on Earth after his death. The creed written by Paul in 1 Corinthians is likely the most inspiring and useful in looking at this story. There is no question that Paul was the author of this writing, and at two different points he affirms that he encountered the resurrected Christ. Initially he questions if he had not seen Jesus our Lord and then later claims that he “appeared to him also.” This creed also expresses that Jesus appeared to Peter, the rest of the Twelve, and then to more than five hundred brothers at the same time. The last part of Jesus showing himself to five hundred brothers came off as extremely questionable, but background knowledge can show this likely meant a Galilean countryside. An issue I commonly have with gospel writings is that the proximity of the writing and the actual event take too long and allows for legendary or inaccurate information to fill cracks. This creed by Paul was written within twenty years of the Resurrection, as it predates his visit to Corinth in A.D. 51, which adds to its credibility. Still, with all that amazing and miraculous information found in this creed, I question why there is no place in history a person can hear about Jesus coming back to life. The chapter explained how the story likely died …show more content…
There are several times in the gospel accounts where Jesus appears to a lot of different people like Mary Magdalene, the Apostles, Thomas, and to other disciples. The great wealth of sightings in the gospels does not create a cloudy image of the Resurrection. Many of the stories provided are backed up in other parts of the bible and all together they construct a vivid description of Jesus walking and talking with people after previously dying. These gospel accounts are incredibly significant to me, as this book has already told about the historical reliability of the gospel. I am provided with a very in depth story that I do believe must have occurred and that saved our world. In the contrary, the arguments against the gospels create an issue for me. It does seem like there is a high chance of evolutionary development in the gospel appearances of Jesus, as the earliest writer Mark provides no accounts and the last writer John has the most. I believe this is worth questioning, but not strong enough to disprove any of the information. All in all, the original belief of Jesus rising is not hurt by the lack of account by Mark. Furthermore, the bible provides more corroboration with the Acts of the Apostles writings. Peter was adamant in littering this sources with references to Jesus’ appearances after death and there can even be some creeds found