The Unapologetic Apologia

I will be using basic criteria that stories use two get the most probabilistic historical account. These were some of the methods used by historians to come to the conclusion of the most basic facts of History that we know today.

The criterias are, Explanatory Scope: If there are, say 10 facts the hypothesis that can explain all or most of those 10 facts is the mostly likely hypothesis to have.

Explanatory Power: If the most likely hypothesis can explain all the facts with the least amount of effort. In other words the simplest explanation is usually the most likely.

Lumination: If the Hypothesis shead light on other areas of history. Like other happenings in that area or time.

This will be a very simplified version and is by no means all the data available. This is just what I know.

The Conspiracy Theory

This theory is that the appearance of the resurrected Jesus are a lie. Made up for the religions own gain. This theory cannot a account for: The quality of the testimony of the disciples, The Empty Tomb, and Skeptics, like the Jews, Gentiles, converting.

Conspiracy: There are some today that still believe that it was a conspiracy that grew Christianity to what it is today. They say the claim that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the women, then the disciples, then the to the group of 500, was conspiracy. That the early Christians simply lied to further their faith and sway in politics, or what ever reason that skeptics who use this choose.

Firstly how do we know that Jesus was alive at some point after his crucifixion? The exact same way we know many other things from history. We need witness and we need to know that we can trust the witnesses. Remember history as we know it, works in probabilities.

The Creed
The creed ties into much of the evidence I show here. Unfortunately for the cynical skeptics of Christianity, we have a surprising amount of witness accounts, and after Jesus’s appearances, the early Christians started preaching immediately. We have summaries of their early sermons, they made creeds that were easily memorized so they can be passed to others. Scholars noticed the Creeds mnemonic structure with parallelism with less than 50 words.
The creed was  written in 1 Corinthians 15 3-7, and by the time the letter containing this creed was sent to the Church in Corinth, Paul (the writer), in the letter says in that he’d already sent the creed to them. So this means it was older than the letter containing it. Scholars date this creed within 2 years after Jesus’s Death.

The creedal statement Paul received from the original Apostles was this.
“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. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
Notice how there are the resurrection account, we have the large group appearance then the small group appearances accounts and also we have singular accounts. This list shows appearances to friends and foes. The twelve Apostles and Cephas (Peter) were close and friendly with Jesus during his 3 year ministry throughout Galilei and Judea. But Paul despised Jesus and the church and actively captured Christians sending them to prison or their deaths, which mean he was not wanting to see or believe Jesus was the Messiah. James the brother of Jesus didn’t believe his brother was the Messiah and with this mocked Jesus. Seeing him as a blasphemer to the Jewish faith. Yet they’re all listed in the creed was witnesses.

All of it being primary source material.

This creed would have been around 51 AD. What’s important is that Paul would’ve received this creed from Peter and John long before this letter. Being that he spent three years after Jesus’s appearance to him on the road to Damascus, studying and traveling to gather testimonials from the people who were there to see the risen Jesus confirming what he say from them. Finally traveling to Peter to get what he researched confirmed officially from the original Apostles in Jerusalem. Scholars date this creed to within a few years after Jesus Crucifixion, some even earlier. Ulrich Wilckens says “The creed “Indubitably goes back to the oldest, phase of all in the history of primitive Christianity.”
Michael Goulder says that,  “Paul ‘received” the tradition- that is, he was taught it at his conversion- perhaps two years after. Jesus’ death.”.

James D.G.Dunn claims, “This tradition, We can be entirely confident, was formulated as tradition within months of Jesus’ death.”.
Gerd Lüdemann: “The elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the t crucifixion of Jesus.”
Paul Barnett: “within two or three years of the First Easter.”. RichardI Burridge & Graham Gould: “from only a few years after Jesus’ death.” And finally Alexander Wedderburn who says the creed dates back to the “first half of the 30s.”

With this Creed made, the Apostles sent representatives with authoritative traditions that were eventually compiled in the gospels and other writings. We have writings and quotations from the following generation of the early church, -like Polycarp of Smyrna and Clement of Rome, and Ignatius of Antioch- that knew the Apostle. They continued to spread the message of the Apostles, especially the resurrection.

Nexts: Pt.3