The Case For Christ

some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all
the apostles." In the next verse, Paul adds, "And last of all he
appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
On the face of it, this is incredibly influential testimony that
Jesus did appear alive after his death. Here were names of
specific individuals and groups of people who saw him, written
at a time when people could still check them out if they wanted
confirmation. Since I knew that the creed would be pivotal in
establishing the Resurrection, I decided to subject it to greater
scrutiny: Why are historians convinced it's a creed? How
trustworthy is it? How far back does it go? "Do you mind if I
cross-examine you on this creed?" I asked Habermas.
He extended his hand as if to invite the inquiry. "Please," he
said politely, "go ahead "
"CONVINCE ME IT'S A CREED"
Initially I wanted to determine why Habermas, Craig, Blomberg,
and others are convinced that 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 text's parallelism and stylized content indicate 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. Fourth, the creed uses several other primitive
phrases that Paul would not customarily use, like 'the
Twelve,"the third day,"he was raised,' 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?"
he asked.
"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 admittedly barbed
remark. "It's not just conservative Christians who are