The Case For Christ

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 personally 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."
Before I could jump in, Habermas added, "And later, in I
Corinthians 15:11, Paul emphasizes that the other apostles
agreed in
preaching the same gospel, this same message about the
Resurrection. This means that what the eyewitness Paul is saying
is the exact same thing as what the eyewitnesses Peter and James
are saying." I'll admit it: all this sounded pretty convincing.
Still, I had some reservations about the creed, and I didn't want
Habermas's confident assertions to deter me from probing further.
THE MYSTERY OF THE FIVE HUNDRED
The creed in I Corinthians 15 is the only place in ancient
literature where it is claimed that Jesus appeared to five
hundred people at once. The gospels don't corroborate it. No
secular historian mentions it. And to me, that raises a yellow
flag.
"If this really happened, why doesn't anyone else talk about it?"
I asked Habermas. "You'd think the apostles would cite this as
evidence wherever they went. As the atheist Michael Martin says,
'One must conclude that it is extremely unlikely that this
incident really occurred' and that this therefore 'indirectly
casts doubt on Paul as a reliable source.'"
That remark bothered Habermas. "Well, it's just plain silliness
to say this casts doubt on Paul," he replied, sounding both
astonished and annoyed that someone would make that claim.
"I mean, give me a break! First, even though it's only reported
in one source, it just so happens to be the earliest and bestauthenticated
passage of all! That counts for something.
Second, Paul apparently had some proximity to these people. He
says, 'most of whom are still living, though some have fallen
asleep.' Paul either knew some of these people or was told by
some-one who knew them that they were still walking around and