The 1st church, formed by the apostles in Jerusalem, were in c. AD 30 circulating the 1 Corinthians 15 creed.
• It originated in c. AD 30-35.
• It catered to Jewish-Christians
• Its creators are close/identical to 1st church leader.
• Its creators often discussed “the twelve apostles”.
• Paul’s creedal traditions were from Jerusalem.
• Jerusalem was at least circulating the creed’s facts.
• [Its Greek has semitic features.
But no,...
• It displays Hellenistic-source tendencies.
• Paul invented it.
• The 1st church didn’t canonize creeds/traditions
In c. AD 30 Jerusalem, the ratio of true to false Jesus-biography circulating was overwhelming. The truth was pervasive and dominated.
• In AD 30-70 Mediterranean, Jesus-bio truths won-out.
• Acts 2 “You all know!” dates to AD 30.
• Jesus-bio witnesses+testimonies flourished in 1st church.
• In general, ECs were honest about Jesus-bio.
• In AD 30 Jerusalem, witnesses killed most false rumor.
In AD 30-70, rather than deviating from what the relevant witnesses themselves would’ve said, the Jesus biography circulated by early Christians align with what eyewitnesses remembered and testified to.
• Witness-based truth always beats legend for 50+ years.
• Warranted Jesus-bio thrived in AD 30-70 Med.
• False Jesus-bio did not thrive.
• Gospel content is a subset of what witnesses say.
Early Christians were circulating a lot of claims about Jesus and his ministry, death, and purported resurrection actions on Earth. As a matter of proportion, very few of these in AD 30-70 were fabrications or serious embellishments.
• In general, early Christians were honest.
• Early Christians would report Jesus-bio honestly.
• They wouldn’t invent the Jesus-bio as we see it.
• They relayed witness testimony.
But no,...
• Counterexamples abound.
• The gospel traditions are full of lies/invention.
The whole 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 content which Paul was allegedly passing down in fact was a complete fabrication by Paul himself. He made all the witneses and these appearances up.
• It's full of extra-Pauline verbiage.
• Paul’s assumes his audience knew it.
• It too stupidly invites falsification.
• No plausible motive.
• Paul relayed it (1 Cor 15 is pre-Pauline).
• The appearances are multiply attested.