Creeds provide concise summaries of the Christian faith or answer questions about particular beliefs. Have you ever wondered… What was the first Christian creed? When was it written?
The first creed sits right under our noses every time we read the Bible. Yep. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 and you’ll find it:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Some in Corinth questioned the resurrection of Jesus. So Paul built a thorough case for it in his letter. The entire train of thought rests on the earliest Christian creed: Jesus died, rose, and appeared to many. Paul is quoting this foundational creed to say: “Jesus rose from the dead! If you don’t believe me, go visit the eyewitnesses!” Many eyewitnesses were still available since Paul’s letter came within 20 years of these appearances.
But the creed dates even earlier than the letter! Most scholars agree it originated within 5 years of Jesus’ resurrection. What a clear statement of faith! Backed up by a landslide of eyewitness testimony! Imagine a trial lawyer calling over 500 eyewitnesses to the stand! By comparison, the earliest accounts of Alexander the Great came more than 400 years after he died in 323 BC. The historical evidence for the resurrection astounds!
Gould, Dickinson, and Loftin, in their book Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel, write that:
The reports of the central claim of the Christian gospel, namely Jesus’s resurrection, date to a time in which memories are still vivid and emotions are still raw. The dust has barely settled… There is nothing in all of ancient writing with this sort of pedigree.
Praise the Lord for such reliable evidence to rest our faith upon! We believe Jesus rose from the dead. That’s a claim of first importance. For “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). But if Jesus rose: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54), your sins can be forgiven, and eternal life is yours in Him.