Calling the Witnesses
The Extent of Pre-Pauline Tradition in 1 Cor 15:3b–7 and the Analogy of Acts
(avg. read time: 11–22 mins.)
Many have noted that some portion of 1 Cor 15:3b–7 is likely the earliest gospel summary in the NT, since it would have needed to be formulated prior to Paul’s Damascus Road encounter and his initial meeting with the “pillars” of the Jesus movement. As such, scholars suggest that this summary coalesced anywhere between three months to three years after Jesus’s death and resurrection.1 Of course, the question is: how much of 1 Cor 15:3b–7 is pre-Pauline tradition that Paul received and proclaimed to the Corinthians? One extreme proposal by Reginald Fuller, following Ulrich Wilckens, identifies four different formulae in vv. 3b–5 signified by the four uses of ὅτι, which come from four different sources that Paul merged.2 Most scholars see the pre-Pauline tradition as ending in v. 5 after the last ὅτι, either with the appearance to Peter or the appearance to the Twelve.3 Others develop this notion further by arguing that Paul has joined two or more separate pre-Pauline traditions, one ending at v. 5 and the other(s) including some portion of vv. 6–7 (with v. 6b omitted as an obvious Pauline insertion).4 Finally, a few scholars have proposed that the pre-Pauline tradition that Paul passed on to the Corinthians includes all of vv. 3b–7, minus Paul’s comment on the state of the 500+ in v. 6b.5
The debate has naturally focused on the textual indicators of 1 Cor 15:3b–7 itself, but scholars have overlooked the potential illumination on this question of the extent of pre-Pauline tradition in the text that could be provided by comparison with other NT analogies. This is not particularly surprising, given that this text is considered the earliest gospel summary composed for evangelistic purposes that is preserved in the NT. However, there are other NT texts that provide summaries of gospel proclamations in evangelistic contexts, specifically in the Book of Acts, that could serve as analogies for this summary of pre-Pauline tradition.6 Such a comparison could be especially valuable because of the independence of testimony from the two authors. Paul and Luke were travelling companions (Acts 16:10–16; 20:6–21:18; Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11; Phlm 24), but there is no clear dependence of Acts on 1 Corinthians (much less in the other direction) in terms of outlining gospel summaries.
I argue that the analogy of the summaries of gospel proclamations in Acts supports the arguments of the last proposal that the gospel that Paul received and handed on to the Corinthians consists of the entirety of 1 Cor 15:3b–7, minus the comment on the state of the 500+. This article will proceed in two phases to make this argument. First, I review the text in context to see the indications there are of pre-Pauline tradition, which will include a review of the arguments for the different proposals of the extent of pre-Pauline tradition. Second, I examine the analogous gospel summaries in Acts wherein the evangelists appeal to the testimony of the witnesses of the risen Jesus as part of proclaiming the gospel.
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