Give the highlights of Christ's resurrection appearances as outlined in I Corinthians.

Answer Details

The resurrection appearances of Christ as outlined in 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

In defending the reality of the resurrection to the Corinthians, Paul reminded them of the Gospel he had preached, which he himself had received. He affirmed that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He then listed the appearances of the risen Lord as proof:

• He appeared to Cephas (Peter): The first named witness to whom the risen Christ showed himself.
• Then to the Twelve: The company of the apostles saw him after his resurrection.
• Then to more than five hundred brethren at one time: Paul noted that most of these were still alive at the time of writing, though some had fallen asleep (died), so that they could be questioned as living witnesses.
• Then to James: The Lord appeared to James, understood to be the brother of the Lord and a leader of the Jerusalem church.
• Then to all the apostles: A further appearance to the whole apostolic body.
• Last of all, to Paul himself: He said Christ appeared also to him, "as to one untimely born." Paul described himself as the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle because he had persecuted the church of God, yet by the grace of God he was what he was, and that grace was not in vain, for he laboured more than all of them.

Paul concluded that whether it was he or the other apostles, so they preached and so the Corinthians had believed. He used this chain of eye-witnesses to establish beyond doubt that Christ was truly raised from the dead, which is the very foundation of the Christian faith.