Verse 6

"After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep."

This verse was one of my main motivators for wanting to write these posts.

I love this verse. It is one of the best arguments for the truth of Christianity. Even if someone does not accept the inerrency of the Bible they have to confront and look at this verse.

So let's take a look.

It says that Jesus, the resurrected, back from the dead Jesus, came and appeared to five hundred witnesses at once. That's pretty cool.

Then it goes on to say, that most of those five hundred witnesses are still alive, though some have "fallen asleep" (1st century speak for "died").

Why is this significant?

It is significant because this claim comes from the book of 1st Corinthians, yet a 2nd Corinthians was still written and yet thousands and millions and hundreds of millions of people would go on to put their faith in this Jesus.

If Paul was lying about Christ's resurrection, he would have been found out, he would have been exposed, and the church in Corinth would have dissolved creating no need for any further letters.

Paul is basically making a challenge. He's is saying, "Head to Jerusalem and ask some folks if you like, most of them are still kicking, they were eyewitnesses, they'll tell you what they saw, what they experienced. And it won't be a feeling they had in their heart, it won't be a vision they saw under a tree alone one night, it will be a physical, living man they (and 500 others) all saw together."

If Jesus wasn't resurrected, then that was one heck of an optical illusion.

Are there other explanations? Sure, it's possible no one who heard this letter read ever sought out to speak with some of those who were "still living." That's possible, but I'd consider it unlikely.

Just as I would consider it unlikely that Paul would live the life he lived (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-33) and ultimately be martyred for a lie. Or that all the rest of the Apostles would willingly be killed for a lie (except John, but note, there was an attempt to boil him alive in oil, that he survived).

I love Paul's boldness. I love his willingness to fact-checked.

So as we look at this we ask, "Was it true?" and "Is it true?"

These are exciting questions. And the implications are even better.