ABSTRACT
This chapter defends the historical reliability of the very early tradition in 1 Corinthians 15:3–11 which attests Jesus’ post-mortem appearances to individuals and groups of people. Robert Price’s speculation that the list contains later interpolation is contradicted by the manuscript evidence. Psychologists DiFonzo and Bordia have noted that studies have shown that people are careful to form conclusions based on valid evidence when the topic is important, when the costs of false confirmation are high, and when people are held personally responsible for what they say and they care about their reputation among sustained relationships with known audiences, and that groups characterized by scepticism tend to arrive at more accurate conclusions. These considerations were all present in Paul’s writing of 1 Corinthians 15, and they jointly imply that Paul would not have made up the list of supposed eyewitnesses or passed on one which was made up by others and which he himself did not know was correct. Moreover, other first-and early second-century documents—such as the Four Gospels, Acts, 1 Clement, Letters of Ignatius, etc.—also attest Jesus’ post-mortem appearances to individuals and groups. I reply to the objection that there are disagreements among the accounts in Paul and the Four Gospels.
