Paul's words about the Savior's death and resurrection, with the addition “according to the Scriptures,” are highly intriguing. Which “scriptures” does he mean? The corresponding Hebrew word denotes the third part of the Jewish canon of Holy Scripture, which took shape considerably later. In Paul's time, this canon included...
Paul's words about the Savior's death and resurrection, with the addition “according to the Scriptures,” are highly intriguing. Which “scriptures” does he mean? The corresponding Hebrew word denotes the third part of the Jewish canon of Holy Scripture, which took shape considerably later. In Paul's time, this canon included the Torah, the Former Prophets (our historical books, except for the Books of Chronicles), and the Latter Prophets (our prophetic books, except for the Book of Daniel, which does not belong among them in the Jewish canon).
In the New Testament books, the Jewish canon is usually called “the Law and the Prophets,” meaning precisely the Torah (the Pentateuch) and the prophetic books (the Former and Latter Prophets). As for the third part, called by the word “Writings,” it reached its final form only in the third and fourth centuries AD. It included our wisdom books, as well as the Books of Chronicles, the Book of Psalms, and the Book of Daniel. These books had appeared much earlier, before the coming of Christ, but at that time the Synagogue regarded them as authoritative and useful for reading without considering them part of the canon. The contents of the “Writings” had therefore not yet been precisely defined: they varied by region and local tradition, and often included books not only in Hebrew but also in Greek.
It is possible that the first generation of Christians also had its own version of the “Writings.” These were not yet, of course, the Gospels we know, but their core may already have been written down at that time. Indeed, the foundation of all four Gospels is the account of the Savior's resurrection. This is entirely natural: the Resurrection is the clearest and uniquely compelling testimony to Jesus' messiahship and to the truth of His words about the Kingdom He brought into the world. The preaching of Paul, like that of all the other apostles, was built on testimony to the Resurrection. Yet the account of the Resurrection is, in form, a collection of testimonies, and testimonies must be recorded with the greatest possible accuracy. It is therefore not surprising that people's testimonies connected with the Resurrection began to be recorded and organized very early, during the lifetime of the first Christian generation.
These written accounts were probably well known to the first Christians, and Paul could refer to them in confidence that his hearers knew what he meant. Personal testimony was thus supplemented by written sources, which confirmed the reliability of the Resurrection as a real historical event. And the living experience of people such as Paul himself demonstrated that it is not only history but also the reality of every Christian's life, wherever and whenever that Christian may live.
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15:3 I received - From Christ himself. It was not a fiction of my own. Isa 53:8-9.
15:4 According to the scriptures - He proves it first from scripture, then from the testimony of a cloud of witnesses. Psa 16:10.
15:5 By the twelve - This was their standing appellation; but their full number was not then present.