The first Christians confessing Christ
Delivered and Raised (1 Corinthians 15)
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul does something he does nowhere else so explicitly: he cites a fixed tradition he had received and passed on, that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose the third day, and appeared. It is widely regarded as the earliest datable Christian creed, and Paul names the eyewitnesses who saw the risen Lord. Here the resurrection stands on named testimony from the first years of the church.
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”1 Corinthians 15:3
The passage
The passage. Defending the resurrection to a doubting Corinthian church, Paul returns to the gospel he first preached: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). The core is a four-line summary, died, buried, rose, appeared, each anchored to Scripture or to witnesses. Paul then adds his own name to the list of those to whom the risen Christ appeared, staking his apostleship on it. He points out that many of the five hundred were still living, as if to say the reader could go and ask.
Why it is read as an early creed or hymn
Why it is read as an early creed or hymn. This is the passage most confidently identified as a quoted creed, and the reasons are strong. Paul frames it with the technical language of handing on tradition: "I delivered unto you... that which I also received." Those are the words for receiving a fixed teaching and passing it on unchanged. The summary itself is tightly structured, four parallel clauses joined by "and that," easy to memorize and recite. Some of the vocabulary is unusual for Paul, and the reference to "the twelve" and "Cephas" carries the flavor of an established formula. Because Paul received this before he brought it to Corinth, and he had been a believer within a few years of the crucifixion, the creed is widely dated very early, reaching back to within a few years of the resurrection itself. That mainstream dating is what makes this passage so weighty: it is not a legend that grew over generations. The confession of a died-and-risen Christ is bedrock, and Paul treats it as the received foundation of the faith.
What the first Christians confessed about Christ
What the first Christians confessed about Christ. The creed confesses the saving death and bodily resurrection of Jesus as the heart of the gospel. "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures," his death was not a tragedy but an atonement, foretold in Scripture and offered on our behalf. "He was buried," the death was real and his body was laid in a tomb. "He rose again the third day according to the scriptures," the resurrection was likewise real and foretold, not a metaphor for surviving influence. "He was seen" of named individuals and groups, Cephas, the twelve, five hundred at once, James, all the apostles, and finally Paul. The confession rests on eyewitnesses, many still alive when Paul wrote. Here the earliest believers confess that Jesus is the crucified and risen Lord whose death deals with sin and whose resurrection is attested by witnesses. The whole gospel, Paul says, stands or falls here: "if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Questions people ask
Why is this called the earliest creed?
Paul says he 'received' it and 'delivered' it to Corinth, so it predates his preaching there and reaches back to his own early years as a believer, within a few years of the crucifixion. Its fixed, formula-like shape marks it as tradition he inherited. This early dating is a mainstream conclusion, not speculation.
Why does Paul list so many witnesses?
The creed names Cephas, the twelve, over five hundred at once, James, all the apostles, and Paul himself. He notes that most of the five hundred were still alive, effectively inviting readers to check. The resurrection is presented as public, attested testimony, not private experience.
What does 'according to the scriptures' add?
Repeated for both the death and the resurrection, it insists that these events fulfilled what God had promised in the Old Testament. The cross and empty tomb were not an interruption of God's plan but its fulfillment. The creed reads Christ's death and rising as the goal to which the Scriptures pointed.