Are the first items on the list part of "the gospel?" Are at least the "that"/"and that" items "of first importance?"gryan wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 1:13 amThis reminds me of playing softball. The expert tosses a nice slow pitch to make it easy for the new guy. So, thanks for that, Ben. You are one of those taller, more experienced cool kids who amazingly, is not a bully! (There seems to be quite a few of those types around here. This forum is a special place that way. So thanks to all who make this possible). I never got into this text in such detail before!Ben C. Smith wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 7:41 am
Your explanation requires that information about the visions granted to others fall into the category of, as you put it, "ordinary information," which to my eye contradicts the statement in 1 Corinthians 15.3 that the listed information was "of first importance."
Re: "of first importance"
I'm seeing five categories: 1) Of first importance, 2) and that 3) after that, 4) then and 5) last of all.
1) of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
2) and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.
3) After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
4) Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
5) And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.
From his own vision, all Paul knew was "He appeared to me" (ὤφθη κἀμοί) -- that vision was, in its essential quality, not "received from a human source" (παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παρέλαβον, Gal 1:12). The discourse of 1 Cor 15:3f is by nature "received from a human source", and thus, Paul writes, "I handed down... what I received (παρέδωκα... παρέλαβον i.e. "from a human source"). With his own testimony--"He appeared to me"--Paul was adding his own witness to the public record for others to receive and to hand down.
Because it looks to me like you are walking through the Corinthian passage, accurately explaining what it means, without denying that it stands in contradiction to the Galatian passage.