The Corinthian Creed circulated among the earliest Christians and was recorded in I Corinthians 15:3-7. It was already in use before Paul’s conversion, about two years after the crucifixion. There is a strong likelihood that this statement was in use within a couple of months of Jesus’ death—demonstrating that belief in the resurrection stretches back to Christianity’s earliest days. This creed used the credibility of surviving eyewitnesses to refute Judaism’s assertion that Jesus did not rise.
I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scrip-tures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, the majority of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.