Event · New Testament

Jesus appears to more than five hundred

Also known as Paul's list of witnesses

Paul passed on a summary he had himself received: Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Cephas, to the Twelve, to more than five hundred at once, to James, to all the apostles, and finally to Paul.

Why it matters. This is the earliest written statement of the resurrection, and it names witnesses who could still be questioned.

Primary passages

• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Witnesses

• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Chronology confidence: medium

No Gospel narrates this appearance; it survives in the summary Paul says he received and passed on. Most scholars date the summary to within a few years of the events, earlier than any written Gospel; FaithGraph labels that dating as a historical inference. Paul adds that most of the witnesses were still alive when he wrote.

Last reviewed

2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team