Lastly, we have the letters of Paul, which provide even more evidence of that Catholicism in fact goes back to the earliest days of Jesus followers. First, in
1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul says,
“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received”
What follows are several lines of stylized rhythmic Greek, obviously designed for an oral (illiterate) culture to learn the basic tenets of Christianity. Paul says that
in his visit to the Corinthians, he taught them this text, and now, in his letter to them, he is reiterating that teaching. That visit to the Corinthians scholars date to approximately 51 AD, which means that the rythmic Greek text of 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 also precedes 51 AD.
When did Paul “receive” this text? Well, we have from Acts and from the other letters of Paul a very good estimate. In
Galatians 1:18-19, we hear that Paul – three years after his initial conversion, visited Peter and James in Jerusalem for a period of 15 days. Fourteen years later, Paul returned to Jerusalem and presented what he was teaching to the Apostles who were there before him. From
Galatians 2:2,
“I went up in accord with a revelation, and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.” And in Galatians 2:6, we hear,
“those of repute made me add nothing.” In other words, Paul’s preaching was absolutely in accord with the preaching of the other Christians.
From this information, we know when Paul learned the rythmic Greek text of 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. That is, during his visit to Peter and James in Jerusalem, described in Galatians 1. Because he was using that text with the Corinthians in his visit to them in 51 AD, and we know that a minimum of 14 years could have passed between Paul’s visits to Jerusalem described in Galatians 1 and 2, we see that the latest possible date for Paul to have “received” this rhythmic Greek text is 51-14 = 37 AD. However, that’s assuming that Paul visited the Corinthians immediately after the meeting in Jerusalem described in Galatians 2, which even Galatians 2 tells us didn’t happen. It says that Paul went to Antioch afterward, which is also attested in
Acts 15:30-35. The Book of Acts also tells us that before visiting Corinth, after Antioch, he visited Lycanonia, Phyrgia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Samothrace, Neapolis, Philippi (where he was imprisoned), Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens. We know from reference in Acts to the Proconsul Galio (attested by archaeology) that Paul’s visit to Corinth took place between 50-52 and lasted for 18 months. In actuality, the text of 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 can have been taught to Paul by Peter and James in 36 AD at the very latest. So this is really really old.
Also from Galatians 1, we know that Paul “went into Arabia” (probably the Nabatean Arabs – around Damascus) for three years between his conversion to Christianity and his first visit to Peter in Jerusalem. That puts his initial conversion in 33-34 AD.
