As Paul's letters are generally considered to have been written before the Gospels, he was likely referring to various prophesies in the Jewish scriptures that 'foretell' the Messiah.
http://jewishroots.net/library/anti_missionary_objections/on_the_third_day.html http://jewishroots.net/library/anti_missionary_objections/on_the_third_day.html However these references provide evidence the idea was in place before Jesus, and perhaps then adopted by the early Christians as part of their spiel. We really do not have that much detail about what happened in the first century. The large number of contradictions between the various Gospels and Epistles show we are not dealing with a completely coherent account, and it is certainly plausible quite a lot got tacked onto the story that never happened in the attempt to make it more impressive. If we take the earliest account that is Christian writing (Mark), the tomb was empty and that is all, Paul's references being to earlier writings, not the actual event reported in the Gospels, which do not match up in many ways. Jewish claims at the time were that the disciples stole the body out of the tomb. Grave robbing was a problem at that time as well. A stone acquired by a French collector from Nazareth which is thought to date from the first half of the first century (based on the style lettering) reads (in translation from the Greek): EDICT OF CAESAR It is my decision [concerning] graves and tombs—whoever has made them for the religious observances of parents, or children, or household members—that these remain undisturbed forever. But if anyone legally charges that another person has destroyed, or has in any manner extracted those who have been buried, or has moved with wicked intent those who have been buried to other places, committing a crime against them, or has moved sepulcher-sealing stones, against such a person, I order that a judicial tribunal be created, just as [is done] concerning the gods in human religious observances, even more so will it be obligatory to treat with honor those who have been entombed. You are absolutely not to allow anyone to move [those who have been entombed]. But if [someone does], I wish that [violator] to suffer capital punishment under the title of tomb-breaker. The stone is not thought to be connected with the death of Jesus, just a general edict covering a continuing problem in the area. The whole problem with the story is we have a book with the story of Jesus in several versions, but no concrete way to discern if any of the versions of the story are based in fact. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote: Re Paul: 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (NIV) For what I received I passed on to you as 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. "raised on the third day" only makes sense in reference to a physical event doesn't it?
