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The Resurrection of Jesus—Did It Really Happen?The Watchtower—2013 | March 1
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Some Christians in ancient Corinth were confused about the matter, and others did not believe in the literal resurrection at all. In his first letter to the Christians there, the apostle listed the consequences if the resurrection were not a reality. He wrote: “If, indeed, there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised up. But if Christ has not been raised up, our preaching is certainly in vain, and our faith is in vain. Moreover, we are also found false witnesses of God . . . Your faith is useless; you are yet in your sins. . . . Also, those who fell asleep in death in union with Christ perished.”—1 Corinthians 15:13-18.
“He appeared to upward of five hundred brothers at one time . . . After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; but last of all he appeared also to me.”—1 Corinthians 15:6-8
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The Resurrection of Jesus—Did It Really Happen?The Watchtower—2013 | March 1
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Other consequences would follow. If Christ had not been raised from the dead, Christian faith would be in vain, empty, based on a lie. Further, Paul and the others would have spoken falsely not only about the resurrection of Jesus but also about the one whom they said resurrected him, Jehovah God. What is more, the assertion that Christ had “died for our sins” would also be untrue—for if the Savior himself had not been saved from death, he could not save others. (1 Corinthians 15:3) That would mean that Christians who had died, in some cases as martyrs, had perished with a false hope that they would be resurrected.
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