Christ Died for Our Sins; He Rose from the Dead and Was Seen by Many
1 Corinthians 15:3–9
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
President David O. McKay said:
“. . . [T]here is a document which does give the personal testimony of an eyewitness to an appearance of Jesus after His death and burial. This personal witness also corroborates the testimony not only of [Mark and Luke] but of others also. I refer to Saul, a Jew of Tarsus, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, a strict Pharisee, and before Saul’s conversion a bitter persecutor of all who believed in Jesus of Nazareth as having risen from the dead.
“And now in the oldest authentic document in existence relating or testifying to the resurrection of Christ, we find Paul saying this to the Corinthians:
“‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
“‘And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
“‘And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
“‘After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
“‘After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
“‘And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
“‘For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God’ [1 Corinthians 15:3–9].”
(Gospel Ideals: Selections from the Discourses of David O. McKay [1953], 61–62.)
