In his first letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul makes a reference to a number of resurrection appearances which are familiar to us from the Gospels. He refers to Christ’s appearance to Peter (Cephas), and his appearance to the remaining disciples. But he then rather enigmatically mentions appearance to ‘more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time.’
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Horsham: 2nd July 2026
I get the feeling that the story of the 500 was common knowledge amongst Paul’s audience at Corinth. Many of the people who witnessed this appearance were still alive. Some of the people in the Church at Corinth knew some of them. Paul didn’t think further explanation was required. To us, the number of witnesses should make this an incredibly important incident. Yet we know nothing more about it. It is not mentioned in any of the Gospels.
Positive View
We might take a positive view of this claim, seeing this as offering a tantalising insight into the fact that there were some, perhaps many, resurrection experiences which are not recorded in the Gospels. John states explicitly that many incidents of the life and ministry of Jesus are not recorded in his Gospel (John 21:25), and this almost certainly applies to the resurrection period too. We know that in his later ministry, Jesus had many followers in addition to the twelve, and we can assume that his very public death and rumoured resurrection may have attracted many more followers, which makes it feasible that 500 followers existed at the time of Christ’s resurrection.
Alternative View
On the other hand, the lack of corroboration means that there’s considerable skepticism about Paul’s claim. We might feel it is a problem that this extraordinary event is not mentioned in any of the Gospels, and we might question the circumstances in which 500 followers of Jesus might come together and be enabled to witness the risen Christ. We might see it as an unsubstantiated ‘legend’ – just a story – which the followers of Jesus, along with Paul, had heard and believed.
It’s also sometimes suggested that the phrase which we translate as ‘more than five hundred’ (πεντακοσίοις (pentakosiois)) may have been a colloquial expression which, rather than indicating an exact number, simply indicates that a large number of people were present, in the same way in which I might say in an exaggerated way ‘hundreds of people turned up to the meeting’ , to indicate that there were lots of people there. Even so, it would be so good to know more.
Apologetic Response
Each Gospel writer had a specific audience and purpose in mind, and so they included only records of incidents which would most appeal to their target group or support their intentions. It’s also possible that the appearance to the 500 was widely known. Either way, it’s possible that they simply felt that it didn’t need to be mentioned.
Obviously we can’t prove that this incident took place, but we might do well to note that in his earthly ministry, Jesus met in rural areas with 5000 people (Mark 6:30-44), and then separately with 4000 (Mark 8:1-13). In that context, a group of about 500 people on a hillside doesn’t sound so unbelievable.
in Matthew 28, the resurrected Jesus calls his disciples together on a hillside. This is shortly before his ascension, and some writers suggest that this might be the moment when the wider group of followers came together (eg Wiersbe (2010), Be Wise, 2nd Edition, p164 (Kingsway)). A meeting of a large crowd on a hillside is less likely to cause problems and attract adverse attention of the authorities than would meeting in the city.
End Piece
I’m really intrigued by Paul’s comment about the 500. In the 1st Century culture, ‘proof’ was substantially influenced by personal testimony. The indication here is that Paul was satisfied by the credible reports of a large number of people who claimed that they had been present in this group when Christ appeared.
I’d love to think that there were lots of appearances of the risen Jesus that we don’t know about, and I’m in no doubt that Paul, a man of integrity, was confident of this one.
Richard Jackson: Horsham,West Sussex