Objection · Case 02 · Resurrection of Christ
The appearance to five hundred is found nowhere in the Gospels. If it really happened, why did no evangelist mention it?
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
It is a fair puzzle, and there is no point pretending otherwise. Two things soften it. The Gospels are selective by their own admission (John 20:30), and none of them tries to list every appearance; Luke and John also omit the appearance to James, which Paul records. And Paul is passing on a tradition he received in Jerusalem, adding the note that most of the five hundred are still alive, a strange thing to invent for a church whose members traveled to Jerusalem. The silence of later documents does not erase the earlier one.
About this exhibit
This objection is to The named witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:5 to 8).
The summary lists specific people said to have seen Jesus alive: Peter, then the twelve disciples, then more than five hundred people at once, then James, then all the apostles, and last Paul…
Under Claim 02: People who knew Jesus reported seeing him alive after his death.