There are many important passages in Scripture, but there's one particular passage that is the

foundation for the entire Christian faith. Now, you might be thinking, can there really be a most

important passage of Scripture? Well, there can if this part of Scripture provides the foundation

for the entire Christian faith. Here's how I'd put it. One reason we trust Scripture is because

it has apostolic authority. And we trust Scripture is because it has apostolic authority,

and we trust the apostles because they have Christ's authority, and we trust Christ's authority

because he demonstrated his divine nature through miracles, in particular his resurrection from

the dead. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then there is no reason to be a Christian.

Paul says that your faith is in vain. But if Christ did rise from the dead, there is no reason to be a Christian. Paul says that your faith is in vain. But if Christ

did rise from the dead, then we can trust his teaching about the church that he established,

including its declarations about things like the canon of Scripture. But we can't say Jesus

rose from the dead just because the Bible says so, because by that logic, every supposed holy book that claims a miracle

would have to be believed. Instead, we need to make an historical argument for Christ's resurrection.

One common argument goes like this. If you look at the New Testament and other first century documents

merely as human writings and not as scripture, you can at least know basic facts about Jesus, like that he died on a cross during the reign of Pontius Pilate, and that shortly after his death, his disciples sincerely believed he had risen bodily from the dead.

The founders of other religions like Muhammad or Buddha are said to perform miracles, but those accounts were written long after, in some

cases centuries after they died, and can be explained as legends. However, the earliest writings

about Jesus Christ, written just decades after he died, shows that his followers believed he had risen

from the dead. This was the very catalyst of their faith, and it was not a legend propagated by people

who never knew Jesus. The earliest witness is found in St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians

in chapter 15, where Paul preserves parts of an ancient creed that he himself received from others.

First Corinthians was written sometime in the 50s, but scholars have dated this creed in

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