and attests of his trustworthiness as a guide to salvation, and his identity as the incarnate Son of God. 5. It asserts the historical reality of these events: ‘Christ died for our sins … he was buried, and … he rose again the third day … and he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.’ These are historical facts, the facts that constitute the foundation of the Christian faith; hence the prominence given to these facts in documents such as the Apostles’ Creed. Paul’s argument is that if these facts