**The Early Burial Tradition** #Unfinished for John Authorship #Unfinished Herndon The belief that Jesus was buried after his crucifixion is attested to in the earliest Christian writings. The apostle Paul, writing in the mid-first century, speaks of Jesus' burial in his first letter to the Corinthians, which he claims to have received from earlier Christian tradition: > "For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures." <p style="Text-align:right;">1 Corinthians 15:3-4</p> In [Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition And Its Interpreters.](https://paperpile.com/app/p/79b33695-2cd8-0d74-83a1-6f6a5c60c5cc 'Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition and Its Interpreters') it is noted that the Greek word used for buried would be most likely used to indicate a proper burial and not being tossed in an unmarked grave. And Dunn states [Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, Volume 1](https://paperpile.com/app/p/c7e7e79e-c931-0c7a-8119-887680af80f1 'Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, Volume 1') that this tradition dates back to with months of Jesus being killed [(See Also)](https://paperpile.com/app/p/5ecdd2f3-5f23-03d7-a1a4-79eb5e84cc59 'Jesus, Skepticism, and the Problem of History: Criteria and Context in the Study of Christian Origins'). Similarly, the Gospels, which were written in the decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, all include accounts of his burial by a man named Joseph of Arimathea. The burial account in Mark's Gospel (15:42-47) is particularly detailed, suggesting that it was an important part of early Christian belief and practice. The book of John does not rely on other Gospel materials or writings for it's account, and the book of Acts also says that Jesus was buried. This what is known as multiple attestation, which means that separate works independently back up this claim in the collocation of books in the Bible. If the New Testament writers were making up the story that Jesus was buried, they would not need to include embarrassing facts such as the story the Disciples had to get a member of the Sanhedrin, the same council that hours earlier put Jesus to death, to pay for his body and bury him. The Gospels record that it was Pilate that gave the Jews permission to bury Jesus. The execution of Jesus occurred right before the Passover celebration in Jerusalem where Jews from all over came to attend. It is likely that Pilate would have wanted to not cause any more unrest in the Jewish population to not lose favor with the Roman emperor, Tiberius [(Ludemann et al. 1994)](https://paperpile.com/app/p/e4633175-c439-0841-b827-af94f16c35b0 'The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology'). The belief in Jesus' burial following his crucifixion is deeply rooted in the earliest Christian writings and supported by multiple sources within the New Testament. Both the apostle Paul's letters and the Gospel accounts affirm this crucial aspect of Christian faith, indicating not only a proper burial but also the involvement of notable figures such as Joseph of Arimathea and Pontius Pilate. The consistency and detail across various texts suggest a strong tradition regarding the events surrounding Jesus' death and burial. <audio controls src = > </ audio> aWbcozkUSO-aGy-uumqI9A