Jon:

Sorry to be slow to reply. I just saw this one in a raft of comments we have received on recent posts.

Yes, In Galatians Paul makes rthe point he recievied the gospel direclty through an appearance from Jesus (se Acts 9). That does not at all contradict or preclude his passing on to the church the traditional roots of the same gospel as he does in 1 Cor 15, especially since they are one and the same. It is not a contradiction to have Paul come to the gospel through the Lord and yet have it affirmed to him in the teaching of the apostles which he also can and will appeal to. Paul's point in Galatians is that he knows what he is talking about- he got it direct from God, so his authoirty should not be in doubt. Paul's point in 1 Cor is that all the church teaches resurrection, so that teaching should not be in doubt. Different concerns lead to different arguments, but no contradiction. In pressing the texts too much against each other, you have precluded a clear likelihood. Note there is no appeal to inerrancy here, just working with the distinct settings of the texts.