---
title: 1 Corinthians 15:8
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-15-8/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-15-8.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Corinthians 15:8
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Corinthians 15:8

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.

## JW Usage

Watchtower commentary tends to read 15:8 as simply Paul closing the list of resurrection witnesses — a statement about timeline ("last of all") rather than about his credentials. JWs generally do not press the implication that Paul's apostolic authority stems from a post-resurrection appearance, because that raises awkward questions about the foundation on which the Governing Body claims its own teaching authority without having had any such appearance.

## Protestant Usage

Paul is not merely closing a list — he is grounding his apostolic office. "Last of all he appeared to me" pairs with 1 Corinthians 9:1 ("Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?") and with Galatians 1 to establish that Paul's authority rests on a personal, public, resurrection-era appearance of the risen Christ. Use this at the door for the apostolic-deposit / paradosis argument: the apostolic deposit is closed because the apostles are closed. "If the Governing Body is a continuation of the apostolic channel, on which road to Damascus did its members meet the risen Lord? If the answer is 'none,' then the authority Paul grounds in 15:8 is not the authority they inherit."

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Paradosis — What Paul Actually Preserved](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/paradosis-traditions-2thess215.md) — 2 Thessalonians 2:15 — 'Hold the traditions... by word or by letter' [Authority]