Hello Caleb,

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

You said this:

"This argument definitely makes the point that the Pauline letters and the Gospels are referencing one another."

They are indeed. Paul quoting Luke near-verbatim proves it handily, as do the references to Jonah and the good confession before Pilate.

You said:

"Paul doesn't mention the empty tomb or the women in that same place in 1 Corinthians where he talks about the Risen Lord and witnesses, so I don't think he's using the Gospels as we know them."

But he does, my friend. The women are included in the list of 500 witnesses. Paul mentions the bodily resurrection of Jesus in that same chapter, requiring the empty tomb. He doesn't refer to the empty tomb directly, but he refers to the thing that makes it empty: Jesus rising bodily from death.

You said:

"Even if the Gospels are super early, I'm not sure that would change anything for anyone."

It changes everything, my friend.

If the Gospels are early, then it emphasizes their reliability.

But if the Gospels are from hundreds of years after the fact, then they wouldn't be reliable.

Being early -- written during the lifetimes of the eye-witnesses -- is crucial for their reliability. It means they are contemporary accounts of the life of Jesus, well-preserved through the ages, giving us an accurate account of what He said and did.

Knowing the truth makes all the difference.