By this time, Peter had been preaching about Jesus for some seven years, and his story of Jesus had acquired a fixed form, in which sayings and miracles Peter considered the most important were highlighted. This was obviously the gist of the story he told Paul.
Aside from Peter, Paul could have inquired from Mark and Luke, two Gospel writers that later belonged to Paul’s circle. Paul could have learned with them and from them the story of Jesus that was developing in oral form.
Paul’s silence on the historical Christ needs clarification. First, the letters do not entirely speak of Paul’s catechesis. In cases where he was not bound by the limits of the letter-form, he would certainly have spoken with an extended and loving recall of the things known about Jesus. Secondly, although he might have a narrative of the events connected with Jesus, he could not have written about it with the authority of a witness. Paul knew that this was not a charism granted him.
