Did Paul actually know anything about the life of Jesus?

Question

In The God Who Wasn't There the narrator says how Paul knew largely nothing of what we call the story of Jesus.That he only knew of Christ erected on the cross, his resurrection, and the ascension. Yet, Paul did not place any of these events on Earth.

Is this claim supportable from primary evidence?

Could someone elaborate on this period immediately following the death of Jesus?

Answer 1

Faulty Premise: Paul knew nothing of Jesus

Paul summarizes his own life story in Galatians 1:

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

By his own testimony, Paul had at least two weeks' direct contact with Peter (aka Cephas) and James, two obvious eyewitnesses of Christ. Even if you discount the personal encounter with Jesus in Acts 9, Paul clearly had access to those who did know Christ.

Indeed, in his time, Paul was being accused not of not knowing who Jesus was, but rather of trying to claim the other disciples' experiences of his own. Hence Paul going out of his way in vs. 19 to distance himself from the apostles...

When he says earlier that the Gospel he preaches is not of human origin, he is referring to his direct encounter with Christ, through whom we surmise he learned of Christ. Later, Peter, who clearly knew Christ, attests that the encounter was genuine and that this is the same Gospel.

To say Paul knew nothing of Christ simply does not square with the primary sources.