How could Christianity have survived if Jesus had not risen from the dead (1)?

You're uming he ever existed at all. Near the end of 1st Corinthians 15, Paul makes it as clear as day that the resurrection was derived from OT exegesis. This makes it impossible for Paul to have known directly, or even 2nd hand about the resurrection. Such a remarkable theology, derived from scripture rather than from witnesses, strongly implies that Christianity was entirely derived from OT exegesis.