Conclusion
IT only remains to return to the seventh and eighth chapters, and to pass
in review the reasons which will lead us to reject the conclusions
therein expressed by our opponents.
These conclusions have no real bearing upon the question at issue. Our
opponents can make out a strong case, so long as they confine themselves
to maintaining that exaggeration has to a certain extent impaired the
historic value of some of the Gospel records of the Resurrection. They
have made out this much, but have they made out more? They have mistaken
the question—which is this—“Did Jesus Christ die and rise from the dead?”
And in the place of it they have raised another, namely, “Has there been
any inaccuracy in the records of the time and manner of His reappearing?”
Our error has been that instead of demurring to the relevancy of the
issue raised by our opponents, we have accepted it. We have thus placed
ourselves in a false position, and have encouraged our opponents by doing
so. We have undertaken to fight them upon ground of their own choosing.
We have been discomfited; but instead of owning to our defeat, and
beginning the battle anew from a fresh base of operations, we have
declared that we have not been defeated; hence those lamentable and
suicidal attempts at disingenuous reasoning which we have seen reason to
condemn so strongly in the works of Dean Alford and others. How
deplorable, how unchristian they are!
The moment that we take a truer ground, the conditions of the strife
change. The same spirit of candid criticism which led us to reject the
account of Matthew _in toto_, will make it easy for us to admit that
those of Mark, Luke, and John, may not be so accurate as we could have
wished, and yet to feel that our cause has sustained no injury. There
are probably very few who would pin their faith to the fact that Julius
Cæsar fell exactly at the feet of Pompey’s statue, or that he uttered the
words “Et tu, Brute.” Yet there are still fewer who would dispute the
fact that Julius Caesar was assassinated by conspirators of whom Brutus
and Cassius were among the leaders. As long as we can be sure that our
Lord _died and rose from the dead_, we may leave it to our opponents to
contend about the details of the manner in which each event took place.
We had thought that these details were known, and so thinking, we had a
certain consolation in realising to ourselves the precise manner in which
every incident occurred; yet on reflection we must feel that the desire
to realise is of the essence of idolatry, which, not content with knowing
that there is a God, will be satisfied with nothing if it has not an
effigy of His face and figure. If it has not this it falls straight-way
to the denial of God’s existence, being unable to conceive how a Being
should exist and yet be incapable of representation. We are as those who
would fall down and worship the idol; our opponents, as those who upon
the destruction of the idol would say that there was no God.
We have met sceptics hitherto by adhering to the opinions as to the
necessity of accuracy which prevailed among our forefathers, and instead
of saying, “You are right—we do _not_ know all that we thought we
did—nevertheless we know enough—we know the fact, though the manner of
the fact be hidden,” we have preferred to say, “You are mistaken, our
severe outline, our hard-and-fast lines are all perfectly accurate, there
is not a detail of our theories which we are not prepared to stand by.”
On this comes recrimination and mutual anger, and the strife grows hotter
and hotter.
Let us now rather say to the unbeliever, “We do not deny the truth of
much which you assert. We give up Matthew’s account of the Resurrection;
we may perhaps accept parts of those of Mark and Luke and John, but it is
impossible to say which parts, unless those in which all three agree with
one another; and this being so, it becomes wiser to regard all the
accounts as early and precious memorials of the certainty felt by the
Apostles that Christ died and rose again, but as having little historic
value with regard to the time and manner of the Resurrection.”
Once take this ground, and instead of demurring to the truth of many of
the assertions of our opponents, demur to their relevancy, and the
unbeliever will find the ground cut away from under his feet
independently of the fact that the reasonableness of the concession, and
the discovery that we are not fighting merely to maintain a position,
will incline him to calmness and to the reconsideration of his own
opinions—which will in itself be a great gain—he will soon perceive that
we are really standing upon firm ground, from which no enemy can dislodge
us. The discovery that we know less of the time and manner of our Lord’s
death and Resurrection than we thought we did, does not invalidate a
single one of the irresistible arguments whereby we can establish the
fact of His having died and risen again. The reader will now perhaps
begin to perceive that the sad division between Christians and
unbelievers has been one of those common cases in which both are right
and both wrong; Christians being right in their chief assertion, and
wrong in standing out for the accuracy of their details, while
unbelievers are right in denying that our details are accurate, but wrong
in drawing the inference that because certain facts have been
inaccurately recorded, therefore certain others never happened at all.
Both the errors are natural; it is high time, however, that upon both
sides they should be recognised and avoided.
But as regards the demolition of the structure raised in the seventh and
eighth chapters of this book, whereinsoever, that is to say, it seems to
menace the more vital part of our faith, the ease with which this will
effected may perhaps lead the reader to think that I have not fulfilled
the promise made in the outset, and have failed to put the best possible
case for our opponents. This supposition would be unjust; I have done
the very best for them that I could. For it is plain that they can only
take one of two positions, namely, _either_ that Christ really died upon
the Cross but was never seen alive again afterwards at all, and that the
stories of His having been so seen are purely mythical, _or_, if they
admit that He was seen alive after His Crucifixion, they must deny the
completeness of the death; in other words, if they are to escape miracle,
they must either deny the reappearances or the death.
Now in the commencement of this work I dealt with those who deny that our
Lord rose from the dead, and as the exponent of those who take this view
I selected Strauss, who is undoubtedly the ablest writer they have.
Whether I shewed sufficient reason for thinking that his theory was
unsound must remain for the decision of the reader, but I certainly
believe that I succeeded in doing so. Perhaps the ablest of all the
writers who have treated the facts given us in the Gospels from the
Rationalistic point of view, is the author of an anonymous work called
_The Jesus of History_ (Williams and Norgate, 1866); but this writer (and
it is a characteristic feature of the Rationalistic school to become
vague precisely at this very point) leaves us entirely in doubt as to
whether he accepts the reappearances of Christ or not, and his treatment
of the facts connected both with the Crucifixion and Resurrection is less
definite than that of any other part of the life of our Lord. He does
not seem to see his own way clearly, and appears to consider that it must
for ever remain a matter of doubt whether the Death of Christ or His
reappearance is to be rejected.
It is evident that it was most desirable to examine _both_ sets of
arguments, _i.e._, those against the Resurrection, and those against the
completeness of the Death; I have therefore mainly drawn the opinions of
those who deny the Death from the same pamphlet as that from which I drew
the criticisms on Dean Alford’s notes. I know of no other English work,
indeed, in which whatever can be said against us upon this all-important
head has been put forward, and was therefore compelled to draw from this
source, or to invent the arguments for our opponents, which would have
subjected me to the accusation of stating them in such way as should best
suit my own purpose. The reader, however, must now feel that since there
can be no other position taken but one or other of the two alluded to
above, and since the one taken by Strauss has been shewn to be untenable,
there remains nothing but to shew that the other is untenable also,
whereupon it will follow that our Saviour did actually die, and did
actually shew Himself subsequently alive; and this amounts to a
demonstration of the miraculous character of the Resurrection. If, then,
this one miracle be established, I think it unnecessary to defend the
others, because I cannot think that any will attack them.
But, as has been seen already, Strauss admits that our Lord died upon the
Cross, and denies the reality of the reappearances. It is not probable
that Strauss would have taken refuge in the hallucination theory if he
had felt that there was the remotest chance of successfully denying our
Lord’s death; for the difficulties of his present position are
overwhelming, as was fully pointed out in the second, third, and fourth
chapters of this work. I regret, however, to say that I can nowhere find
any detailed account of the reasons which have led him to feel so
positively about our Lord’s Death. Such reasons must undoubtedly be at
his command, or he would indisputably have referred the Resurrection to
natural causes. Is it possible that he has thought it better to keep
them to himself, as proving the Death of our Lord _too_ convincingly? If
so, the course which he has adopted is a cruel one.
We must endeavour, however, to dispense with Strauss’s assistance, and
will proceed to inquire what it is that those who deny the Death of our
Lord, call upon us to reject.
I regret to pass so quickly over one great field of evidence which in
justice to myself I must allude to, though I cannot dwell upon it, for in
the outset I declared that I would confine myself to the historical
evidence, and to this only. I refer to spiritual insight; to the
testimony borne by the souls of living persons, who from personal
experience _know_ that their Redeemer liveth, and that though worms
destroy this body, yet in their flesh shall they see God. How many
thousands are there in the world at this moment, who have known Christ as
a personal friend and comforter, and who can testify to the work which He
has wrought upon them! I cannot pass over such testimony as this in
silence. I must assign it a foremost place in reviewing the reasons for
holding that our hope is not in vain, but I may not dwell upon it,
inasmuch as it would carry no weight with those for whom this work is
designed, I mean with those to whom this precious experience of Christ
has not yet been vouchsafed. Such persons require the external evidence
to be made clear to demonstration before they will trust themselves to
listen to the voices of hope or fear, and it is of no use appealing to
the knowledge and hopes of others without making it clear upon what that
knowledge and those hopes are grounded. Nevertheless, I may be allowed
to point out that those who deny the Death and Resurrection of our Lord,
call upon us to believe that an immense multitude of most truthful and
estimable people are no less deceivers of their own selves and others,
than Mohammedans, Jews and Buddhists are. How many do we not each of us
know to whom Christ is the spiritual meat and drink of their whole lives.
Yet our opponents call upon us to ignore all this, and to refer the
emotions and elation of soul, which the love of Christ kindles in his
true followers, to an inheritance of delusion and blunder. Truly a
melancholy outlook.
Again, let a man travel over England, North, South, East, and West, and
in his whole journey he shall hardly find a single spot from which he
cannot see one or several churches. There is hardly a hamlet which is
not also a centre for the celebration of our Redemption by the Death and
Resurrection of Christ. Not one of these churches, say the Rationalists,
not one of the clergymen who minister therein, not one single village
school in all England, but must be regarded as a fountain of error, if
not of deliberate falsehood. Look where they may, they cannot escape
from the signs of a vital belief in the Resurrection. All these signs,
they will tell us, are signs of superstition only; it is superstition
which they celebrate and would confirm; they are founded upon fanaticism,
or at the best upon sheer delusion; they poison the fountain heads of
moral and intellectual well-being, by teaching men to set human
experience on the one side, and to refer their conduct to the supposed
will of a personal anthropomorphic God who was actually once a baby—who
was born of one of his own creatures—and who is now locally and
corporeally in Heaven, “of reasonable soul and _human flesh_ subsisting.”
Thus do our opponents taunt us, but when we think not only of the present
day, but of the nearly two thousand years during which Christianity has
flourished, not in England only, but over all Europe, that is to say,
over the quarter of the globe which is most civilised, and whose
civilisation is in itself proof both of capacity to judge and of having
judged rightly—what an awful admission do unbelievers require us to make,
when they bid us think that all these ages and countries have gone astray
to the imagining of a vain thing. All the self-sacrifice of the holiest
men for sixty generations, all the wars that have been waged for the sake
of Christ and His truth, all the money spent upon churches, clergy,
monasteries and religious education, all the blood of martyrs, all the
celibacy of priests and nuns, all the self-denying lives of those who are
now ministers of the Gospel—according to the Rationalist, no part of all
this devotion to the cause of Christ has had any justifiable base on
actual fact. The bare contemplation of such a stupendous misapplication
of self-sacrifice and energy, should be enough to prevent any one from
ever smiling again to whose mind such a deplorable view was present: we
wonder that our opponents do not shrink back appalled from the
contemplation of a picture which they must regard as containing so much
of sin, impudence and folly; yet it is to the contemplation of such a
picture, and to a belief in its truthfulness to nature, that they would
invite us; they cannot even see a clergyman without saying to themselves,
“There goes one whose trade is the promotion of error; whose whole life
is devoted to the upholding of the untrue.” To them the sight of people
flocking to a church must be as painful as it would be to us to see a
congregation of Jews or Mohammedans: they ought to have no happiness in
life so long as they believe that the vast majority of their
fellow-countrymen are so lamentably deluded; yet they would call on us to
join them, and half despise us upon our refusing to do so.
But upon this view also I may not dwell; it would have been easy and I
think not unprofitable, had my aim been different, to have drawn an
ampler picture of the heart-rending amount of falsehood, stupidity,
cruelty and folly which must be referable to a belief in Christianity,
if, as our opponents maintain, there is no solid ground for believing it;
but my present purpose is to prove that there _is_ such ground, and
having said enough to shew that I do not ignore the fields of evidence
which lie beyond the purpose of my work, I will return to the Crucifixion
and Resurrection.
What, then, let me ask of freethinkers, _became of Christ eventually_?
Several answers may be made to this question, _but there is none but the
one given in Scripture which will set it at rest_. Thus it has been said
that Christ survived the Cross, lingered for a few weeks, and in the end
succumbed to the injuries which He had sustained. On this there arises
the question, did the Apostles know of His death? And if so, were they
likely to mistake the reappearance of a dying man, so shattered and weak
as He must have been, for the glory of an immortal being? We know that
people can idealise a great deal, but they cannot idealise as much as
this. The Apostles cannot have known of any death of Christ except His
Death upon the Cross, and it is not credible that if He had died from the
effects of the Crucifixion the Apostles should not have been aware of it.
No one will pretend that they were, so it is needless to discuss this
theory further.
It has also been said that our Lord, having seen the effect of His
reappearance on the Apostles, considered that further converse with them
would only weaken it; and that He may have therefore thought it wiser to
withdraw Himself finally from them, and to leave His teaching in their
hands, with the certainty that it would never henceforth be lost sight
of; but this view is inconsistent with the character which even our
adversaries themselves assign to our Saviour. The idea is one which
might occur to a theorist sitting in his study, and enlightened by a
knowledge of events, but it would not suggest itself to a leader in the
heat of action.
Another supposition has been that our Lord on recovering consciousness
after He had been left alone in the tomb, or perhaps even before Joseph
had gone, may have been unable to realise to Himself the nature of the
events that had befallen Him, and may have actually believed that He had
been dead, and been miraculously restored to life; that He may yet have
felt a natural fear of again falling into the hands of His enemies; and
partly from this cause, and partly through awe at the miracle that He
supposed had been worked upon Him, have only shewn Himself to His
disciples hurriedly, in secret, and on rare occasions, spending the
greater part of His time in some one or other of the secret places of
resort, in which He had been wont to live apart from the Apostles before
the Crucifixion.
I have known it urged that our Lord never said or even thought that He
had risen from the dead, but shewed Himself alive secretly and fearfully,
and bade His disciples follow Him to Galilee, where He might, and perhaps
did, appear more openly, though still rarely and with caution; that the
rarity and mystery of the reappearances would add to the impression of a
miraculous resurrection which had instantly presented itself to the minds
of the Apostles on seeing Christ alive; that this impression alone would
prevent them from heeding facts which must have been obvious to any whose
minds were not already unhinged by the knowledge that Christ was alive,
and by the belief that He had been dead; and that they would be blinded
by awe, which awe would be increased by the rarity of the reappearances—a
rarity that was in reality due, perhaps to fear, perhaps to
self-delusion, perhaps to both, but which was none the less politic for
not having been dictated by policy; finally that the report of Christ’s
having been seen alive reached the Chief Priests (or perhaps Joseph of
Arimathæa), and that they determined at all hazards to nip the coming
mischief in the bud; that they therefore watched their opportunity, and
got rid of so probable a cause of disturbance by the knife of the
assassin, or induced Him to depart by threats, which He did not venture
to resist.
But if our Lord was secretly assassinated how could it have happened that
the body should never have been found, and produced, when the Apostles
began declaring publicly that Christ had risen? What could be easier
than to bring it forward and settle the whole matter? It cannot be
doubted that the body must have been looked for when the Apostles began
publishing their story; we saw reason for believing this when we
considered the account of the Resurrection given by St. Matthew. _Now
those that hide can find_; and if the enemies of Christ had got rid of
Him by foul play, they would know very well where to lay their hands upon
that which would be the death blow to Christianity. If then Christ did
not go away of His own accord, as feeling that His teaching would be
better preserved by His absence, and if He did not die from wounds
received upon the Cross, and if He was not assassinated secretly, what
remains as the most reasonable view to be taken concerning His
disappearance? Surely the one that _was_ taken; the view which commended
itself to those who were best able to judge—namely, _that He had ascended
bodily into Heaven and was sitting at the right hand of God the Father_.
Where else could He be?
For that He disappeared, and disappeared finally, within six weeks of the
Crucifixion must be considered certain; there is no one who will be bold
enough even to hazard a conjecture that the appearance of Christ alluded
to by St. Paul, as having been vouchsafed to him some years later, was
that of the living Christ, who had chosen upon this one occasion to
depart from the seclusion and secrecy which he had maintained hitherto.
But if Christ was still living on earth, how was it possible that no
human being should have the smallest clue to His whereabouts? If He was
dead how is it that no one should have produced the body? Such a
mysterious and total disappearance, even in the face of great jeopardy,
has never yet been known, and can only be satisfactorily explained by
adopting the belief which has prevailed for nearly the last two thousand
years, and which will prevail more and more triumphantly so long as the
world shall last—the belief that Christ was restored to the glory which
He had shared with the Father, as soon as ever He had given sufficient
proofs of His being alive to ensure the devotion of His followers.
Before we can reject the supernatural solution of a mystery otherwise
inexplicable, we should have some natural explanation which will meet the
requirements of the case. A confession of ignorance is not enough here.
_We_ are _not_ ignorant; we _know_ that Christ died, inasmuch as we have
the testimony of all the four Evangelists to this effect, the testimony
of the Apostle Paul, and through him that of all the other Apostles; we
have also the certainty that the centurion in charge of the soldiers at
the Crucifixion would not have committed so grave a breach of discipline
as the delivery of the body to Joseph and Nicodemus, unless he had felt
quite sure that life was extinct; and finally we have the testimony of
the Church for sixty generations, and that of myriads now living, whose
experience assures them that Christ died and rose from the dead; in
addition to this tremendous body of evidence we have also the story of
the spear wound recorded in a Gospel which even our opponents believe to
be from a Johannean source in its later chapters; and though, as has been
already stated, this wound cannot be insisted upon as in itself
sufficient to prove our Lord’s death, yet it must assuredly be allowed
its due weight in reviewing the evidence. The unbeliever cannot surely
have considered how shallow are all the arguments which he can produce,
in comparison with those that make against him. He cannot say that I
have not done him justice, and I feel confident that when he reconsiders
the matter in that spirit of humility without which he cannot hope to be
guided to a true conclusion, he will feel sure that Strauss is right in
believing that the death of our Lord cannot be seriously called in
question.
But this being so, the reappearances, which we have seen to be
established by the collapse of the hallucination theory, must be referred
to supernatural or miraculous agency; that is to say, our Lord died and
rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Whereon His
disappearance some six weeks later must be looked upon very differently
from that of any ordinary person. If our Lord could have been shewn to
have been a mere man, who had escaped death only by a hair’s breadth, but
still escaped it, perhaps some one of the theories for His disappearance,
or some combination of them, or some other explanation which has not yet
been thought of, might be held to be sufficient; but in the case of One
who died and rose from the dead, there is no theory which will stand,
except the one which it has been reserved for our own lawless and
self-seeking times to question. Through the light of the Resurrection
the Ascension is clearly seen.
* * * * *
My task is now completed. In an age when Rationalism has become
recognised as the only basis upon which faith can rest securely, I have
established the Christian faith upon a Rationalistic basis.
I have made no concession to Rationalism which did not place all the
vital parts of Christianity in a far stronger position than they were in
before, yet I have conceded everything which a sincere Rationalist is
likely to desire. I have cleared the ground for reconciliation. It only
remains for the two contending parties to come forward and occupy it in
peace jointly. May it be mine to see the day when all traces of
disagreement have been long obliterated!
To the unbeliever I can say, “Never yet in any work upon the Christian
side have your difficulties been so fully and fairly stated; never yet
has orthodox disingenuousness been so unsparingly exposed.” To the
Christian I can say with no less justice, “Never yet have the true
reasons for the discrepancies in the Gospels been so put forward as to
enable us to look these discrepancies boldly in the face, and to thank
God for having graciously allowed them to exist.” I do not say this in
any spirit of self-glorification. We are children of the hour, and
creatures of our surroundings. As it has been given unto us, so will it
be required at our hands, and we are at best unprofitable servants.
Nevertheless I cannot refrain from expressing my gratitude at having been
born in an age when Christianity and Rationalism are not only ceasing to
appear antagonistic to one another, _but have each become essential to
the very existence of the other_. May the reader feel this no less
strongly than I do, and may he also feel that I have supplied the missing
element which could alone cause them to combine. If he asks me what
element I allude to, I answer Candour. This is the pilot that has taken
us safely into the Fair Haven of universal brotherhood in Christ.
Appendix
I
The Burial
(John xix. 38–42)
And after this Joseph of Arimathæa, being a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away
the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and
took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the
first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and
wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is
to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and
in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There
laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the
sepulchre was nigh at hand.
(Luke xxiii. 50–56)
And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a
good man, and a just: (the same had not consented to the counsel and deed
of them;) he was of Arimathæa, a city of the Jews: who also himself
waited for the kingdom of God. This man went unto Pilate, and begged the
body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it
in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women
also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the
sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared
spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the
commandment.
(Mark xv. 42–47)
And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is,
the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathæa, an honourable
counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in
boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled
if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him
whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the
centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and
took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre
which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the
sepulchre. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph beheld where
he was laid.
(Matthew xxvii. 57–61)
When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathæa, named Joseph,
who also himself was Jesus’ disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the
body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when
Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. And
laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And
there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the
sepulchre.
II
The Guard set upon the Tomb
(_Peculiar to Matthew_)
(Matthew xxvii. 62–66)
Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief
priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate. Saying, Sir, we
remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three
days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made
sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him
away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last
error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a
watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made
the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
III
Visit of Mary Magdalene, and Others, to the Tomb
(John xx. 1–13)
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet
dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the
sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other
disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the
Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the
sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun
Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and
looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh
Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the
linen clothes lie. And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying
with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then
went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and
he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he
must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto
their own home. But Mary stood without the sepulchre weeping: and as she
wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two
angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why
weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord,
and I know not where they have laid him.
(Luke xxiv. 1–12)
Now upon the first day of the week very early in the morning, they came
unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and
certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord
Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout,
behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: and as they were
afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why
seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen:
remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The
Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be
crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words,
and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the
eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary
the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told
these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle
tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the
sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by
themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to
pass.
(Mark xvi. 1–8)
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and
anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week,
they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said
among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the
sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled
away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and
they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek
Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here:
behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his
disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye
see him, as he said unto you. And they went out quickly, and fled from
the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they
anything to any man; for they were afraid.
(Matthew xxviii. 1–8)
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to draw toward the first day of
the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,
and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment
white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as
dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye:
for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for
he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go
quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and,
behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I
have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear
and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
IV
Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene and Others
(John xx. 14–18)
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus
standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the
gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me
where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto
her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to
say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend
unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary
Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and
that he had spoken these things unto her.
(Mark xvi. 9–11)
Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared
first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she
went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And
they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her,
believed not.
(Matthew xxvii. 9–10)
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying,
All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they
go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
V
The Bribing of the Guard
(_Peculiar to Matthew_)
(Matthew xxviii. 11–15)
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city,
and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And
when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they
gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by
night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the
governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the
money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews until this day.
VI
Appearance to Cleopas (and James?)
(Luke xxiv. 13–35)
And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus,
which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked
together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass,
that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near,
and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know
him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that
ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them,
whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there
in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto
him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our
rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and
beside all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done.
Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were
early at the sepulchre; and when they found not his body, they came,
saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he
was alive, and certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre,
and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then
he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and
to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as
though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And
he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat
with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of
their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within
us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the
scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem,
and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they
told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in
breaking of bread.
(Mark xvi. 12–13)
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked,
and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue:
neither believed they them.
VII
Appearance to the Apostles
(_Twice in John_)
(John xx. 19–29)
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,
came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto
you. And when he had so said, he shewed them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to
them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even, so send I
you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when
Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen
the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and
thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days
again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto
you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord
and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me,
thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed.
* * * * *
[I have not quoted the twenty-first chapter of St. John’s Gospel on
account of its exceedingly doubtful genuineness.—W. B. O.]
(Luke xxiv. 36–49)
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and
saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and
affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto
them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had
thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any
meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in
the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. Then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to
rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send
the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,
until ye be endued with power from on high.
(Mark xvi. 14–18)
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided
them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not
them which had seen him after he was risen. And he saith unto them, Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt
them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
(Matthew xviii. 16–20)
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where
Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him:
but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world. Amen.
VIII
The Ascension
(Luke xxiv. 50–53)
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and
blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted
from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And were continually in the
temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
(Mark xvi. 19–20)
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and
preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word
with signs following. Amen.
(Acts i. 1–12)
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that
he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom
he had chosen. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by
many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of
the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled
together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye
have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore
were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put
in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight, And while they
looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by
them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is
from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
IX
St. Paul’s account of our Lord’s Reappearances
(I. Corinthians xv. 3–8)
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after
that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After
that, he was seen of James: then of all the apostles. And last of all he
was seen of me also as of one born out of due time.
FOOTNOTES
{82} It should be borne in mind that this passage was written five or
six years ago, before the commencement of the Franco-Prussian war, What
would my brother have said had he been able to comprehend the events of
1870 and 1871?—W. B. O.
{141} This pamphlet was by Butler himself.
{158a} See Biog. Britann.
{158b} Middleton’s Reflections answered by Benson. Hist. Christ, vol.
iii., p. 50.
{159a} Lardner, part I., vol. ii., p. 135 et seq.
{159b} Ibid., part I., vol. ii., p. 742.