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Thus, Christ showed himself to his disciples, so so that they knew him to be the same person; he conversed and eat with them, and still further proved his identity, by making Thomas feel the prints of the nails and the spear. (Luke, xxiv. 30, and John, xx. 27.) These statements are clear and unequivocal.a

II. With respect to the ascension of Christ.

The truth of this, both as to the reality of the fact and the identity of the person, is also plainly asserted in the Scriptures. Thus, in Luke, xxiv. 51, it is said, that " while he blessed them, he

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was parted from them, and taken up into "heaven." And again, in Acts, i. 9, "while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud re"ceived him out of their sight."b

a With respect to the three days Christ lay in the grave, it should be observed, that the Jews began their computation of days at the evening, and always reckoned a part of a day as the whole. Hence, our Saviour being buried on the day of the preparation, the remainder of it was one day; the sabbath was a second; and the night of the first day of the week was the third. See Pearson, Art. 5. p. 427; and Jennings' Jewish Antiq. v. 2. B. 3. c. 1. p. 99. Ed. Lond. 1766.

b The following verse particularly proves there was no deception of the senses on this occasion, for it is said, "while they looked steadfastly toward heaven." This doctrine of Christ's ascen sion was denied by the sect of the Apelleians, who held, that his body having been formed of the particles of the elements, was dispersed again into its original components. (Epiphan. adv. Hæres. in hær. Apel. p. 167.)

The followers of Hermogenes, too, admitted

Since then these doctrines (which are merely matters of fact) are so undeniably revealed, it is evident that no objection can be made to their acknowledgment, except on the ground of some imposition or delusion in the persons who relate them. That no such objection, however, can be advanced, may be thus established :

1st. By such arguments as prove the truth of the Gospel History in general, and

2nd. By those which prove its truth in the relation of these particular facts.

1st. We shall mention the arguments which prove the truth of the Gospel History in general.

1. It contains an authentic statement of facts.a For (1) the truth or falsehood of the facts related in it, must have been generally known.

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his ascension, but supposed that he went into the body of the Sun -See King on the Creed, p. 279,

a It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe, that there is a distinction between the authenticity and the genuineness of any writing. A history is called authentic, when the facts it relates are truly stated as they occurred. And a work is called genuine, when it can be proved to have been written by the author whose name it bears.

The reader is perhaps aware that there is a vast variety of opinions as to the dates of the different parts of the New Testament. If we follow Dr. Lardner's account, the only writings composed after the destruction of Jerusalem, were the Epistles and Revelation of St. John, and the Epistle of Jude. Dr. Mill, however, and others, have thought differently. See Lardner's Works, v. 6. p. 303, et

the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and some of the Epistles, were written before the destruction of Jerusalem, since they speak of the temple as still standing, and of the Jews, as being in peace and prosperity. Thus, then, the principal part of the New Testament was composed and published in the same age as the transactions recorded in it are said to have happened, and when, consequently, there must have been many persons living who could remember the period alluded to. Further, these transactions were of such a nature, that they could not have occurred without being generally noticed. The great darkness at the time of Christ's death, the rending of the vail of the temple, and the opening of the rocks his burial in a new sepulchre, and a watch being set upon it; the report of the soldiers, that his body had been stolen; the sudden gift of tongues conferred on the Apostles at the feast of Pentecost; the miracles subsequently wrought, and the proceedings of the Sanhedrim against them; all these were circumstances of so public a nature, that the least falsehood in the narration of them could have been easily detected. But no such detection was ever made, or even attempted. The conclusion therefore is, that the narration is true.

seq. Mill's Proleg. Paley's Hora Paulina, Pearson's Annal. Paul. Le Clerc, and Whitby's Com. and Marsh's Michaelis Introd.

(2) The hostility that prevailed against the Christians would have excited their enemies to expose any such falsehood. The truth of the resurrection is frequently put forward as the criterion of the credit to be given to the Gospel itself, so that the overthrowing the one, must have led to the undermining of the other. This was transacted and published at Jerusalem, before both Jews and Romans. The former were inclined both by malice and interest to oppose it, and the latter were equally violent in their hatred of Christianity, and therefore equally anxious to injure its progress. Yet no objection was ever made to the credit of the witnesses who attested its doctrines, who said they had conversed with Christ after his resurrection; that they had seen him ascend into heaven, and had fulfilled his promise in giving them extraordinary powers to work miracles. Such silence on the part of men possessed of every requisite to effectual opposition, power and wealth, authority with the people, opportunities of the best information and motives of self interest, can only be accounted for by their having themselves been convinced of the truth of the Gospel history.

(3) The situation of the early Christians con

a The testimony of Tacitus and Suetonius to the persecution of the Christians by the Romans, may be seen in Lardner's Works, v. 7. pp. 251 and 265.

firms the truth of these facts. They who disseminated this doctrine, as well as those who received it, had no interest beside that of truth to engage them to it. They could expect neither wealth nor greatness from it: they were to travel much and to labour hard: they saw others die on account of it, and had reason to look for the like usage themselves. It is reasonable, therefore, to believe that in an age when the facts on which Christianity was founded, could have been easily known, men would carefully examine before they assented to that which exposed them to such dreadful sufferings. In the methods too, by which the Gospel was propagated, there was nothing like imposition. When the Apostles saw that some were endeavouring to detract from their authority, they adopted no fawning manner; they neither flattered nor spared those Churches that were under their care. They charged them home with their faults, and asserted their own character in a strain that showed they were afraid of no discoveries. They appealed to the miracles they had wrought, and to those spiritual gifts of which they were not only possessed themselves, but which were by. their ministry conferred on others. Now, an uncontested miracle is the fullest evidence that can be given of a divine commission; for a

a See Paley's Evidences, Part I. c. 2.

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