despondency to hope, from timidity to courage, from doubt to faith, and began to proclaim the
gospel of the resurrection in the face of an unbelieving world and at the peril of their lives. This
revolution was not isolated, but general among them; it was not the result of an easy credulity, but
brought about in spite of doubt and hesitation;^215 it was not superficial and momentary, but radical
and lasting; it affected, not only the apostles, but the whole history of the world. It reached even
the leader of the persecution, Saul of Tarsus one of the clearest and strongest intellects, and converted
him into the most devoted and faithful champion of this very gospel to the hour of his martyrdom.
This is a fact patent to every reader of the closing chapters of the Gospels, and is freely
admitted even by the most advanced skeptics.^216
The question now rises whether this inner revolution in the, life of the disciples, with its
incalculable effects upon the fortunes of mankind, can be rationally explained without a
corresponding outward revolution in the history of Christ; in other words, whether the professed
faith of the disciples in the risen Christ was true and real, or a hypocritical lie, or an honest
self-delusion.
There are four possible theories which have been tried again and again, and defended with
as much learning and ingenuity as can be summoned to their aid. Historical questions are not like
mathematical problems. No argument in favor of the resurrection will avail with those critics who
start with the philosophical assumption that miracles are impossible, and still less with those who
deny not only the resurrection of the body, but even the immortality of the soul. But facts are
stubborn, and if a critical hypothesis can be proven to be psychologically and historically impossible
and unreasonable, the result is fatal to the philosophy which underlies the critical hypothesis. It is
not the business of the historian to construct a history from preconceived notions and to adjust it
to his own liking, but to reproduce it from the best evidence and to let it speak for itself.- The Historical view, presented by the Gospels and believed in the Christian church of
every denomination and sect. The resurrection of Christ was an actual though miraculous event, in
harmony with his previous history and character, and in fulfilment of his own prediction. It was a
re-animation of the dead body of Jesus by a return of his soul from the spirit-world, and a rising of
body and soul from the grave to a new life, which after repeated manifestations to believers during
a short period of forty days entered into glory by the ascension to heaven. The object of the
(^215) The devoted women went to the sepulchre on the first Christian Sabbath, not to see it empty but to embalm the body with
spices for its long rest, Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56; and when they told the eleven what they saw, their words seemed to them "as
idle talk," and "they disbelieved them," Luke 24:11. Comp. Matt. 28:17 ("some doubted"); Mark 16: 8 ("they were afraid"); John
20:25.
(^216) Dr. Baur states the contrast tersely thus: "Zwischen dem Tod [Jesu]und seiner Auferstehung liegt ein so tiefes
undurchdringliches Dunkel, dass man nach so gewaltsam zerrissenem und so wundervoll wiederhergestelltem Zusammenhange
sich gleichsam auf einem neuen Schauplatz der Geschichte sieht."Compare his remarks at the close of this section. Dr. Ewald
describes the depression and sudden exaltation of the disciples more fully with his usual force (vol. vi. 54 sqq.). I will quote also
the description of Renan, at the beginning of the first chapter of his work, Les Apôtres: "Jésus, quoique parlant sans cesse de
résurrection, de nouvelle vie, n’avait jamais dit bien clairement qu’il ressusciterait en sa chair. Les disciples, (dans les premières
heures qui suivirent sa mort, n’avaient à cet égard aucune espérance arrétée. Les sentimentsdont ils nous font la naive confidence
supposent méme qu’ils croyaient tout fini. Ils pleurent et enterrent leur ami, sinon comme un mort vulgaire, du moins comme
une personne dont la perte est irréparable (Marc 16:10; Luc 24:17, 21) ils sont tristes et abattus; l’espoir qu’ils avaient eu de
le voir realiser le salut d’Israël est convaincu de vanité; on dirait des hommes qui ont perdu une grande et chère illusion. Mais
l’ enthousiasme et l’amour ne connaissent par les situations sans issue. Ils se jouentde l’impossible, et plutot que d’abdiquer
l’espérance, ils font violence à toute réalité," etc.
A.D. 1-100.