The Supernatural in the New Testament, Possible, Credible, and Historical / Or, An Examination of the Validity of Some Recent Objections Against Christianity as a Divine Revelation

by C. A. Row

Such are plain facts of history. The question now before us is, how are they to be accounted for? Only three possible alternatives present themselves. Either:

Some of the followers of Jesus must have fancied that they saw Him risen from the dead, and have communicated this delusion to the rest. Or:

That He did not actually die, when He was supposed to have done so; and that His subsequent appearance, when partially recovered, was mistaken for a resurrection. Or:

That He rose from the dead in veritable reality, and was seen by His followers, and conversed with them.

I omit another possible supposition, that the belief in the Resurrection was due to a deliberate fraud, because no one capable of appreciating moral or historical evidence ventures to affirm it. The idea that the greatest and purest of human institutions can owe [pg 449] its origin to a deliberate imposture is a libel on human nature.

Around one or other of these alternatives the contest lies. It is useless to attempt to becloud the question with a number of barren and indefinite generalities, such as myths and legends, vague charges of enthusiasm, fanaticism, and credulity, or general assertions of developments brought about by a succession of compromises between hostile parties. We are here in the presence of stern historical facts, which require a clear and definite solution. The Christian Church exists as a fact. We can trace it up to its first origin. It asserts that its existence is due to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and to nothing else. If unbelievers affirm that the fact is false, they are bound to offer some theory which is true to human nature, and lies within the possibilities of things, to show us how this belief originated, and how it was able to consolidate the life of this new community.

The idea that the greatest moral power which has ever appeared among mankind has had no other origin than a baseless delusion is supremely melancholy. That Christianity has been such a moral power will be disputed by few; and a large number of unbelievers will allow that notwithstanding the faults which they attribute to it, nothing has equally contributed to the civilization and elevation of the race. Yet if it be a delusion, it must be recognised as such, and we must submit to our hard fate. Still it is a terrible proposition to realize, that the noblest of human institutions has originated in a lie, even if it be one which was not deliberately intended as such.

It is evident that however great may be the general credulity of mankind, it is a very difficult matter to get any number of men to accept as a fact the assertion [pg 450] that a person who has actually died has returned again to bodily life. Such a belief will only be effected by the production of evidence which, if not true, is at all events in the highest degree plausible. This, as I have already observed, is fully established by the history of the past, for however numerous the narratives of marvellous occurrences may be, whether in histories or fictions, it is next to impossible to find reports of beliefs in the actual occurrence of a resurrection, or even in the possibility of one prior to that of Jesus Christ. Now St. Paul's conversion cannot be dated later than within ten years of the crucifixion; most probably it was earlier. It is clear that, prior to his conversion, communities of Jewish Christians must have existed in considerable numbers—in such numbers, in fact, as to raise his wrath and indignation to the highest point. The spirit of persecution is aroused by a sense of danger. It is clear, therefore, from the fact of the persecution, that the persons in power saw danger from the progress of the new sect, and that its numbers most have been considerable. From St. Paul's testimony, it is also certain that Christianity had spread at least to one place beyond Judæa. The inference, therefore, seems irresistible that in the period which elapsed between the crucifixion and St. Paul's conversion, the number of the believers in the Resurrection of Jesus had increased to several thousands. Those, therefore, against whom I am reasoning, cannot help admitting that an interval of eight or ten years is a very short one for the conversion of such a large number of persons to the belief that a man who had been publicly executed, in the very city in which many of them lived, had been restored to life.

It is impossible that this belief could have been entertained by only a few solitary individuals who [pg 451] treasured it up secretly in their bosoms. On the contrary, the conditions of the case prove that it must have spread rapidly. It was not sufficient for the creation of the Church that a few solitary enthusiasts should believe that their Master was risen from the dead, but it was necessary that the Society, which Jesus had formed in his life-time, should be immediately reorganized on the basis of this belief. The belief in the Messiahship of Jesus constituted the original bond of union. A dead Messiah was, in the eyes of a Jew, an absurdity; still more so one who had been publicly crucified. With the death of Jesus, therefore, the bond of union among His followers must have been severed. Unless the Church was to perish in His grave, it was absolutely necessary that it should be re-constructed on the basis of His renewed life. The slowness with which any large number of even credulous people will accept the fact of a resurrection from the dead, must have formed an obstacle, the force of which it is impossible to over-estimate. Yet the work was done, and, within a period of seven or eight years, the belief had spread so widely that its adherents could be numbered by thousands. The truth of the Resurrection, founded on the direct testimony of a considerable number of persons who had had sufficient opportunity of testing it by the evidence of their senses, would fully account for the rapid growth of the belief. If, however, it originated in the brain of one or two crazed fanatics, if the belief of so prodigious an event could propagate itself at all, a considerable interval of time was absolutely necessary for its doing so. The memory of the Crucifixion was fresh and recent. What would have been the natural effect of announcing the fact of His Resurrection? Incredulity! What has become of His body? Why does He not appear to His former friends? The [pg 452] strangeness of the event must have prompted even the most credulous to make some inquiry about the matter, and the inquiry must have dissipated the delusion. Such a belief could only readily propagate itself after recent memories had grown dim, and a long interval of time had elapsed, sufficient for the Founder of Christianity to become surrounded with a halo of imaginary glory.

Let us now consider the position in which the followers of Jesus must have found themselves on the night of the Crucifixion, and during the following days. Their hopes had been based on Him as the Messiah, who was to reign in the kingdom promised by the prophets; and they expected important places in that kingdom as the reward of their fidelity. These hopes must have been annihilated. The Messiah whom they expected to reign had perished at the hands of His enemies. What was to be hoped for more? Many could not help thinking that he had been a self-deceiver, if not an impostor. Was there any ground for hoping that He could be raised from the dead? Many of the prophets of the ancient Church had perished by the authority of former governments, or by the violence of the mob. But God had never interfered to vindicate the cause of one of them by raising him from the dead. The utmost that He had done was to raise up some new prophet to take his place. But this man was more than a prophet—he was the Messiah. Did not all the old prophets promise Him a kingdom and a glory and a mighty triumph? Yet He had been cut off by His enemies, instead of triumphing over them; and His dead body was silent in the grave. Any hint that the Gospels allege Jesus to have given His followers of His own Resurrection is, according to the theory of those with whom I am reasoning, a late invention. On the [pg 453] days, therefore, which followed the Crucifixion, the Church must have presented the stillness of death, broken only by a few utterances of loving despair.