Again: the author of the supplement says that when Jesus appeared to the eleven as they sat at meat “he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart (ὠνείδισε τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν καὶ σκληροκαρδίαν) because they did not believe them that had seen him after he was risen.” St. Luke tells us that not only were Cleopas and his companion received with the joyful exclamation, “The Lord is risen indeed,” but instead of upbraiding them Jesus addressed them with the words “Peace be unto you;” which is confirmed by the author of the fourth Gospel, who, if St. John was really the author, must have been present. In neither of these Gospels is there one word of “upbraiding the disciples with unbelief;” while both affirm that Jesus proceeded to give them rational grounds for believing that He was actually risen from the dead, by showing them, according to one, “his hands and his feet,” according to the other, “his hands and his side.” It is quite probable that He may have done both. St. John adds, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.”
But St. Luke's account is more specific. He tells us that immediately on His entry fear took possession of their minds. “They were terrified and affrighted,” and supposed that it might be a spirit, and not Jesus actually raised from the dead. Our Lord therefore before showing them His hands and His feet proceeded to reason with them as to the reality of His appearance. “Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones [pg 520]as ye see me have.” Here there is nothing of reproach, such as is suggested by the supplement to St. Mark's Gospel. Yet there was incredulity of a certain kind in the room, but not one which was worthy of reproach. We learn from St. Luke that it was not the incredulity of unbelief, but of joy; in other words, that the news seemed too good to be true, and they dared scarcely trust the evidence of their senses. On this however nothing in the form of a reproach passes the lips of Jesus; but for their further satisfaction, he asks for food and eats it before them.
On all these points the narratives of St. Luke and St. John throw light on each other, as such accounts, if founded on fact, ought to do, while their independence is indisputable. According to those with whom I am reasoning, the Gospel of St. John is much the latest written. If therefore the author had borrowed from Luke, it is incredible that a writer who had such powers of setting forth fictions in the garb of facts, should have omitted the other remarkable incidents mentioned by St. Luke, and not have dressed them up with the art of which he was so consummate a master, for these would have communicated a striking reality to the scenes. It is therefore unquestionable that these two accounts present all the phenomena of history, and none of those of fiction.
But how stands the continuation of St. Mark's Gospel, which affirms that our Lord upbraided the eleven with their unbelief and hardness of heart on the occasion of His appearance on Easter evening?
The author of the supplement was probably not aware that Cleopas and his companion were present in the room when our Lord appeared to the eleven, or even that others besides the eleven were present, as is expressly affirmed by St. Luke to have been the case. [pg 521] The impression which it leaves on the mind is that they reported the Resurrection to the disciples generally on their return, and that it was disbelieved by them, and that the appearance to the eleven was a subsequent event.
We are now in a position to see how this misapprehension may have originated; and that instead of invalidating the account, it forms a strong confirmation of its truth. There were persons in the room whom our Lord had actually reproached for their unbelief, viz. Cleopas and his companion; though He reproached none who were present on the occasion of His appearance. The words stated by St. Luke to have been used by Him were, Ω ἀνόητοι καὶ Βραδεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ, “O fools and slow of heart.” Those used in St. Mark in describing the address to the eleven are ὠνείδισε τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν καὶ σκληροκαρδίαν, “He upbraided their unbelief and hardness of heart.” The one expression is the very counterpart of the other. There were persons present who had been thus reproached but a few hours before: the author of the continuation was aware of the fact that some had been thus reproached, and he supposed that the reproach was addressed to all the assembled disciples, instead of the salutation of peace with its attendant circumstances.
Then as to their having been received with expressions of incredulity on their return, St. Luke tells us that they returned to Jerusalem, “and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them.” Now as they had set out early in the day, it was necessary on their return that they should make some inquiry as to where the Apostles were to be found. In doing this it is probable enough that they went to inquire of some disciples who received their account with incredulity, and that then this incredulity may through misapprehension have been transferred to the whole [pg 522] assembly. I submit therefore that notwithstanding this disagreement between the three accounts, that of the continuation of St. Mark's Gospel gives a strong corroboration of the statements of the other two. These are precisely the kind of variations which we find in reports of events after they have passed through a few stages of oral transmission.
The narratives of St. Luke and St. John furnish us with one more very incidental confirmation of each other. St. Luke informs us that on the occasion of this interview our Lord “opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.” St. John says that “He breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” The words and the mode of expression differ greatly; but both statements point to one and the same fact, that on this occasion the persons present supposed that they received a supernatural enlightenment. St. Luke describes the effect produced on the minds of the disciples; St. John gives the actual medium of its production. Coincidences of this kind prove that the narratives must be founded on facts, and are beyond the skill of a forger to imitate.
I have now considered a few of the leading features of the Gospels, which establish the general historical character of their contents. A close examination of them would put us in possession of a large amount of additional evidence, but to enter on such an inquiry here would be inconsistent with the limits of the present work. As I have already observed, the minute scrutiny of a number of minor details, as far as the great historical question is concerned, would be a needless expenditure of labour. The real question at issue is: Is the account of our Lord's life and teaching, as it is handed down in our present Gospels, substantially true in its great outlines, or has one of a wholly different [pg 523] character been substituted for the true one, and usurped its place in the teaching of the Church? On a broad question of this kind, minor discrepancies in the accounts have no real bearing. If the narrative is true in its great outlines, it follows that our Lord's character must have been beyond all question superhuman, and justifies us in affirming that He must have been a “teacher come from God.” Such a conclusion will still leave open a number of questions of the deepest importance, but they belong to the province of theology to investigate, and form no necessary portion of an historical inquiry. If the Gospels in their broad outlines are historical; above all, if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, it follows that the New Testament must contain a divine revelation.
As this last fact forms the central position of Christianity, I have made its historical truth the chief subject of my investigation. In doing this I have relied only on documents which are contained in the New Testament itself, and chiefly on those whose genuineness is conceded by opponents. I have shown that no species of documents can possess a higher historical value than these, and that the circumstances under which they were written, the nature of their contents, and the persons to whom they were addressed, form an attestation to the truth of the facts asserted in them, which is unrivalled in the whole course of literature. By means of these I have firmly established the fact that the belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the foundation on which the Church rested as a community from the first dawning of its existence, and the basis of the life of its individual members; and that considerable numbers of the followers of Jesus Christ affirmed that they had seen and conversed with Him after He had risen from the dead. I have shown that [pg 524] these facts rest on the highest form of historical attestation. This being so, there can be only two alternatives respecting them. Either the belief in the Resurrection was founded on the fact that He actually rose from the dead; or it must have originated in the delusions of His followers. I have shown that the various theories which have been propounded to account for it on the latter supposition, when tested by the actual facts, are untrue both to human nature and to the possibilities of the case. From this it results, as a necessary consequence, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. If He rose from the dead, the truth of His divine mission is established, and His claim to be the King and supreme Legislator of the Church is vindicated. This claim may be fully set forth in two sayings of His own, recorded in St. John's Gospel: “I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (xiii. 12.) “Thou sayest that I am a king. For this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (xviii. 37.)