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

The mythic and legendary theories are equally unable to account for the facts as they stand in the New Testament. I cannot here attempt to follow them in their innumerable windings. Taken by themselves they are not now accepted as adequate accounts of them, but other theories are called in to aid them. Still, whatever assistance these are supposed to impart, myth and legend must always hold a prominent place in the systems of those who endeavour to account for the origin of the Gospels on purely human principles. [pg 383] As they contain a large supernatural element, it is certain that if this is not historical, it must have originated in some species of fiction, i.e. either in the mythic and legendary spirit, or in pure invention. Hence the use of myths and legends must always be freely invoked by those who, while they deny the historical character of the Gospels, do not go to the length of accusing the original followers of Jesus of deliberate invention.

I must here draw attention to one particular portion of the evidence, the full significance of which I have described elsewhere. Whatever opinions may be formed as to the unhistorical character of the Gospels, there is one fact respecting them as to which believers and unbelievers must alike agree, namely that they contain a delineation of the most perfect conception ever formed by the mind of man, the character of Jesus Christ. There it is, beyond the power of contradiction; the overwhelming majority of men possessed of the most powerful minds have recognized it as the greatest of ideals, as well as the millions of ordinary men to whom it has been the object of supreme admiration and attraction. The following questions respecting it therefore urgently demand an answer.

If the Gospels are a mere collection of mythic and legendary stories, generated and put together in the manner affirmed by those who deny their historical character, how got this great character there? If the fables of which they are composed are the inventions of many minds, whence its unity? If their inventors were credulous enthusiasts and fanatics, whence its perfection? If they were implicated in all the superstitions of the age, whence its moral elevation? Of what order of thought then existing is it the embodiment? How could the credulity which was necessary [pg 384] for the acceptance of such fictions, or how could the spirit which invented them, have conceived these moral elements? There the character is—let us be distinctly informed how it was put together; how much of it is fact, and how much fiction; how the fictions were welded together with the facts so as to compose the whole; and what class or order of minds in the early Church was equal to its elaboration. This delineation must have been made at an early period, and could not have been a late invention; for it is substantially the same as that contained in those Epistles of St. Paul, which are acknowledged to have been written within thirty years of the date of the Crucifixion. A distinct answer to these questions is demanded of those who affirm that the Gospels have no value as histories. It is impossible to deny that they have a most important bearing on the present question. Why do not unbelievers set themselves to grapple with this problem?

But the value to be assigned to the Gospels as histories must be a matter for subsequent consideration. At present I need simply draw attention to the fact that while the opponents of Christianity fully recognize the necessity of propounding a rational theory of its origin, the more we examine their various theories in detail, the more apparent becomes their inadequacy to account for the phenomena. The fact, already alluded to, that unbelievers cannot come to any agreement among themselves on this subject, shows that they find the problem extremely difficult of solution. The plausibility of their theories is due to the abstract and general form in which they are presented. Various causes are held up without any discrimination as to what each of them is capable of effecting; and the wished-for result is ascribed to their combined action. But when we analyse the various forces at their command, [pg 385] ascertain the mode of their action, the difficulties they would have to encounter before they could effectuate their results, and examine whether they are true to the facts of human nature as testified to by the long course of history, it is not too much to affirm that all the investigations of unbelievers have completely failed to give an account of the origin of Christianity which can take the place of that handed down to us by the Church. Until this can be given, notwithstanding all the expenditure of intellect on the question, we are justified in affirming that the problem is insoluble, although Christianity originated in a period unquestionably historical, in the midst of the Roman Empire over which it rapidly spread, despite the opposition of the government and the entire organization of society.

Before proceeding to the direct considerations by which the great fact of Christianity is attested, I must take a general glance at the nature of the materials which we have at our command, and at their historical value.

I shall take as my starting-point the five facts already mentioned, the historical certainty of which it is needless to prove. My starting-point, therefore, is the continuous existence of the Church, which came into being at a definite period of time, to which it can be traced up in one unbroken succession. This society has always affirmed that its corporate existence, as well as the life of its individual members, is due to the Resurrection of its founder. I shall also carefully examine and estimate the contemporaneous evidence afforded by the Epistles of St. Paul, especially those which are acknowledged to be genuine, as well as that of the other writings of the New Testament, for the purpose of estimating the value of their testimony on this subject. Even if some [pg 386] of these writings are not allowed by unbelievers to be the productions of the persons whose names they bear, still they are all of a very early date, and unquestionably reflect the thoughts and ideas of those who wrote them, and of the persons to whom they are addressed. But before I enter on my immediate subject, it will be necessary to lay down the leading principles of historical evidence, and to estimate the value of tradition as a testimony to historical facts.

I am fully prepared to abide by the chief principles laid down by Sir G. C. Lewis on this subject in his great work on the Credibility of Early Roman History. They are generally considered to be sufficiently severe and exacting. By many they are viewed as of far too stringent a character. The evidence on which the great fact of the Resurrection rests, will endure their most rigid application. They have this great advantage, that they are laid down for the investigation of a subject purely secular, with which religion has nothing to do. They are therefore wholly free from religious bias, and are simply the principles for testing the claims of ordinary facts on our belief. If the chief facts of Christianity can stand this scrutiny, it is impossible to affirm that they are not supported by the strongest historical testimony.

1. Every alleged fact, in order to be entitled to our belief, must be shown to rest on direct contemporaneous testimony, or that which is its historical equivalent.

This rule is by no means intended to affirm that every fact for which contemporaneous testimony can be adduced is true; but only that it is to be accepted as such when there is no reason for disbelieving it. We must have some means to enable us to form a judgment of the knowledge and veracity of the [pg 387] informant. It remains for consideration, when the direct testimony of a contemporary is not to be had, as must be frequently the case with events long past, what may be considered as its historical equivalent?

It must be kept in mind that one of the most valuable forms of contemporaneous testimony, if not the most valuable of all, is a set of letters which contain various and definite allusions to the current events, habits, and modes of thought of the time. For certain purposes these are far more valuable than formal histories. The latter are frequently written under the influence of party spirit, partiality, or bias. The writer of a history is usually on his guard, has carefully considered what he says, and affords us but little opportunity of interrogating him. But the writer of a letter, unless he has special reasons for being guarded, places before his correspondent his entire mind. We are therefore capable of interrogating him. He often lets us into the secret causes of events. He also makes a number of incidental allusions to events which are passing. These form testimony of a most valuable kind. We can in a manner almost converse with him. As a confirmation of the facts which formal histories narrate, and as letting us into the secret springs of events, a series of letters, written by persons who were actively engaged in them, are historical documents of the highest order. Their value is increased when they bear all the appearance of coming from the writer's heart. Nothing is more striking than the happy results which have accrued from the extensive use made by modern historians of original correspondence. It is not too much to say that it has largely modified our view of events, as they have been reported in formal histories. Another very high form of contemporaneous testimony is the [pg 388] existence of institutions and monuments which can be certainly traced up to a particular period, and which owed their existence to events of that period. These form a species of living witnesses to the truth of the facts out of which they have originated, and as far as their testimony goes, it is incapable of falsehood. The most valuable testimony of this kind is a great institution of which we possess definite evidence that it originated in a particular event, or in the belief of it. This kind of evidence Christianity possesses in the highest form, in the continued existence of that great institution, the Christian Church.