The existence of the Lord God Almighty, the Jehovah of the Scriptures, may be real, as accepted by the reason and conscience of most men in civilized nations. It may have been within his power to raise his Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead; and there may have been sufficient reasons for the exercise of this power. He may have been able to do this, without violating, or suspending, any law of his universe. The resurrection may have been as conformable to law as the death of the body. The law of gravitation is neither violated nor suspended, but merely overcome, in numberless instances every day, by the introduction of what is, under the circumstances, a greater force; and it may be a universal law that the greater force (other things being equal) shall overcome the less. If it were true that the like had never occurred, it cannot be maintained that God has not in any instance done something which he had not done before, and of which consequently there had been no previous experience. “Men,” says Dr. Taylor,[1] “are continually reaching results which the forces of nature, left to themselves, never could have caused; and if this be so with men, why should we deny to God the possibility of intervening in a similar way, and so producing effects that are not merely supernatural, but superhuman?” And why, we ask, should we deny to him the possibility of doing something which he has not done before; “My Father worketh hitherto,” said Jesus, “and I work.”
“The[2] affirmation of the impossibility of a miracle carries with it the elimination of God out of the universe.” There is no escape from this conclusion; and consequently there are those who admit the possibility[3] of miracles, even while denying that they can be proved.
The event, then, may have occurred. It is a question of evidence.
Again, if Christ did rise from the dead, he would give his disciples sufficient evidence of it. He could give to the bodily senses and perceptive powers which they had as other men have (and which “experience” tells us, may be trusted when they have a fair chance), such proofs of his resurrection that they could believe it, and rationally believe it. This may be said to be almost a truism. To concede that God could, and did, raise Jesus Christ from the dead, and deny that he could, or would, afford evidence of it, if not an utter absurdity, is in the highest degree unreasonable, and we are not trying to convince any but reasonable men. To what end should he perform this miracle, and yet afford no evidence of it? The question right here is not whether we have sufficient evidence for our assurance, but whether his disciples could reasonably be convinced of his resurrection, assuming that it really took place.
Then if they might rationally believe what actually occurred, upon evidence furnished them, those to whom they declared it, and we to whom their testimony has come, may also believe it. If they were not bound to reject the evidence of their own senses, because of previous experience or the want of it, neither were those to whom they preached, nor we ourselves, bound to reject it.
In other words, assuming that Christ did rise from the dead, and assuming that satisfactory proofs of his resurrection were given to his disciples, it is not impossible that sufficient evidence of both of these facts may be accessible to us. To deny this, is to say that Christ must die and rise again, in every age, and in every place, where there are nations or persons, whether few or many, who have not before witnessed such events. Yet to this absurdity must Hume’s famous argument from experience come.
If Jesus rose from the dead, the fact was susceptible of proof to his disciples. It was susceptible of proof to those who believed it on the testimony of his disciples. It is susceptible of proof to one to whom that testimony is transmitted. Assuming his resurrection to be true, it would be more wonderful than a miracle, if all means of a rational belief in the fact were the exclusive property of his immediate disciples; and their contemporaries and all after them, to the end of time, be compelled in the exercise of right reason to reject it, notwithstanding it is true. Hence we say as the basis of further argument that the resurrection may have occurred; and if it did occur, we undoubtedly have such evidence of it as may be accepted by a reasonable man. Leaving, then, the possible for the probable, in a matter that is but a question of evidence.
WHAT ARE THE PROOFS?
The fact of Christ’s resurrection was proclaimed by his Apostles and disciples from the beginning of their ministry, commencing on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion. This fact was, as expressed by Paul, that Christ “died,” and was “buried,” and was “raised on the third day;” and by Luke that “he showed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs,” appearing unto the Apostles whom he had chosen[4], for forty days, “and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God;” and by Peter, “whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it:” and “Ye killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”