A handbook of Freethought

by Unknown

A second version is in this form: “And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me. And I said, Lord, what wilt thou have me do? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all the things which are appointed for thee to do.” ([Acts 22 : 6–10].)

The third account of the affair is given thus: “Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at mid-day, O king, I saw in the way alight from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, saying, in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.... Whereupon, O king, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” ([Acts 26 : 9–19].)

According to the first account the companions of Paul “stood speechless” (9 : 7); in the third they “all fall to the earth.” (26 : 14.) Then again, in the first account it is said that the men “stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.” In the second it is stated that “they that were with me saw indeed the light, but they heard not the voice.” These contradictions do not seem to clothe the vision of Paul with the acceptable form of harmony.

It will be observed that even in this vision Paul is not described as seeing Jesus. He sees a light and falls to the ground, and when he rises he is blind. “And they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. And he was three days without sight.” (9 : 8.)

In the continuation of this account Paul has another vision: “And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance, and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and get thee out of Jerusalem.” (22 : 17, 18.)

In connection with these visions and revelations it is highly significant that Paul never claims to have seen Jesus in the flesh, and he never speaks of the resurrection as material, but as spiritual. “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” ([1 Cor. 15 : 44].) “Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,” ([Phil. 3 : 21].) Evidently there is no claim for seeing Jesus in the body made by Paul in any of his writings. He preaches the doctrine of the resurrection, but this doctrine he, as a Pharisee, believed before he became a Christian. Paul claims that in a vision he saw Jesus. Luke says that this was also the manner in which Mary Magdalene and the other women saw Jesus. “And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.” (24 : 2, 3.)

This gives force to the claim of Paul, that his seeing or vision of Jesus was of the same class as the visions of all the others who had seen him.

Thus, after a careful examination of the writings attributed to the immediate followers of Jesus, we find that not one of them says, “I saw Jesus rise from the grave;” or “I saw Jesus in the flesh after his resurrection.” In legendary style it is frequently repeated that he “appeared” first to this and then to that one, but there is not the slightest evidence that any one saw him. And in this connection it is worthy of remark that Jesus did not appear to any persons except his friends. This gives better occasion for suspicion that the story is mythical.

“Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with him.” ([Acts 10 : 41].) To appear to a few private friends for one day does not seem much like bringing life and immortality to light to the whole world. The method is too narrow and exclusive. And even of these few friends not one has left the record for us of what he saw. The writers who have recorded the current traditions of their time, agree in saying that Mary Magdalene found the grave empty: further than this the writers do not corroborate one another.

How soon the resurrection of the physical body became popular we have no means of knowing. It was not certainly until some time after the writings of Paul were given to the churches, for he, as we have seen, speaks, of it as a spiritual resurrection. So also does Peter ([1 Peter 3 : 13]), speak of Jesus “being slain in the flesh, but made alive again in the spirit.”