God has spread over them the shield of omnipotence, and he who will not be convinced by a well authenticated testimony of miracles, would not be persuaded though one actually rose from the dead.

As the resurrection of Christ is a fact of such vital moment in the argument connected with miracles, I shall devote to it the notice of a distinet discussion, hoping thereby to condense into very narrow limits the amount of proof arising to Christianity from the survey of its miraculous character.

52. The argument derived from the Resurrection of Christ.

It must have been remarked by every careful observer, that there are two distinct classes of miracles recorded in the gospel history,---those which the facts of Christianity themselves involve, and those which were wrought by our Lord and his apostles in confirmation of the message they delivered. The necessity, perhaps, of the latter class of miracles chiefly originates in the first. A revelation of facts and doctrines altogether supernatural seemed to de

mand an attestation corresponding to its own nature. It is difficult, indeed, to conceive of the idea of an express and direct revelation from the Infinite Mind without instantly associating it with what is miraculous, and without feeling a sort of intuitive conviction that it will be supported with a species of evidence answering to the wondrous facts which it professes to disclose. Most of the doctrines of revelation far transcend the puny conceptions of finite minds, and some of them are of such a sublime nature that they are to be regarded rather as subjects of humble belief than as topics of querulous dispute.

The resurrection of Christ, in common with his incarnation, his temptation, his transfiguration, and his ascension to the fight hand of power, is a fact of a distinctly miraculous character. It is, moreover, a fact which was divinely attested on the day of Pentecost, and, subsequently, by indubitable marks of a supernatural interposition.

For a person to rise from the dead is an indisputable manifestation of the mighty power of God; and if it can be shewn that Christ actually

rose from the dead, according to his own predictions, it must of necessity follow that both the prescience and the omnipotence of Deity were associated with the wondrous event. Many sceptics have been ready to admit, that if the resurrection of Christ could be fully established their opposition to Christianity must cease. It was impossible for them to concede less than this; and the zealous efforts they have made to repudiate the evidence of our Lord's resurrection sufficiently proves their anxiety to get rid of a fact which, if properly established, must, as by some mighty convulsion, shiver infidelity to atoms.

As the doctrine contended for is of such vast importance to the full development of the truth of Christianity, it is a peculiarly happy circumstance that the evidence upon which it stands is of such a diversified and powerful kind; bearing, as it were, an exact proportion to the commanding position which it occupies in the Christian scheme. With the fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead, the whole system of Christianity

must stand or fall;* to bear witness to this fact the office of apostles was mainly established; upon its reception our salvation vitally depends; and by its all-powerful influence believers are inspired by the animating hope of eternal life.§

By this event, also, Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power;"|| by it the perfection of his atonement was fully announced; T and by it the evidence, pattern, and earnest of the resurrection of all his followers were strikingly displayed.** How momentous, then, upon the shewing of Christianity itself, is the doctrine of Christ's resurrection! How firm ought our faith to be in the evidence by which it is supported! And how cautious and thoughtful ought he to be who ventures to treat it as an imposture of human device!

In briefly surveying the evidence upon which the doctrine of Christ's resurrection rests, we

* 1 Cor. xv. 14-19.

Rom. x. 9.

**

† Acts i. 22. iv. 33. x. 40, 41. Rom. i. 4.

§ 1 Pet. i. 3, 4.

1 Cor. xv. 17. Ròm. iv. 25.

1 Cor. xv. 21, 22, 20, 23. Rom. viii. 11.

are naturally led to inquire whether his death actually took place? Here no conceivable difficulty can arise. The fact is admitted both by friends and enemies; and as the Jews procured his crucifixion and thirsted for his blood, there can be no reason to doubt that they would carry the infamous sentence of the law into complete execution. Fully aware of his own predictions that he would rise again, they did not suffer his body to be removed from the cross till every symptom of life was extinct; and so decisive were the marks of dissolution, that the soldiers, perceiving that he was already dead, did not break his legs, according to ordinary custom, when they wished to hasten the death of a particular culprit; but one of their number "pierced his side with a spear, and forthwith came thereout blood and water." Nor did Pilate deliver up his body to

be buried till he received direct assurance from the officers in command that the victim of Calvary had actually expired.

Nor was the place of Christ's burial less ma

* John xix. 33, 34.