ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST; IN WHICH PROOFS OF THE FACT ARE ADDUCED, ITS IMPORT IS EXPLAINED, AND ITS BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE ILLUSTRATED. BY JAMES DORE, A.M. 1840. LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; Instituted 1799. SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, 56, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS. ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. INTRODUCTION. THOUGH in the whole system of revealed truth few articles have been more frequently discussed, or more thoroughly investigated, than the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; yet the importance of the subject will, I hope, plead my excuse, if, indeed, any apology be necessary, for laying before the reader this little sketch of a vast, grand, and comprehensive theme. The great apostle of the Gentiles expresses his earnest desire to know Christ, and particularly the power of his resurrection, Phil. ii 10. The knowledge of the Son of God, of his person, his character, his offices and his work, is supremely interesting. This is the most excellent knowledge, the most sublime, the most consolatory, the most beneficial, the most necessary. But in his whole history there is no fact more worthy our serious attention than his resurrection. This is one of the most extraordinary, and important facts recorded in the gospel. On this account, it is very circumstantially related, frequently mentioned, often alluded to, and introduced in various connexions. It was the centre of the apostolic testimony; and in the inspired writings of the New Testament it occupies a very conspicuous place. An acquaintance, therefore, with a fact so conspicuous in the sacred Volume, must be highly desirable. To feel the force of the evidence with which this great fact is attended, to comprehend its import, and to experience the salutary influence of the belief of it, upon the mind, the conscience, the heart, and the life, is to be truly wise and substantially happy. There is a power in the evidence, a power in the fact, and a power in the belief of it; as I am now to show. CHAPTER I. ON THE EVIDENCE OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION. Is Christ risen from the dead ?—This is a question of fact, the object of which must be ascertained precisely in the same way as any other historical truth. A resurrection, as a fact, admits of the same kind of evidence as any other fact. It is a fact of which the senses are competent to judge. But sensible evidence cannot be afforded to every individual. We cannot have ocular demonstration of the resurrection of Christ, in which we are deeply interested. But we have the same kind of evidence, in this case, as is universally admitted to be sufficient for the establishment of other historical truths, which have not fallen under the cognizance of our senses; I mean credible testimony. It is evidently the intention of the wise and benevolent Author of our intellectual and moral frame, that we should rely on credible testimony, for the greatest part of our little stock of knowledge. For if we reject this kind of evidence, which is founded on that moral order the Supreme Being has established, justice cannot be administered, the wheels of government must stand still, our dearest rights cannot be secured, the bands of society will be broken, business must stagnate, all history will become useless, and our knowledge will be circumscribed within very narrow bounds. Did we exist in all periods of time, and in all parts of the globe, so as to see everything with our own eyes, we should not be human beings; for to be limited by time and place, is one of the properties of man. "We are but of yesterday, and know" comparatively "nothing." The sphere of our observation reaches but a little way. If, then, we regard as true that only of which we are witnesses, our incredulity will necessarily expose us to the most painful state of existence, by keeping us ignorant of many things an acquaintance with which is immediately connected with our present happiness. In a great number of cases, moral evidence is perfectly satisfactory. We are confident of the existence of persons, places, and things, the knowledge of which can be derived from no other source than human testimony. In all our most important concerns, we act upon this principle, that men of understanding and integrity are worthy of credit. "But moral evidence," it may be said, "changes its nature, according to the nature of the things to which it is applied; so that what is proof of a fact which comes within the sphere of physical occurrences, is no evidence of supernatural events." It must be granted, that more evidence is required to substantiate extraordinary occurrences, than those which take place according to what is called the established course of nature; to prove, for instance, that a man arose from the dead, than that he died. But the same sort of evidence as is admitted in |