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But if the Sermon on the Mount ever becomes the lode-star of the nations, it will enfranchise all the people, everywhere, and when that day comes, the fabled golden age will have arrived. The period of Jesus will then surely be, if it is not already, immortal. But I must hasten on and answer carefully this ques- tion : Was Jesus resurrected ? The record does not give full and complete particu- A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 305 lars, and in fact, it is somewhat conflicting; for in- stance, I have shown that Matthew says there "was an angel at the tomb?" But Mark, it seems, was in- spired differently, and says "it was a young man." Luke disagrees with both of them and tells us there were two men at the tomb in shining garments. John, always wild, and drawing upon his imagination for the facts, says there were two angels, clothed in white. (14) Now here are four persons writing about the resur- rection; but neither of them saw Jesus when he came out of the tomb. They were not eye-witnesses to that marvelous event; their evidence, therefore, is hearsay only ; and no one of them seems to know exactly when that stone was rolled away. Nor do they tell from whom they learned these strange things. Now if we bear in mind that Joseph, who wrapped Jesus' body, was his friend, he may have noticed signs of life, for we have seen that he had been only three hours on the cross ; and there is a very strong probability that Jesus had only fainted or swooned. In truth, a syncope is sometimes so severe and lasting that the heart seems to stop its beating; in fact, its beating cannot be de- tected; there is no pulse whatever; respiration is en- tirely suspended; the brain no longer acts; there is entire loss of sensation and volition. The body lies (14) Matt. 28, V. 2 to 5— an angel. Mark 16, v. 5 — a young man. Luke 24, v. 4 — two men in shining garments. John 20, V, 12 — two angels in white. 3o6 A QUESTlOxM OF iMlRACLES rigid and cold ; and is prononnccd dead. It can be pricked or cut with a knife, and it will not bleed. There is no heart-beat. There have been cases — numerous ones — where all the appearances of death were as plain as that just stated ; and yet the person after many hours of appar- ent death, has revived. It was tiot a resurrection ; it was resuscitation. Jesus was not long enough on that cross to kill him. Three hours' suspension thereon, for a young man in good health, were not sufficient. The thieves at the end of that time were still alive: Jesus was young, he was temperate, he was healthy, and probably could have lived two or three days on that cross. (15) Pilate, who was familiar with crucifixions, "mar- veled" that three hours had ended Jesus' life. Section 4. There could not have been any sudden rupture of the aorta to cause death; for in that case the blood would have spouted out of the mouth and nose; and there would somewhere have been some mention of it. That he was in agony there is no doubt ; then syn- cope seized him and he was taken down for dead ; and after awhile he regained consciousness and escaped (15) Mark XV, 44. I have shown, heretofore, that persons much longer on the cross have been revived. Josephus, Vita, 75, He- rodotus 71, 194. In section 3, ch. 31, I have shown that Nicodemus believed Jesus was alive, and he sent men into the woods to search for him. Truly he was alive and had gone to Galilee. Matt. 28, T. 7. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 307 from the tomb, either alone or with the assistance of those men (16) in white garments. (17) I must here caution the reader to remember that neither Matthew nor Mark nor Luke knows anything about the incident of the spear thrust. If Jesus was in the chitch of syncope, he would not cringe or flinch, even if pricked by the point of a spear. Now if it be true, as John says, that Jesus could lay down his life and take it up again (18), why need he wait three days? Was it because Jonah was three days in the whale's belly? I can believe that he came forth himself alone with- out help from that sepulcher, because the weak and flimsy hearsay evidence does not convince me that his body was dead when put there. Neither Joseph nor Nicodemus says a word about this placing of the body in the tomb. Nicodemus did not believe Jesus was put in that tomb. (19) Paul, we are told, was afterwards stoned by the Jews of Antioch and Iconium until they supposed they had killed him; and they carried him out of the city for dead. But a swoon, or syncope, saved him. He was resuscitated; and the very next day was able to travel. (20) The disciples, in Paul's case, were the men in white garments who rendered him assistance. Is it true, as claimed, that Jesus descended from (16) What is the use of trying to make us believe the angels were there, when those two men were there instead. (17) Luke 24, v. 4. (18) John 10, V. 18. (19) See Sec. 3, ch. 31, post. (20) Acts 14^ V. 19 and 20. 3o8 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES Heaven, to make intercession for man and reconcile him to his maker? Or is that a weak imitation, or copy, of that old Hindu legend, in the Punjab, and on the Ganges, centuries before either Buddha or Jesus was born? whereby Agni, the God of Fire, to befriend man. descended, it is said, from his blest abode and became the messenger and mediator between God and man. (21) We must conclude, then, that syncope and resuscita- tion make a complete answer to the question of Jesus' resurrection. (21) Max Miiller, Sanscrit Lit., p. 462. CHAPTER XXVII Matthew and Luke Take the Stand. Section i. If the four gospels prove anything as a record, they furnish some evidence that Jesus' mortal body, somehow, got out of or was assisted out of that sepulcher. True, such evidence, on a trial of a similar claim in court today, would not justify a verdict and judg- ment in its favor. But we cannot go back nineteen hundred years and correct the record, or add to it. We must take it as we find it. There are some things about Jesus which we will not question. He was no doubt born and lived in Nazareth of Galilee. That he lived and grew from childhood on to manhood, as did the other boys of Nazareth in his day and time, is no doubt also true. Such things are usual; but it is the unusual and the marvelous which we are here to examine. We find Jesus mentioned as a carpenter, and as the son of Joseph, the carpenter ; and his brothers and sis- ters are likewise mentioned, (i) Now all of these things stamp him beyond dispute as only a man. But he is religious, intensely religious. So, likewise was (1) Mark 6, v. 3. 3IO A QUESTION OF MIRACLES John the Baptist, the predecessor and teacher of Jesus; but John being decapitated (2) could neither be re- suscitated nor resurrected. Here now we face a problem vastly more difficult to credit than that of the resuscitation and exit from the sepulcher. Let us assume and believe, if possible, that Jesus' mortal body, of itself or with the help of those "men in shining garments," actually came forth from that tomb. He was hungry, and it is said did eat a broiled fish and some honeycomb, and later he ate and drank with his disciples. Now if he did all those things, they show that his flesh and blood body was able to travel about; and that like any other mortal body it required nourishment and received it. (3) But we are staggered, and utterly discredit John 20, V. 26, wherein he states that the disciples "being within, and the doors being shut," Jesus came and stood in the midst of them. (4) They were "doors," not curtains; how then could Jesus thrust his mortal body through those "closed doors?" The statement must be untrue ; for it contradicts a universal law. Yet if the above taxes our credulity, how shall we ever scale the dizzy heights and frowning cliffs just before us? (2) Mark 6, v. 25 to 27. (3) Luke 24, v. 42 and 43; Acts 10, v. 41, says that Jesus "did eat and drink after he rose from the dead." (4) This extravagance and nonsense, as I have said before, was probably copied by John from that told of Buddha "passing through stone walls." (Vol. XI, p. 214, S. B. E.) Both stories are utterly unbelievable and false. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 311 I shall now proceed to call some witnesses as to what happened after the exit from the tomb. Mr. Matthew, please take the stand. Question. Is your name Matthew? Answer. Yes, sir. Question.