The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-05-18

Jesus died at 8 o'clock. From II to 8
profound darkness descended upon Ju-
dea, and perhaps over Asia Minor and
the contiguous countries. 1t was not an
eclipse, as has been pointed out, for the
moon was at its full No wonder the
Roman soldiers exclaimed, Truly this
was the Son of God How else shall we
account for the midday darkness, and
the earthquake, at the moment that Jesus
expired? The fact is stated by Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, who affirm that the
darkness lasted for three hours. Could
they be mistakea,?" That is impossible
Do they lie? That cannot be-they are
not wicked men. AS remarked in the
April number of the Quarterly RevieaO,
"The veracity and good sense of the first
preachers and teachers of Christianity is
beyond question with any persons with
whom it is now worth while to argue"
And would three chroniclers writing about
% or 80 years after this event, have
dared to assert that there was dark
ness for three hours over the whole land
of Jud@a from noon till. three o'clock.
on the memorable day that Jesus was
crueiied, if such had not been the fact :?
Everybody would have said, This is the
first we ever heard of it.
1t is interesting to go back to the cor
roborati1g sheathen testimony which we
have recited, and to know also that both
Tertullian and Lucian spoke of the Dark
ness as notorious fact in their day, say
ing to the Romans Of that period, You
have this thing on record in your arch
ives.
Now it were unreasonable to call the
darkness and the earthquake, which
occurred at the moment that Jesus
expired, mere coincidence. Will,
therefore, that mighty host who in our
day will hear of nothing above the
level of nature, explain this case? We
regard this supernatural darkness and
this earthquake as next to the Resur-
rection) the most important of all the
New Testament miracles. They are at
tested, like the shilling of the tempest, by
the disciples of Christ: but there is this
difference between the cases; the mid
day darkness for three hours at Jerusa-
lem was thing of which the whole Jew
ish people were compelled to take cogni-
zance; and these chroniclers publish it
to the world about A. D. 1862 that the
darkness and the. earthquake occurred
on that day on which Jesus was put to
death. That day was the greatest of the
annual Jewish festivals-the Passover.
On that day, say Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, at midday, although the moon was
at the full (Which excludes the idea of an
eclipse), the sun was darkened, and there
was a great earthquake. The darkness
was not momentary it lasted from II
till three o'clock. Philo tells us that the
day for eating the paschal supper was so
fixed that there might be no darkness on
that day-that mot only by day but also
by night the world may be full of all
beauteous light" All the other miracles
of the New Testament were witnessed by
limited number of persons within a cir
cumscribed area; the earthquake and the
darkness on that memorable Passover
were witnessed and remembered by the
whole Jewish nation. THE fact of the
darkness and earthquake is then be-
yond dispute. Every male Israelite was
required to present himself at Jerusalem
on the 18th of Nissan. Josephus COM
putes that those who partook of the Pass
over in the reign Of Nero amounted to
over 100000 persons. 1t is safe to sup
poss, then, that from one to two millions
of people in Jerusalem alone witnessed
this portentous darkening of the face of
nature. The only margin for cavil is,
Was it accidental that the heavens were
darkened and the rocks rent asunder at
the time Of the crucifxion? Who be-
lieves it2