The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-04-19

posters or henven-Hsnt messengers. ~
Christ boz not risen again then II our
p%ronohlnK vain, and vain also IN your
faith. Yea, and VI arc found false Wit.
nesHes OF God. because W. have given
testimony against God that Ito hath
raised up Christ"
T-hey wrought miracles for tho express
purpose Of indicating the truth Of me
resurrection. and. consequently. OF put
ting beyond AL doubt tho ain OF Chris
tianlty 10 tho acceptance OF mankind
Peter and John on entering the beauti-
fuI gate Of the temple restore 10 health
a man who had been lame from his birth.
ami they profess 10 perform that miracle
by tho power and IN the name Of their
risen Lord.
II civilized nations accept the verdict
Of twelve jurymsn as the most approved
and equitable mode Of deciding questions
OF the greatest moment. how car we dis
puts the unanimous testimony Of twelve
Apostolic witnesses, who saw with their
Dyes. heard with their ears. and touch
I'd with their hands, the risen Lord: who
devoted their life 20 the promulgation
OF this miracle. who preached II not In
Obacure Ornsr but IN Jerusalem itself
less han WI months after the event
had occurred. who converted thousands
Of hearers that had ample opportunities
OF testing the correctness OF their decia-
ration; who suffered stripes n lmpris-
onment rather than deny II. and, finally
Sehled their testimony with their biood1
the two great modern antagoniHts Of
the dogma OF the resurrection ARE Renan
ana Strauss, Henan, while reluctantly
concedlng that Jesus actually died on
tbs cross, asserts that Magdalcn was the
49,. - q. faN.lN lnaa gNUaNlCa In AarIa FlnU
that she saw the Lord. lie seems 10 for
get that she was but one witness among
hundreds Of others who had beheId Him
under a variety Of circumstances The
faith OF Remains youth ~ early nan
hood and the nkcpticiBm OF his latter
years seem 10 keep up an unequal itrug-
gle In his breast Hence. his statements
and theories arc a tumble OF c%ontradic-
lions. lie blows hot and cold In the
same breath. On the same page he ele-
Yates and dopreases our Saviour. He
b~lasphemes while pralslBg Him, and. like
Judas. he bctrayr his own acknowledged
Lord with "A kiss OF profIne p~anegyric.
While we are AdmlHnR the delicious
flowers Of rhetoric whish he lays at the
feet Of the Messiah, we and them sud
denly withcred by the breath Of male
VIOLENT cynlclHm.
Strauss. unable TO c%ontroyert the rum
uiatiye evidence Of our Saw pur's mani
festation after His crucidIiOn. has re-
course TO the desperate expcdient OF de-
nying His death on the cross. He pre-
tends that our Lord when taken down
from the cross was In a state OF syn
cope. from which lie Afterwards rallied.
hut this objection ~ scarcely worthy OF
serious consideration. The death OF Christ
IL infinitely described by the four Evan
goliats, Including John. who was an eye
witness OF the scene.
No one In his senses has ever disputed
the fact that Caesar was slain In Rome
nineteen centuries ago. Now. the death
OF our SnviouA n corroborated by human
evidence as strong Rs that which records
Caesars assassination. IL was a public
and notorious execution. occurring in Je-
ruHAiem. which then contained a populA-
ton OF over two hundred thousand In
habitAnts. II was superintended by Ro-
man officials and witnessed by an i'm
mcnse concOurse Of bystanders. Jews and
OcntileA, sympathlEers and enemies His
death was openly and exultantly aGk-
nowledged by His a~dversaries: Il was
disputed by none Of them. The tomb In
which He lay was guarded by Roman SOL
diers. as well as by the emisslries OF the
high priests.
And. sturdy. those E~eAlots. whose minds
were s~harpened by malice. and who dis
played 20 much ingenuity and vigilAnt
zeal In comprising our Redeemer's ar
rest and death warrant. would not allow
their friendless victim TO escape their
hands till they were assured that life
was extinct.
Thus we see the resurrection OF Christ
attested by two incontrovertibls facts:
namely. the certainty OF His death, fol-
lowed by His living. visible manifesto
ton Ia the flesh.