The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-08
STORY OF THE MIRHCLES.
Professor William North Rice Talks on the
Resurrection of Christ
Possibility of Miracles.

may be isolated facts concerning 1t of
which we never had the slightest con-
ception.
Possibility of Miracles.
"The possibility of the miracle is
enc thing, and the credibility of the
miracle is another thing. A story may
contain allegations of such improbable
ity that no supposable amount of testi-
mony could convince one of it's truth.
The Romans expected that Nero would
return from the dead to curse Rome
once more. If l should read in any
number of Roman historians the state
ment that Nero did rise from the dead
l should not even question whether the
statement might be true. Whether
could or could not suggest how the
story originated I should believe with
out hesitation that it arose from fraud
or mistake. Then, why, If we could not
believe in the resurrection Of Nero can
We believe in the resurrection Of Jesus
Of Nazareth? To the hopeless atheist
the resurrection Of Jesus would be no
more probable than the resurrection of
Nero, but to him who believes, or hopes,
that the world is governed in the in
terest Of righteousness. 1t can never
seem immensely improbable that God
would seek to reveal himself to his
creatures. In the words of Romanes,
The antecedent improbability against
miracle being wrought by man
without moral objectsis apt to be con-
fused with that Of its being done by
God with an adequate moral object,
The former is UNNECESSARILY great; the
latter is only equal 10 that Of the theory
of theiSm-i. e., nil.
1.-THE resurrection of Jesus is by far
the best attested of all miracles, as it is
by far the most important. Nobody
doubts that Jesus was actually dead.
The theories presented to account for
the story of the resurrection are that
it had it's origin in myth or in halluci-
nation. The argument against the
myth lies in the evidence of the de-
velopment early Of the belief in the
story Of the resurrection. We have
several substantially contemporaneous
narratives giving practically the same
testimony regarding the resurrection.
The belief in the resurrection of Jesus
was the belief of his contemporaries
We would not celebrate the Fourth of
July If we did not believe there was a
the church have established the festival
of the Lords day without believing that
there was reason for doing so. Many
who deny the historic truth of the re-
surrection admit that something hap
pened which created a belief in some
such things.
authorizations.
what was that something? Renan
says that it was a hallucination Ac-
cording to him the faith which has re-
generated humanity had it's origin as
pathological symptom in the brain
of half-crazy woman. If the hallucin-
alton Of the resurrection began with
Mary, it did not end there. Gradually
the hallucination of the few became
the faith Of many. If the notion of the
resurrection Of Jesus was hallucina-
ton, it was a strange one.
"a hallucination generally affects a
single individual, sometimes small
number of individuals. Yet we are told
in the Gospels that more than five
hundred persons at once beheld that
same vision, and in the throng were
men of all kinds of mental capacities
and characteristics. An illusion gener-
ally affects a single sense and is shown
to be an Illusion by the failure of the
other senses to afford corresponding
sensations. Handle me- said the
Savior. for spirit hath not flesh
and bones Reach hither thy hand and
thrust it into my side and the doubts
of Thomas were relieved. 1t taxes my
credulity less to believe that Jesus rose