Putnam patriot., 1908-05-08


 osi of the tomb under the existing con ,iiiions2 This theory makes the Nsza- ! nne capable Of gross deception that 1 is absolutely at variance with His known character, which in itself is enough 10 Kill the theory absolutely. SPIRIT THEORY.
 The third explanation Of the Resur- rection k called the spirit theory IL is claimed that Jesus fid not really rise from the dead and take His body again as The Scripture says He did, out that He appeared toifis followers as 3 spirit. Now the truth of the matter is. that q a spirit vas JsI.t exactly what His Apos- ties thought that He was when they saw Him after HisResurrectiou. and it was only after repeated assurance. on Ills paa and such proofs as handling His body and putting their fingers into the nail holes in His hands and His feet and the spearthrust in His side that they could De persuaded that He was possessed of real, cofporeai exist
 
 not flesh and bones as ye zee Me hase." Again, II lie appeared A a spirit and did not rise from the grave, il makes both Jesus and His i Apostles deceieers oi the lowest natafe-which view can moi in reason be tolerated.
 II alse brings tip the question as to the whereabouts Of His body and causes u- to ask why the Jews did not produce His body from the tomb and forever si- lence the claims Of His followers that He had risen from the dead. This lasI is enough to condemn the theory ss ab- ~olutely untenable by any reasonable person.
 THE HOPE THEORY
 is akin to the foregoing. 1t k that the Apostles were so bnoyant with the hope that Jesns would rise again that they gradually came h believe that He had risen. We reply that not only were the Apostles honest men but they were hard headed men as we'll They had no hope of His resurrection. We know this because wheniIe had tried to fore tell it to them before Ills death they could not seem to grasp the stapendous ruth, and naturally so. They were absolutely crushed 2ith feaf ani disap- pointment by His maIefatofs- death and the apparent absolute failure of If. mission as fHe Messiah, 70 much -a. in faet. that when lAe women brought the lifsf tidiegs - the Resurrection fheir words were regarded hut K idle taie9
 II was net tiil Peter and John made personal investigation of tbe empty tomb that any of the Apostles would believe, and even then some doubted. The theory k a psychological ntsard- itA and absolutely untrue to the simple statements of the Gospel narrative 1 Then, loo, the same trouble arises about l lhe body Of Jesus; where was it2 The fact iAal the Jews did not produce the l body to refute the claims that the | Apostles were preciaiming publicly te | all Jerusalem, condemns this theory In | toto.
 ! THE "bALIrcfNArios THEORY
 k also absurd i'll the eyes Of one ~he
 knows anything about the laws of the mind. The theory k that Jesus did mol bowers, but that they had hsliueina- tieHs et Him and thought that they SAW Him when they did not. Now mo dern science tells us that the effect of continued hallncinafions of the same suhieet is, that the mental impressions ot haIluciuations become less and less strong or real and thati iiusily, they cease enlifely, leaving tte patients : mind enteehled by thc strain Hat in thn cazc of the Apostles and others who claimed that they saw Jesus in Ills re- surfeeted hodyi the very reverse K true
 The conviction became more and more settled that He had risen, and af- ter He ascended they all but one laid down their lives as sober, level headed men, to testify to their belief that He had actually overcome death and open cd unto them the gates ei everlasting life Furthermore, like the other theo- ries Il k subject to the same objection concerning tie whereabouts of His body, and the question why the Jews did aot produce IL. II further, like some ef ihv othet theories we have con. >tdered, reflects en the honesty e9 the Judgment ei OUT Lord, and hence k sui- eidal m it's effect.
 Tkf rGRNM rnGoRN.
 The Telegram Theory K eac W hict supports the idea that the Apostles hal a sort of standardization of Jesus, bat that il was not His real body fisen from ihe dead This, of course, meets wiIll the same objection as the others, ,aad al. though Il does not do violence Ia the honesty of the Apostles, 1t certainly does to that of ihe Christ, which k enough 10 condemn il entirely, to say nothing of the impossihilitN of 1t tn view of the certainty of the Jews reful- ing il, as they certainly would have done, hy producing from the tomb the