their story,—the doors being closed and fastened,—Jesus himself appeared in the midst of them, and said: "Peace be unto you." They were terrified and affrighted, and thought that they had seen a spirit. But Jesus took measures to convince them that he was something more than a spirit. "Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." He kindly reproved them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, in not receiving the testimony of those who had seen him, after he was risen; and then repeated the comforting salutation:"Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even so send

Thus closed the transactions of this important day,-the first "Lord's day" under the new dispensation. Christ appeared visibly, during the day, no less than five times: first, to Mary Magdalene; secondly, to the other females; third, to Simon Peter; fourth, to the two disciples going to Emmaus; and fifth, to the assembled disciples at Jerusalem.

A question arises here, as to the properties of our Savior's raised body. Christ is spoken of in the Scriptures as "the first fruits" from the dead; "the first that should rise from the dead," &c.-Acts xxvi. 23. And though he was not literally the first that ever rose from the dead, he was the first that rose with a resurrection body,―rose to die And a question arises as to the properties of his resurrection body. It evidently had some properties which it did not possess before his death. It could enter and leave a room with closed doors. It could go from place to place otherwise than by the ordinary processes of locomotion. It could appear otherwise than in its natural form. It could make itself visible and invisible at pleasure.

no more.

And yet it seems not to have parted with all its grossness. If it had not flesh and blood, it had "flesh and bones." And in repeated instances, after his resurrection, we find our Savior partaking of animal food. On the whole, I know not how to account for all the phenomena, but by supposing that the change from the natural body to he spiritual commenced in our Lord at his resurrection,

As

but was not completed, till the time of his ascension. he was to remain on the earth some forty days, and furnish "infallible proofs," meanwhile, of his resurrection from the dead; it was necessary that his body should retain some of its natural properties; else it could not be certainly known to be a body. But when these proofs were all furnished, and his work on earth was done, and he was about to ascend to the right hand of God in heaven; then these remaining natural properties were laid aside, and the entire fulness and glory of the spiritual body were assumed.

From the first Lord's day to the second, Christ made no visible manifestation of himself; nor do we know how the disciples were employed. But when they came together, on the second Lord's day, Christ appeared in the midst of them, as before. It was at this time that he overcame the incredulity of Thomas, and led him to exclaim, with joy and wonder, "My Lord and my God!"

Our Lord's next two appearances were in Galilee, whither the disciples had gone in expectation of meeting him. The first was on the shore of the sea of Galilee, after they had spent a night of fruitless toil in fishing. It was on this occasion that he thrice demanded of Peter, "Lovest thou me;" and thrice received the protestations of Peter's love. Soon after, he appeared to his followers on a mountain in Galilee, where he had appointed to meet them, and where he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once.1 Cor. xv. 6.

Subsequent to this, our Lord met the eleven apostles repeatedly, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and instructed them in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He told them that all power was given unto him in heaven and on earth, and directed them to tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. He instituted baptism in the name of the holy Trinity, and made it one of the standing ordinances of his Church. And whereas he had formerly restricted them in their labors to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he now enlarged their commission, directing them to go out into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He promised to aid

them by miraculous powers and gifts, so long as these should be needed, and to be with them by his Spirit always, even unto the end of the world.

And now the forty days of his continuance on the earth were finished, and the time of his ascension had come. He met his disciples in Jerusalem, and led them out over the brook Kidron, the same over which they passed on the dreadful night preceding the crucifixion ;—and when they had arrived at Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, that he was separated from them, went up toward heaven, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

I have given this connected story of our Savior's resurrection, and his appearances afterwards, as the best refutation of the charge of inconsistency,-of contradiction, in the accounts of the evangelists, that can perhaps be made. No circumstance recorded by either of the sacred writers has been omitted; and it only remains to inquire, Is not the narrative above given a consistent one? Does it involve any of those "violent transpositions and arbitrary hypotheses," on which some are so ready to insist? In other words, may not the several accounts of the evangelists, in regard to our Savior's resurrection, be easily and consistently harmonized?

In the Acts of the Apostles, the principal difficulties are in the discourse of Stephen, recorded in the seventh chapter. But these have been before considered.

There is a discrepancy in the two accounts which are given, one by Luke and the other by Paul, of the circumstances of Paul's conversion. Luke says, "the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man."-Chap. ix. 7. Paul says, "They that journeyed with me saw indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me."-Chap. xxii. 9. The discrepancy here may be accounted for from the different significations of the original word porn, which in both passages is translated voice. In frequent instances, this word denotes an inarticulate sound, as of thunder. In other

φωνην,

instances, it signifies a voice of words. Without doubt, those who journeyed with Paul saw a light, and heard a pwvŋv, a sound; but they did not hear the words which fell on the ears of the astonished apostle.

I shall notice but another of the alleged discrepancies in the Bible, and that relates to events in the life of Paul subsequent to his conversion. Our Unitarian friends pronounce the statements in the Acts, relating to this subject, and those in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, as wholly irreconcilable, "an utter contradiction,' which "no exegesis has yet succeeded to explain, nor probably will succeed."* But I see no insuperable difficulty We have only to adhere closely to the sacred record, and all is plain.

here.

The apostle Paul was converted on his way to Damascus, about the year 35. In Damascus, he was baptized by An- * anias, and immediately commenced preaching to the Jews. "He confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that Jesus is very Christ."-Acts ix. 22. The Jews becoming excited and tumultuous, Paul retired into Arabia, where he spent some two or three years.-Gal. i. 17. From Arabia, he returned to Damascus, still intent upon his great work of preaching the Gospel. And when the Jews of Damascus conspired against him, with the intent to kill him, and watched the gates for this purpose night and day, the friends of Paul took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket, and he escaped their hands. He now went to Jerusalem, about three years subsequent to his conversion. The disciples at Jerusalem, not having before seen him since his conversion, were afraid of him, and "believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus, and he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians; but they

*Chris. Examiner for November, 1857, p. 394.

went about to kill him. Which, when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Cesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus."-Acts ix. 26-30. This agrees precisely with the account in Gal. i. 18-21. See also Acts xxii. 18—21. Paul's next visit to Jerusalem was in the year 46, about nine years after his conversion. He now went up from Antioch, with Barnabas, to carry alms to his persecuted brethren in Judea.- See Acts xi. 29, 30.

Five years later, or fourteen years from his conversion, Paul went again to Jerusalem, in company with Barnabas and Titus, where he met Peter, James and John, and received from them the right hand of fellowship. It was at this time that the question was considered and decided respecting the circumcision of the Gentiles.-Acts xv. 4—29 ; Gal. ii. 1-10.

Some twelve years after this, A. D. 61, Paul made his last visit to Jerusalem, where he was taken prisoner, and whence he was conveyed, a prisoner, first to Cesarea, and afterwards to Rome.-See Acts chap. xxi. to the end of the book.

Such are some of the leading incidents in the life of Paul, from the time of his conversion, to that of his first imprisonment at Rome. They agree entirely with the several accounts given of him in the Acts, (chaps. ix. xxii. and xxvi.) and also with that in the first and second chapters of the Epistle to the Galatians. Indeed, I am surprised that an irreconcilable difference in these accounts should ever have been thought of.

My purpose in preparing the foregoing article is now accomplished. I have designed it as a brief reply to the objection so frequently and confidently urged, that all Scripture cannot have been given by inspiration of God, because it contains so many blunders and contradictions, and is, in so many places, inconsistent with itself. The more formidable of these alleged inconsistencies I have examined, and endeavored to remove; with what success it does not become me to say. This I leave to the decision of intelligent readers. I can only say, that the effect upon my own mind has been to deepen the impression, as to the wonderful har