cheenc03a.pdf

RESURRECTION- AND ASCENSION-NARRATNES
understand why, for example, of the disciples at . be hard to raywhy he does not assign the appearance of
Emmaur one is nnmelesr, and of those in Jn. 21 two Jesus at the sepulchre to Peter and the beloved disciple.
are unnamed, or why the appearances to Peter as being both of whom nevrrtheiesr he rrpresrntr as examining
the firit, or that to the 500 as being the most imposing, ' the Since he names only a woman as reshould
not have received deraaled udoinment. Cp, ceiving the appearance he shows himself bound by the
further, 35 ~gc, 25c. which we now find in Mt., in spire of ail
(b) TO help us to realise how ruch a narrative could the comparative freedom with which he departs from it.
come info existence by successive steps, let us take the So also the Coptic account, and the Dtdnshaiia (nMve.
example referred to above-that
the sepulchre.
of the watch set on $5 6, 7 6).
(d) In all the reports hitherto mentioned, however,
A chriifirn who found himrev f , ,he firit Jrius war sen only after, not during, his resurrection.
with the assertion that the diisiplcl had rtolen the body of The possibility of filling up this blank was offered by
Jes~ naturally oppared ir to rheutmorr. ,As, however, ar the the story of the guard at the sepulchre. which on its
sa~nr time (u we mubr su pars if we belleve the ni.rriiriveof
\It, robe unhirrorical) he l%nd'himrelf ullnbie to adduce any
own merits has
5 zq r),
counter-evidence, he would be canitrained to haye recourle to It could in point of fact fill the blank in an (apologeticonjecturez.
iind to zay somkthing like this : ' ThsJews, wemay cally) extremely effective way, inasmuch as it war by
br ~uicr ceriain. raw to the watchirlg of the sepulchre: they
thnt the actual fact of the resurrection was
could very well hsre known rbt Jerur bad pred~ctedh/rising
again far the third day.' A somewhat czrrlerr Chrlrtlan byreceived
the lmpreirion ,hat in ,hex ruggerrionr The timidity which rertiained the ?ther writcis from touching
he listening to not mere c~,,~,c~u~ but rri.temsnr of this incident conrmocd to be st111 operatire wiih hlt. in so
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