Matt. xxviii. Mark xvi. Luke xxiv. John xx, xxi. 1 Cor. xv. 4-8. absolute harmony of separate accounts would have been almost impossible. Thirdly as a matter of fact, we do have five separate accounts, each narrator having his own special purpose in view, and neither of them undertaking to give a complete recital; no wonder then that the narratives are in respect to minor details quite different; for so would be the sketches of Mount Washington taken from Conway and Gorham and Jefferson and Bethlehem and Franconia. Fourthly: the very diversity of these narratives is a sign of their truthfulness: forgers would have taken pains to seem consistent. Put five veracious witnesses on the stand to testify to a long and complex transaction; how different and apparently conflicting their testimonies will be touching minor details; their testimonies will be discrepant just because the testifiers are truthful, each testifying from his own view-point; yet under the seeming contradiction there will be real harmony; it is the diversity of tones which makes the gamut a melody. May the Risen Lord honor this book by making it the means of beholding Him in blessed, eternal Epiphany! THE ENTOMBMENT OF JESUS CHRIST. He made His grave with the wicked, And with the rich in His death. ISAIAH, liii. 9. |