Chapter 35. DEATH AND BURIAL. On the way to Calvary.-The Lord's address to the daughters of Jerusalem. Chapter 36. IN THE REALM OF DISEMBODIED SPIRITS. 652-669 Actuality of the Lord's death.-Condition of spirits between death and resur- Chapter 37. THE RESURRECTION AND THE ASCENSION. 670-677 Christ is risen.-The women at the sepulchre.-Angelic communications.- Chapter 38. THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY. Matthias ordained to the apostleship.-Bestowal of the Holy Ghost at Pente- Chapter 39. MINISTRY OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. The Lord's death signalized by great calamities on western continent.-The Chapter 40. THE LONG NIGHT OF APOSTASY. 721-744 The great falling away as predicted.—Individual apostasy from the Church.- CONTENTS. Chapter 41. PERSONAL MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD THE ETERNAL FATHER xi A new dispensation.-Joseph Smith's perplexity over sectarian strife.-The Chapter 42. JESUS THE CHRIST TO RETURN. Ancient predictions of the Lord's second advent.-Modern revelation affirms Index 780-793 794-804 JESUS THE CHRIST CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION. It is a matter of history that, at or near the beginning of what has since come to be known as the Christian era, the Man Jesus, surnamed the Christ, was born in Bethlehem of Judea. The principal data as to His birth, life, and death are so well attested as to be reasonably indisputable; they are facts of record, and are accepted as essentially authentic by the civilized world at large. True, there are diversities of deduction based on alleged discrepancies in the records of the past as to circumstantial details; but such differences are of strictly minor importance, for none of them nor all taken together cast a shadow of rational doubt upon the historicity of the earthly existence of the Man known in literature as Jesus of Nazareth. As to who and what He was there are dissensions of grave moment dividing the opinions of men; and this divergence of conception and belief is most pronounced upon those matters to which the greatest importance attaches. The solemn testimonies of millions dead and of millions living unite in proclaiming Him as divine, the Son of the Living God, the Redeemer and Savior of the human race, the Eternal Judge of the souls of men, the Chosen and Anointed a As to the year of Christ's birth, see chapter 8. I of the Father-in short, the Christ. Others there are who deny His Godhood while extolling the transcendent qualities of His unparalleled and unapproachable Manhood. To the student of history this Man among men stands first, foremost, and alone, as a directing personality in the world's progression. Mankind has never produced a leader to rank with Him. Regarded solely as a historic personage He is unique. Judged by the standard of human estimation, Jesus of Nazareth is supreme among men by reason of the excellence of His personal character, the simplicity, beauty, and genuine worth of His precepts, and the influence of His example and doctrines in the advancement of the race. To these distinguishing characteristics of surpassing greatness the devout Christian soul adds an attribute that far exceeds the sum of all the others—the divinity of Christ's origin and the eternal reality of His status as Lord and God. Christian and unbeliever alike acknowledge His supremacy as a Man, and respect the epoch-making significance of His birth. Christ was born in the meridian of time; and His life on earth marked at once the culmination of the past and the inauguration of an era distinctive in human hope, endeavor, and achievement. His advent determined a new order in the reckoning of the years; and by common consent the centuries antedating His birth have been counted backward from the pivotal event and are designated accordingly. The rise and fall of dynasties, the birth and dissolution of nations, all the cycles of history as to war and peace, as to prosperity and adversity, as to health and pestilence, seasons of plenty and of famine, the awful happenings of earthquake and storm, the triumphs of invention and discovery, the epochs of man's development in godliness and the long periods of his dwindling in unbelief-all the occurrences that make history-are chronicled throughout Christendom by reference to the year before or after the birth of Jesus Christ. b See chapter 8. |