al years; there was
no doubt of their being dead; and nevertheless they appeared and bore
testimony to the resurrection of the Saviour.

When Jeremiah appeared to Judas Maccabaeus,[455] and placed in his hand
a golden sword, saying to him, "Receive this sword as a gift from God,
with which you will vanquish the enemies of my people of Israel;" it
was apparently this prophet in his own person who appeared to him and
made him that present, since by his mien he was recognized as the
prophet Jeremiah.

I do not speak of those persons who were really restored to life by a
miracle, as the son of the widow of Shunem resuscitated by Elijah; nor
of the dead man who, on touching the coffin of the same prophet, rose
upon his feet and revived; nor of Lazarus, to whom Jesus Christ
restored life in a way so miraculous and striking. Those persons
lived, drank, ate, and conversed with mankind, after, as before their
death and resurrection.

It is not of such persons that we now speak. I speak, for instance, of
Pierre resuscitated by Stanislaus for a few hours; of those persons of
whom I made mention in the treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits, who
appeared, spoke, and revealed hidden things, and whose resurrection
was but momentary, and only to manifest the power of God, in order to
bear witness to truth and innocence, or to maintain the credit of the
church against obstinate heretics, as we read in various instances.

St. Martin, being newly made Archbishop of Tours, conceived some
suspicions against an altar which the bishops his predecessors had
erected to a pretended martyr, of whom they knew neither the name nor
the history, and of whom none of the priests or ministers of the
chapel could give any certain account. He abstained for some time from
going to this spot, which was not far from the city; but one day he
repaired thither accompanied by a few monks, and having prayed, he
besought God to let him know who it was that was interred there. He
then perceived on his left a hideous and dirty-looking apparition; and
having commanded it to tell him who he was, the spectre declared his
name, and confessed to him that he was a robber, who had been put to
death for his crimes and acts of violence, and that he had nothing in
common with the martyrs. Those who were present heard distinctly what
he said, but saw no one. St. Martin had the tomb overthrown, and cured
the ignorant people of their superstitions.

The philosopher Celsus