Magdalene, taken by her for the
gardener; appearing _in another form_, and not known by the
two disciples going with him to Emmaus and at supper with him
there; not known by His most intimate apostles on the borders
of the Sea of Galilee; and presently, out of these vague
beginnings, the recognitions getting asserted, then the ocular
demonstrations, the final commissions, the ascension; one
hardly knows which of the two to call the most evident here,
the perfect simplicity and good faith of the narrators, or
the plainness with which they themselves really say to us
_Behold a legend growing under your eyes!_

Behold a legend growing under your eyes! Now, when we have to consider
a miracle-story or a legend, it behoves us to look, if that be possible,
into the times in which that legend is placed. What was the "time
spirit" in the day when this legend arose? What was the attitude of
the general mind towards the miraculous? To what stage of knowledge and
science had those who created or accepted the myth attained? These are
points that will help us signally in any attempt to understand such a
story as the Gospel story of the Resurrection.

THE TIME SPIRIT IN THE FIRST CENTURY

A story emanating from a superstitious and unscientific people would be
received with more doubt than a story emanating from people possessing a
knowledge of science, and not prone to accept stories of the marvellous
without strict and full investigation.

A miracle story from an Arab of the Soudan would be received with a
smile; a statement of some occult mystery made by a Huxley or a Darwin
would be accorded a respectful hearing and a serious criticism.

Now, the accounts of the Resurrection in the Gospels belong to the
less credible form of statement. They emanated from a credulous and
superstitious people in an unscientific age and country.

The Jews in the days of which the Gospels are supposed to tell, and the
Jews of Old Testament times, were unscientific and superstitious people,
who believed in sorcery, in witches, in demons and angels, and in all
manner of miracles and supernatural agents. We have only to read the
Scriptures to see that it was so. But I shall quote here, in support
of my assertion, the opinions taken by the author of _Supernatural
Religion_ from the works of Dean Milman and Dr. Lightfoot. In his
_History of Christianity_ Dean Milman speaks of the Jews as follo