relates the appearance itself, and if Mark does not do so, the probability is, that it arose from his being prevented finishing his gospel. John omits, it is true, or rather he assumes as known, what is written by the other evangelists, but we actually find in his twenty-first chapter, the disciples assembled with Jesus at the lake of Tiberias. The silence and ignorance of Luke upon this subject are the more extraordinary, as even Paul, whose travelling companion he so long was, certainly alludes to this appearance, 1 Corinth. xv. 6, an appearance the most convincing, because more than five hundred brethren saw the Lord. We can scarcely account for his silence, except by supposing Luke to have written his gospel before he became the travelling companion of Paul, (or at least, that he did not write by the dictation of Paul,) and, having found no mention made of this appearance in the existing biography of Jesus, of the truth or inaccuracy of which he could only satisfy himself through the medium of others, not to have inquired about, and consequently to have omitted it. If any one can give a better explanation of this extraordinary omission, it will give me great pleasure.

JOHN XX. 19-23.

19." Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20. " And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

21. "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Futher has sent me, even so send I you.

22. "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

23. "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained."

19." Then the same day at evening."] It has surprised many readers, that John should reckon the evening which followed the Sunday, into the Sunday, or the same day, on which Jesus rose from the dead, when, with the Jews, the day ceased on the setting of the sun.

But

in the first place, we must remember that

John writes at Ephesus, and therefore may fairly be presumed to follow the Greek mode of calculation, in order to be more generally understood; and in the second place, even amongst the Hebrews, the succeeding evening is reckoned as belonging to the one immediately preceding, whenever it relates to supper or to feasts, precisely because the supper naturally belongs to the preceding day: thus, for instance, in the law of the Paschal Lamb, Exodus xii. 6, 8, 18; in the laws respecting the eating of the Peace Offerings, Leviticus vii. 15; and upon Fast Days, Leviticus xxiii. 32.

66

When the doors were shut for fear of the Jews." It has been a source of conjecture with some, why there should be here more than one door. We know from our common experience that most rooms have two, if not more doors. But, according to the Hebrew method of building, there was generally a separate room in the upper part, and to which the Acts of the Apostles i. 13, refer. This room, which was called alija, had at least two doors, one towards the house, which was generally kept shut, the second looking towards a private staircase, which was separated from the house and went directly to the street, where was another door;

room through

therefore the alija, when perfectly shut, had four doors, the two towards the house and towards the private staircase, the street door of the house, and the street door of the private staircase. This explanation is unnecessary to readers who believe a room may have commonly more doors than one. The meaning is not, that Christ entered the doors that were positively closed, or through the fine imperceivable interstices of the wood, although subsequent to the resurrection he had a spiritual, or as others will have it, an ethereal body; for he himself declares, Luke xxiv. 39, that his body is composed of flesh and bone, and commands his disciples to ascertain the fact, by touching him. According to John xx. 27, he had eight days afterwards a completely visible body, and he calls upon Thomas to touch and to examine him. The ridiculous power which some have ascribed to Christ, of his passing through the invisible interstices of the doors, is contrary to Christ's own words, and would make him out a wilful deceiver; so great is the absurdity of overstrained interpretations. It is still more ridiculous, when others assume it as an argument in favour of the omnipresence of the body of Christ, and suppose

him to have been already in the room, and that no doors presented an obstacle to his entrance. They forget that John says, "he came," and that, according to their own doctrine, which they may not have rightly understood, the omnipresence of the person of Christ begins with the ascension, and this took place thirty-nine days before the ascension. Besides, a body that is every where present, cannot be visible to the eyes, or palpable to the touch. It is melancholy that the Bible should be subjected to such illustrations! The case itself is nothing more than this: the doors, which were shut, were opened by Jesus without noise, I admit miraculously; he enters the room unperceived and unseen; (but this is no miracle, for the minds of the disciples were too much occupied to attend to more than one subject;) he stands before them unperceived, and when he is in the midst of them he addresses them, "Peace be with you." I consider the opening of the closed doors to be a miracle, and his entering the room unperceived, and standing in the midst of them may be a miracle also, but it does not a require a miracle to explain it. About ten years ago (1773) there was a case something like this in our university of Gottingen, and in large cities it