The School of the Apostles 265 



miraculous in His birth, His life, His death, His 

 resurrection; and to retain Him as the ethical 

 exponent of the mind of God, as the founder and 

 head of the Christian Church, is unscriptural, 

 illogical, and historically immoral. If we 

 know anything for certain,&quot; says Gwatkin, 

 &quot;about Jesus of Nazareth, it is that He steadily 

 claimed to be the Son of God, the Redeemer of 

 mankind, and the ruler of the world to come, 

 and by that claim the Gospel stands or falls.&quot; 



Further, far from being conscious, or uncon- 

 sciotis, participants in a lie, an invention, or a 

 delusion, the Apostles were themselves &quot;con 

 verted&quot; men. &quot;The belief in the resurrection,&quot; 

 writes Bishop Westcott, &quot;was produced in spite 

 of the most complete unreadiness, on the part of 

 the disciples to accept it.&quot; 



Listen to their own testimony: 



St. Matthew &quot;Some doubted.&quot; M 



St. Mark &quot;Disbelieved.&quot; &quot;Neither believed 

 they them.&quot; &quot;He upbraided them with 

 their unbelief and hardness of heart, be- Mark xvi:9-ie 

 cause they believed not them which had 

 seen Him after He was risen.&quot; 



St. Luke &quot;These words appeared in their Lukexxiv . n 



sight as idle talk; and they disbelieved 



them.&quot; 

 St. John &quot;For as yet they knew not the j hnxx:9 



scripture, that He must rise again from 



the dead.&quot; 

 The Apostles were, be it repeated, converted 



