For instance, I make no doubt, for the reasons above
stated, but that the resurrection of the Founder of the religion was
always a part of the Christian story. Nor can a doubt of this remain
upon the mind of any one who reflects that the resurrection is, in some
form or other, asserted, referred to, or assumed, in every Christian
writing, of every description which hath come down to us.
And if our evidence stopped here, we should have a strong case to offer:
for we should have to allege, that in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a
certain number of persons set about an attempt of establishing a new
religion in the world: in the prosecution of which purpose, they
voluntarily encountered great dangers, undertook great labours,
sustained great sufferings, all for a miraculous story, which they
published wherever they came; and that the resurrection of a dead man,
whom during his life they had followed and accompanied, was a constant
part of this story. I know nothing in the above statement which can,
with any appearance of reason, be disputed; and I know nothing, in the
history of the human species, similar to it.
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