resurrection story in the Gospels has served as the conclusive proof
both of the divine sonship of Jesus,[42] and of our own resurrection to
immortality.[43] In the churches it is still popularly regarded as the
supreme, sufficient, and indispensable fact required for the basis of
faith. But in many a Christian mind the thought has dawned, that a
single fact cannot give adequate ground for the general inference of a
universal principle; that a remote historical fact, however strongly
attested, can evince only what _has_ taken place in a given case, not
what _will_ or _must_ occur in other cases; while it is also inevitably
more or less pursued by critical doubt of the attestations supporting
it.

This rising tide of reflection has compelled resort to higher ground, to
the inward evidences in the nature of mind that are more secure from the
doubt to which all that is merely external and historical is exposed. A
clear distinction has been discerned between the _real_ resurrection of
Jesus--his rising from the mortal state into the immortal, and his
_phenomenal_ resurrection--the manifestations of his change that are
related as having been objectively witnessed. What took place in the
invisible world--his real resurrection--is now more emphasized by
Christian thinkers than the phenomenal resurrection in the visible
world. So conservatively orthodox a writer as Dr. G. D. Boardman goes so
far as to say: "After all, the real question in the matter of his
resurrection is not, 'Did Christ's body rise?' That is but a
subordinate, incidental issue." The real question, as Dr. Boardman
admits, is, "Whether Jesus Christ himself is risen, and is alive
to-day."[44] The main stress of Christian thought to-day is not laid, as
formerly, on the phenomena recorded in the story of the resurrection,
but on the psychological, moral, and rational evidences of a
resurrection to immortality that until recent times were comparatively
disregarded.[45] Meanwhile the vindication of the reality of the
phenomena related of the risen Jesus, including his bodily ascension,
though not a matter of indifference to many of those who have found the
higher grounds of faith, has become to them of subordinate importance.

It is well for Christian faith that its supersensuous and impregnable
grounds have been occupied. It is certain that ancient records of
external phenomena cannot in future constitute, as heretofore, the
stronghold of faith. But it is by no m