After our Lord had completed the work of redemption by His death upon the cross, He rose victorious from the grave, and to those who through faith in Him should become members of His body, He became 'the prince of life.' Since this event, however, independently of its importance in respect to the internal connection of the Christian doctrine, was manifestly a miraculous occurrence, the credibility of the narrative has been denied by some, while others who have admitted the facts as recorded to be beyond dispute, yet have attempted to show that Christ was not really dead; but that, being stunned and palsied, he wore for a time the appearance of death, and was afterwards restored to consciousness by the cool grave and the spices.
Objections of this nature do not require notice here; but a few words upon the apparent discrepancies of the Gospel narratives will not be misplaced. These discrepancies were early perceived; and various writers have commented on them with the view of throwing uncertainty and doubt over the whole of this portion of Gospel history. A numerous host of theologians, however, rose to combat and refute these objections; among others Griesbach, who remarks that all the discrepancies are trifling, and not of such moment as to render the narrative uncertain and suspected, or to destroy or even diminish the credibility of the Evangelists; but rather serve to show how extremely studious they were of truth, 'and how closely and even scrupulously they followed their documents.'