"It is somewhat remarkable," says Gibbon, the historian, from whom we take the above, "that the prelate of the first Eastern Church, however anxious for the conversion of his friend, thought proper to _decline_ this fair and reasonable challenge."[231:1] This Christian _saint_, Irenæus, had invented many stories of others being raised from the dead, for the purpose of attempting to strengthen the belief in the resurrection of Jesus. In the words of the Rev. Jeremiah Jones: "Such _pious frauds_ were very common among Christians even in the first three centuries; and a forgery of this nature, with the view above-mentioned, _seems natural and probable_." One of these "_pious frauds_" is the "_Gospel of Nicodemus the Disciple, concerning the Sufferings and Resurrection of our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ_." Although attributed to Nicodemus, a disciple of Jesus, it has been shown to be a forgery, written towards the close of the second century--during the time of _Irenæus_, the well-known pious forger. In this book we find the following: "And now hear me a little. We all know the blessed Simeon, the high-priest, who took Jesus when an infant into his arms in the temple. This same Simeon had two sons of his own, _and we were all present at their death and funeral_. Go therefore and see their _tombs_, for these are open, _and they are risen_; and behold, they are in the city of Arimathæa, spending their time together in offices of devotion."[231:2] The purpose of this story is very evident. Some "zealous believer," observing the appeals for proof of the resurrection, wishing to make it appear that resurrections from the dead were common occurrences, invented this story _towards the close of the second century_, and fathered it upon Nicodemus. We shall speak, anon, more fully on the subject of the frauds of the early Christians, the "lying and deceiving _for the cause of Christ_," which is carried on even to the present day. As President Cheney of Bates College has lately remarked, "_The resurrection is the doctrine of Christianity and the foundation of the entire system_,"[232:1] but outside of the four spurious gospels this greatest of all recorded miracles is hardly mentioned. "We have epistles from Peter, James, John, and Jude--all of whom are said by the evangelists to have _seen_ Jesus after he rose from the dead, in none of which epistles is the fact of the resurrection even stated, much less that Jesus was seen by the writer after his resurrection."[232:2] Many of the early Christian sects denied the resurrection of Christ Jesus, but taught that he will rise, when there shall be a general resurrection. No actual representation of the resurrection of the Christian's Saviour has yet been found among the monuments of _early_ Christianity. The earliest representation of this event that has been found is an ivory carving, and belongs to the _fifth or sixth_ century.[232:3] FOOTNOTES: