[Footnote 267: Date of Acts, and Synoptic Gospels, translated by Wilkinson, 1911, pp. 99, 133, 134. Some writers would place them still earlier. Thus Canon Birks, dates them all between A.D. 42-51, and he gives strong reasons for thinking that St. Luke, and his Gospel, are referred to in 2 Cor. 8. 18. (Horæ Evangelicæ, 1892, edit., pp. 259, 281, 293); and Archdeacon Allen places the second Gospel, about A.D. 44, and the first about A.D. 50. (Introduction to the Books of the New Testament, 1913, p. 13.)] CHAPTER XVII. THAT THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS PROBABLY TRUE. (_A._) ITS IMPORTANCE. The third day, the empty tomb. (_B._) THE NARRATIVES. The various accounts, table of Christ's appearances, the three groups, the double farewell. (_C._) THEIR DIFFICULTIES. (1.) Discrepancies; often due to the appearances being placed together; the disciples going to Galilee. (2.) Omissions; the Gospels only record selected instances, and St. Paul refers to them in groups. (_D._) THEIR TRUTHFULNESS. (1.) Agreements; very important. (2.) Mutual explanations; very numerous. (3.) Signs of early date; very interesting. Conclusion, the narratives appear to be thoroughly trustworthy. We decided in the previous chapters that the Four Gospels, and also the Acts of the Apostles, were _genuine_; that is to say, they were written by the persons to whom they are commonly ascribed. And to these may be added the four great Epistles of St. Paul, and the Revelation of St. John, which, as before said, are admitted to be genuine by critics of all schools. We have thus direct testimony as to the life of Christ, that is to say, the testimony of contemporaries, some of whom must have known Him well. St. Matthew and St. John were two of His Apostles; St. Mark and St. Luke had exceptionally good means of knowing the truth, and may perhaps have had some slight knowledge of Christ themselves, as had also St. Paul.[268] We have now to examine the value of this testimony, more especially as to the _Resurrection of Christ_. So in the present chapter we will consider the _importance_ of the Resurrection, and the _narratives_ we have of it; both as to their _difficulties_, and their _truthfulness_; and in the next the various alternative theories. [Footnote 268: 2 Cor. 5. 16.] (_A._) ITS IMPORTANCE.