Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 171
HUGO TOLL, chief physician at the Deaconess Institute. Ersta, Sweden, born 1858, died 1943, made a detailed study of the question of whether Jesus actually died on the cross, in his book “Dog Jesus pa korset?” ("Did Jesus Die on the Cross?") (Wahlstrom & Widstrand, two editions, 1928). . Toll attempts to present the extensive research on the life of Jesus which followed the critical break-through of biblical history during the 19th century. He also makes an attempt to enter the discussions on the reliability of the four Gospels as testimony, but considers himself unable to take a definite stand for or against the essentially contradictory opinions on this subject held by theologians of different schools. He finds it justifiable, rather, to base his opinions on all four of them, as they appear in the new Swedish translation, as in his view (and also it seems in that of modern theological and historical authorities) there are many probable reasons for assuming that most of the facts presented in the Gospels concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus are essentially reliable. He gains support from the works of Bousset, Harnack and Fries. Toll is not blind to the contradictions between the Gospels, but he regards these rather as evidence, if only indirect, of the authenticity of the accounts. It is clear, he says, that at least there is no conspiracy in the presentation. And he continues: To prove beyond doubt the correctness of the given facts is naturally impossible in most cases, and any conclusions based upon them will therefore always be uncertain. But when there is nothing to contradict a related fact, then arguments of probability have to prevail. The accounts are simple and ingenuous and show no signs at all of being “improved. " And clearly there was no need to invent incidents. The ones at hand were sufficiently full of significance to form a basis for the faith of the disciples - which for the world of that time was highly explicable, but which now seems fantastic. Just as we can well understand now how the first Christians could draw their conclusions from the related events, so do we at present do nothing more than 176