ears that were deaf; imparted health and strength to the sick and infirm, and inspired the dead with the energies of returning life. All these things he did as surely as he was sent of God, and the truth of Heaven was in him. And while every wonder-working impostor has performed his pretended miracles in secret, or in the presence of his deluded followers, Jesus wrought his wonderful works in the open light of day, and in the midst of his crafty and eagle-eyed foes. He sought no concealment from public scrutiny. And so notorious were his miracles that even his adversaries could not deny them. Men who had been healed of their maladies, or delivered from the dominion of death, stood boldly forth among the people as living witnesses of the divine power of Immanuel. Knowing that a denial of his works would avail nothing, the only subterfuge of his enemies was to attribute his mighty deeds to the strange agency of a malignant spirit! But their cunning devices all failed; and so irresistibly convincing was the evidence of truth furnished by miracles, that "a great company of the priests" themselves became obedient to the faith of the gospel.3

There are many persons, however, who profess to admire the morality of the Christian system, and to cherish sentiments of the highest veneration for its illustrious Founder, who nevertheless deny that our Lord possessed and exercised any truly miraculous power. This denial seems to be predicated of different reasons. The earliest enemies of the Cross made short work of the whole mat. ter, and alleged that Jesus was in close league with the prince of devils, and cast out demons through his agency. Others have rashly rejected the belief of miracles, because they never knew nor sought to understand the evidences by which the miracles of the New Testament are sup ported. And still others have attempted to oppose their own philosophy to the fundamental truths of Christianity, and in the foolishness of their own wisdom they have pronounced the belief of miracles unreasonable and absurd, and even declared that a miracle is an utter impossibility! This latter class is perhaps the most numerous at the present day. Most men desire to be considered philoso

3 Acts, vi. 7.

phers; and any species of skepticism bearing the imposing name of philosophy, is sure to find adherents both. among men of learning and those to whom a little learning has proved a dangerous thing.

But it seems to us that persons who reject faith in the miracles recorded in the New Testament, on the ground that such faith is unreasonable, do not thereby establish any just claims to superior wisdom. We are quite inclined to think that their skepticism mainly originates in an entire misapprehension of the whole matter. What is a miracle? It is important that we should clearly understand the term in question, that we may know just what it is about which we are disputing. Perhaps a right apprehension of the subject in debate would go far towards removing differences by which we seem to be separated from one another, and show that the contest, in many instances at least, has been blindly and ignorantly waged. Such we believe to be the fact. We therefore desire, in some small way to aid in the proper elucidation of the subject in hand.

What then is a miracle? Shall we be told that it means any wonderful work above human comprehension ? If this be the true definition, may we not at once urge the question, Does reason limit the belief of the human mind to that which we can comprehend? Surely, we all believe many things which we have no power to understand. The circulation of the blood in the human system is a truly wonderful fact; and the suspension of our mental faculties during sleep is utterly incomprehensible. We are believers in the infinity of space, and we are wont to consider such belief as compatible with right reason. But no human philosophy pretends to understand what is meant by space stretched out on all sides without bounds. And we all believe that the human race had a beginning. But not one of us can understand how the first man was moulded into form and inspired with life. Concerning these things we are as ignorant as the worms of the dust. And yet reason allows us to believe that space is infinite, and that the human race must have begun to exist.

From these and many other considerations that will readily suggest themselves to the mind of the reader, it

follows, that if a miracle means some marvellous work above human comprehension, all men of every variety of faith must believe in miracles. And surely reason does not require that we should repudiate the miracles of Christ, because of our inability to understand them, and at the same time compel us to believe many other things which no man pretends to understand.

But it is quite probable that the definition thus given is not satisfactory to all parties. Perhaps the most formidable philosophical opposer would choose to express his views after the following manner: "My definition of a miracle is far different from that which you have stated. I readily admit that we may reasonably believe many things which we cannot understand. But I conceive a miracle to mean some wonderful work performed in violation of the established laws of nature. I believe that seed cast into the earth and warmed by the sun and moistened by the rains of heaven, will vegetate, and in due time produce a harvest. I cannot explain precisely how it is that grain germinates in the earth; but I still know what effects are produced upon it by nature, operating according to fixed and uniform laws. But I do not believe that five small loaves and a few little fishes could be made to satisfy the hunger of five thousand people; or that water, without any foreign mixture, could be instantly converted into wine. I hold that no effect can be produced contrary to the laws of nature. And I am therefore compelled, as a reasonable man, to withhold belief in all miracles, not excepting those said to have been wrought by the Son of God."

Such is the definition commonly given of a miracle; and such we believe is the reasoning of most skeptics on this subject. David Hume, the distinguished historian and philosopher, says: "A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined." And again he says: "A miracle may be accurately defined, a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition

4 Hume's Essays, Vol. ii. p. 122.

of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent." 5 Gibbon, also, in speaking of the causes that accelerated the diffusion of Christianity in the early ages, and finally led to the overthrow of the Roman Empire, and the triumphant establishment of the Christian church, says: "The supernatural gifts which even in this life were ascribed to the Christians above the rest of mankind, must have conduced to their own comfort, and very frequently to the conviction of infidels. Besides the occasional prodigies, which might sometimes be effected by the immediate interposition of the Deity, when he suspended the laws of nature for the service of religion, the Christian church, from the time of the apostles and their disciples, has claimed an uninterrupted succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, and of prophecy, the power of expelling demons, of healing the sick, and of raising the dead." The same author still further says: "During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and of their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, demons were expelled, and the laws of nature were frequently suspended for the benefit of the church." Nor is this definition of a miracle confined to those whose minds have been unhappily affected with the spirit of skepticism, as was the case in regard to both Hume and Gibbon. But many Christian men have inju diciously, as we believe, sanctioned this definition of a miracle. Calmet says: "Miracle, a sign, wonder, prodigy. These terms are commonly used in Scripture to denote an action, event, or effect, superior (or contrary) to the general and established laws of nature." Buck tells us that a "miracle, in its original sense, is a word of the same import with wonder; but in its usual and more appropriate signification, it denotes an effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a sensible deviation from the known laws of nature." these may be added the statement of Horne, in the follow. ing words: "A miracle is an effect or event contrary to the established constitution or course of things, or a sensi

5 Note, K.

Rome, Vol. i. p. 264.

7 p. 288.

To

ble suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature, wrought either by the immediate act, or by the assistance, or by the permission of God, and accompanied with a previous notice or declaration that it is performed according to the purpose and by the power of God, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the authority or divine mission of some particular person." 8

Now, in view of such authorities it may be thought somewhat presumptuous for the writer to raise any doubts touching the correctness of the definition thus given of a miracle. But even at the risk of incurring this charge, we would beg leave to ask, how does any man know that a miracle, which in its original sense means simply a wonder, signifies an action or effect contrary to the estab lished constitution of things, and in violation of the laws of nature? Do the Scriptures so much as intimate that our Lord founded his religion on earth, and attested its truth among men, by infractions of the great laws which govern the universe? And were the things recorded by the Evangelists written that we might believe that Jesus repeatedly violated the statutes of nature's God? Surely we can find no Scripture authority for any such belief; and we must be allowed most seriously to question the correctness of this definition of a miracle.

It would not be strange if we should greatly err with reference to the subject in hand. We desire to speak with becoming modesty. But we must still claim the right freely to express our honest conviction that every wonderful work that our Saviour performed on earth, was wrought in strict conformity to the established constitution of things, and by means of the proper operations of the laws of nature, which are the laws of God. We believe, indeed, that all his miracles were provided for by the great Ruler of the universe, with the same unerring cer tainty that provisions were at first made for the perpetuity of seed-time and harvest. But it was not consistent with the divine plan that the marvellous works performed by our Lord, and in his name, should frequently occur, and thus entirely lose their wonderful character. They were wrought at particular times, and for specific pur

Introduction, Vol. i. p. 93.

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