MIRACLES. 579 lislied only by satisfactory evidence. Faith is not fii'ilulity, and it presents a reasonable de- mand for proofs. The Apostk's ck'arly had no prejudice in favor of the resurrection and ascen- sion of their master. They had everythin<; to lose and nothing to gain, from a worldly point of view, by sticking to their stories. So the Gospel evidence cannot be simply ignored. New Testament criticism, moreover, seems unable to find' any theory by which the miraculous can be entirely eliminated, and the historicity of the Gospels still preserved. Passing from the Gospels to the Kpistles, the great authority in support of the resurrection is held to be Saint Paul, especially I. Cor. xv., the genuineness of which is unchallenged by im- partial criticism. His citation of the manifes- tation of the risen Christ to "above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part re- main unto this day," remains a strong argu- ment. Owing to the proximity of Corinth to the Syrian coast, it could easily have been chal- lenged, but it does not appear that it was. It would follow, then, that within twenty-five years after the Crucifixion there were living over two hundred and fifty persons who had seen t iirist alive after His death at one time and place. The evidence for apostolic miracles, as con- tained esi«?cially in a number of passages of the Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Cdrinthians, is of a kind w'hich, for the special |iiir|iosc for which it was written, is particularly valuable. This evidence, which gains force from being incidental and not didactic, shows (in Sanday's words) that the Apostle "was conscious of the power of working miracles, and that he had actually wrought them ; and it shows that he assumed the existence of the same power in others besides himself, and that he could appeal to it withovit fear of being challenged." The evidential value of miracles does not hold so prominent a place in Christian apologetics as it once did. The tendency today is to put Jesus Christ and His claims to recognition as a Teacher and Saviour in the forefront of the Christian position. He was His own greatest miracle, an evidence of Christianity the force of which can be estimated without special critical train- ing. His miracles were according to the law of His being 'in rational sequence' with the character of His person and mission. Works (?p7a) and powers (SveAfien) were natural to Him, as "the unique manifestations of His unique personality." Hence, we are told that the uniqie revelation of God made in the person of Jesus Christ must be its own evidence. The appeal is made to men to believe in the Christ primarily on moral and spiritual grounds. His miracles are not credentials: they are manifestations of and inseparable from Himself. Belief in His I'crson and character will ultimately lead to a belief in His miracle-working. The fact that miracles are of the very substance of the Gos- pels is but the reflection of the deeper fact that they arc nf the very essence of Christ's manifes- tation of Himself. The apostolic miracles may be viewed from the same standpoint, as the flashing forth after Pentecost of the more glorious divine life when an opening was made for it. They were coupled with and the power to work them was trans- mitted by the "laying on of hands," and it is MIRACLES. widely held that no real miracles have been per- formed since the death of the last of those upon whom the Apostles laid their hands. To take this position, however, is to challenge the genuineness if not to deny the possibility of what are known as 'ecclesiastical' miracles. Some of their advo- cates admit that the great mass of them were a new dispensation, but insist that no strong antc- eeilent improbability can be entertained against such a dispensation, because the Scripture mir- acles had already borne the Iiruut of hostile at- tacks and 'broken the iec' for their successors. It may fairly be said, too, that the claim for the cessation of miracles in .subapostolic days, or, as some hold, after the Church was established by the civil power under Constantine. and, there- fore, did not need supernatural assistance, is but a part of the now generally exploded idea that miracles were given for evidential j)ur|)oses. On the other hand, it is noticeable that during the second and third centuries Christian writers have comparatively little to say about contemporary wonder-working, except in three forms, viz. cur- ing disease, casting out demons, and prophesying. They seem to recognize that the e.Ktensie powers resident in Christ and the Apostles have ceased to operate. But in the fourth century, and on through the Middle -Ages, constant reference is made to miracles of all kinds and full descrip- tions of their occurrence are given. The school- men bent their energies to setting forth the doc- trine of the Church with regard to these records of the supernatural, and reconciling them with what was then believed concerning the world and God. Thomas Aquinas taught that a miracle is something altogether outside the natural order, while Albertus JIagnus held that God has woven the miraculous into the order of nature, as one of its possibilities. Abi'lard freely criticised the accounts of alleged miracles in the age in which he lived, yet he believed that divine power might alter even the nature of things, whence miracles were possible. The Roman Catholic Church has always maintained that the 'spiritual gift' of working miracles (cf. I. Cor. xii. 10) has not ceased, but resides in the Church forever. It does not, however, require a belief in the truth of any particular one of these later miracles, leaving the evidence in the individual case to he the cri- terion. Proof of the power to work miracles is an essential prerequisite to canonization. In conclusion, then, all real miracles may be regarded as sacraments of divine woi-king — 'out- ward and visible signs' of the inner and unbroken unity of the natural and moral kingdoms of the Supreme Love. In this sense they were parts of a great whole — normal and fitting vehicles of a revelation. They were in themselves "the revela- tions of a higher life, the ]n'0])hecics of a new stage in the development of creation." But in them, as in all so-called 'miraculous' manifesta- tions, the moral as well as the historical circum- stances must be fully grasped and clearly pre- sented before a hearty and loyal recognition can be secured. BiBLioGR.iPiiY. For older discussions of the subject, consult: Butler, Analofn/ (London, 1730) ; Hume, Philosophical Esuai/fi Conccrnintj Uuniiin rntlcrxtandinfi (ib., 1748) : Paley, Eritlcnces ( ib., 1794). For modern treatment: Newman, Two Lectures oil Mirarhs. (1) liihlicnl. (2) Ecclesias- licnl fib.. 1S43) : Duke of .rgyll, Itciqn of Lnio (ib., 1866) ; Arnold, Literature and Dogma (ib..
