PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 6
John McClintock & James Strong · 1,371,720 words · 1335 reading sections
Section 421
No^v antecedently there is no reason why God might not have made natural religion much more mightj' and availing. As it is, nothing is more powerless in itself, though useful as an ally to revelation. Religion or no religion means revelation or no revelation. Iteject rev- elation, and the only reason for not rejecting …
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MIRACLES 310 MIRACLES Even in fairly-civilized communities murder was not a crime to be punished by the state, but to be avenged by the relatives of the murdered man. This even was the state of things among the Jews when the Ten Com- mandments were promulgated, and Closes, by special enactments, modilied and softene…
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But we shall understand their connection better when we have a clearer idea of the true scriptural doctrine of miracles. The current idea of a miracle is that it is a violation of the laws of nature, and as the laws of nature are the laws of God, a miracle would thus signify the violation by God of his own laws. This i…
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His language, as becomes the most thoughtful and philosophic of the Gospels, is deeply significant. He does not use the term Svi'ai.iic,/acultt/, at all, but has two words, one especially his own, namely, tpyov, a woik (yet used once by Matthew, xi, 2, who has so much in common with John) ; the other, the one proper te…
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The word atjjii'iov, sign, tells us in the plainest lan- guage that these works were tokens calling the atten- tion of men to what was then happening ; and espe- MIRACLES 312 MIRACLES cially is it used in the Old Testament of some mark or signal confirming a promise or covenant. Such a sign (or mark) God gave to Ca…
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j The prophets had indeed given some indications of the time, especialh' Daniel (ix, 24-27), and so clear were their words that all the world was expecting the arrival of some mighty being, in whom imtgniis ab in- tegro saclorum nascilur ordo, and an entire transforma- tion of the world shoidd take place. But how, amon…
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The first had performed its office when Christ came. All men were musing in their hearts upon the expected coming of some Great One. His miracles, his u-orks, the products of his poweis, were the signs that prophecy was in course of fulfilment. The two must not be separated. Our Lord expressly declares that but for his…
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Necessarily, therefore, from first to last, the Bible is a book of miracle. Miracle is present not as an acci- dent, separable from the main thread, but is itself the very essence of the narrative. The facts of the Old Testament were the basis of the faith of the Jew. They were so as being iniracks, and because, as suc…
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ations. AN'hose is the law, what power sustains it, how it came into being— all this lies outside the domain of science. Thus science never rises above material things; and by remembering this — by remembering that, after all, the field of science (of course we meau physical science) is limited — we see that an iniluct…
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If, as the instincts of our nature teach us, there be a God; if man be more than a very highly-organized machine ; if within him there be an immortal soul, and before him a future life, then miracle is essential to his well-being. It is the sole possible proof of conscious re- lation between man and God. Man could not …
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In conclusion. Without miracles there can be only natural religion ; revealed religion is impossible. Rev- elation is itself a miracle; and its very object is to tell us things which we could not other^vise know. Such things cannot be verilied as we verify the facts of sci- ence. No man hath or can see God. No man can …
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Dean Trench, in his classificafion of the objectors, l)laces the Jewish first, then follows with tlie heathen (Celsus, etc.), and puts as third in the list the panthe- istic ol)jectors led by Spinoza. He evidently regards Cardan {l>e Cmilnidirtione Medicnnini, 2, tract. 2), and those other Italian atheists who referred…
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served, is a distinction, not in relation to God, but in relation to man. Moreover, even from the human point of view, the miracle is not wrought for a physical, but for a moral purpose; it is not an interposition to adjust the machinery of the material world, but one to pro- mote the spiritual welfare of mankind. The …
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The rationalists, thus encouraged by the mediating theologians, endeavored to explain the miraculous as something natural, while the natural philosophers as- serted that nature transfigured by spirit (the blending of the two in one) is the only true miracle. But thus the reality of the miracle (in the scriptural sense)…
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mythical hypothesis of Strauss is found guilty of the logical absurdity of deducing the premise from the con- clusion : it assumes that men invented an imaginary life of Jesus because they believed him to be the ^les- siah, when the verj- supposition that the life is imagi- nary leaves the belief in the !Messiahship un…
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The alternative lies between accepting that testimony, as it is given, or regarding the Gospels as a fiction, and the Christian faith as founded on imposture. In adopt- ing this argument, we do not, as is sometimes said, rea- son in a circle, employing the character of Christ as a testimony in favor of the miracles, an…
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A question has also been raised whether it is not possible that miracles may be wrought by evil spirits in support of a false doctrine. This question affects Christian evidences simply, and in this line the only question that can practically be raised is whether the Scripture miracles — supposing them not to be pure fa…
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1857 ; Princet. Rev. April, 1856 ; A mer. Theol. Ihr. July, 1861; Christian Remembrancer,iu\y,\ii(j\; (Loud.) (^». Rev. Oct. 1862, p. 242 ; .4 mer. Presb.Rev. April, 1 «(;:!, art. i ; Jan. 1865 ; Brit, and For. Rev. x, 1 1 , 55 ; Bulletin The- ologique, Sept. 1863, p. 137 ; Theol. Eclectic, vol. v. No. 3 ; Westm. Rev. …
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MIRACLES, ECCLESIASTICAL 321 MIRACLES, ECCLESIASTICAL cessation of miracles in his beautiful sermons on the Resurrection and on the Feast of Pentecost (Se?: xxxiii and xxxvi), where he solves the same question— "Why are no signs and miracles intrusted to us now?" — by claiming those higher miracles of grace and inward…
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The reasoning of Dr. JMilner brings us to reconsider the statement made in the early part of this article that " no miraculous events mark the history of the Church after the days of the apostles, if we may depend on the authority of the patristic writers." Romanists fre- quently refer us to what St. Ignatius, who flou…
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Says Dr. Taylor : " Whereas the alleged supernatural occurrences related, or apjjealed to by the earlier Chris- tian writers, are nearly all of an ambiguous kind, and such as may, with little difficulty, be understood with- out either the assumption of miraculous interposition, or the imputation of deliberate fraud, it…
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' There are more things in heaven and enrth Thau are dreamt of in our philosophy' " {Ch. Hist, iii, 463-465). If we institute a direct and careful comparison be- tween the Biblical and the ecclesiastical miracles, we find, besides matter of fact, as to the certainty of the thing and the reasons of credibility, there i…
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mRACLES, ECCLESIASTICAL 324 MIRACLES, ECCLESIASTICAL very many saints, and none of those alleged were them- selves canonized. To St. Bridget, moreover, we may oppose St. Catharine of Sienna, who said that the con- trary doctrine had been revealed to her, as the arch- bishop of Florence relates in the first part of lii…
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Tliough the churches of the Keformation, in their bold appeal "to the law and to the testimony," had treateil the visions and miracles upon which the in- ner power of liome had been built with as little cere- mony as they treate<l the forged decretals on whicU her external jiower liad been carried up in tlie darkness o…
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his letter is given by an exiled minister, bearing the equally suggestive name of Murat. Passing over to Germany, we find that the contagion of new revelations and prophecies had spread itself in the eastern part of the empire at an earlier period in the 17th century. Temporarily with the mystical and hic- roglyphical…
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See, besides, Kliiott; Cramp, Tert-hook of Popery ; Ilodgo, lliriiiily; l-'orsyth, //(////. ii, lot scj. ; Pome in thv VMh Century, i, 40," 8G; ii, ;j:>0; iii, I'M sq. ; Lady Morgan, Italy, ii, 300; iii. 18'.); (Jraliam, Three Months' Residence, etc., p. 241; Jliddleton, Letter from Rome; Southey, Vindici(r Kcclesitc A…
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to turn or bum , , (Helmst. 1671): . --. w -^i ^Xotitia episco- '"^"^'^ patu rn orb is Christiani (Ant- werp, 1613) : — Chronicon Cisterciense (Cologne, 1614) : — Geographia Ecdesiastica: — Codex regidarum et consti- tutionum clericalium: — Origines ccenohinniin JJdinlii'/i- norum, Carthusianoi-um, etc.: — Opera /li…
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a sum of 35,000 francs. The hospital for foundlings was also greatly indebted to her. She died March 24, 1(>9G. See Abbe de C'hoisy, 17e de Madame de Miramhm (Par- is, 170t>, 4to, and 1707, 8vo) ; Saint-Simon, Mimoires; Kichard and (iiraud, Biblintlieque Sucree; Hoefer, Xouv. Biog. Oeneruk, s. v. Sec GEXEVihVii, St., l…
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" Joannes jacet hie Mirandula : eastern nornnt Et Tagus, et Ganges ; forsau et Antipodes." The greater part of his immense fortune he gave over in his last days to his friend, tlie mystical poet Beni- vieni, to be spent by him in works of charity, chiefiy in the sweet charity of providing marriage-do-\\Ties for th…
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qualities are still active, and he himself remains, as one it was communicated in a less direct form than to JIo- alive in the grave, 'ctesiis et vigilibus oculis,' as his : ses. " If there be a prophet among you, I Jehovah will biographer describes him, and witli that sanguine clear make myself known unto him in a v…
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moval, which took place at Hazeroth, form the last pub- lic event of jVIiriam's life. She died towards the close of the wanderings at Kadesh, and was buried there (Numb. XX, 1). B.C. 1G19. Her tomb was sliown near Petra in the days of Jerome (Onomast. s. v. Cades Bar- nea). According to the Jewish tradition (Josephus, …
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'^X 5 n Ancient Mirrors of Bronze. (From the British Museum : 1 to 4, Egyptian ; 5, Assyrian.) lections of Egyptian antiquities. These are of mixed metals, chiefiy copper, most carefully wrought and highly polished; and so admirably did the skiU of the Egyptians succeed in the composition of metals that this substit…
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Mirth, the expression of joy, gayety, merriment, is thus distinguished from its synonym, cheerfulness: Mirth is considered as an act, vhttrfuhass a habit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient; chccr/'xlmss fixed and permanent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the great…
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AvARICK; COVETOISNESS. Miserere (Lat. hare compassion), \hc name of a li- turgic prayer, set to music, and used in Koman Catholic worship. It is a sort of parajihrase on the 51st or 57th Psalm, and is used on penitential occasions, and particu- larly in Passion-week. It is therefore not only set to a regular Gregorian…
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Misericordia Domini is the name of the second Sunday from Easter, so called from the opening lines of the mass read on that day in the Eomish churches. In the Greek Church the day is frequently called St. Thomas's Sunday. Mis'gab (Heb. itfisgah', S^bp, height, as often; Sept. 'Ajua3' to Kparaitofia v. r. MaaiyaB, and …
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The sayings recorded in the Mishna reach back to the times of Simon the Just, a contemporary of Alex- ander the Great; and it expounds also some religious and political usages introduced by Ezra; but the bulk of the book is made up of tlie decisions or opinions of the rival schools of Hillel and Shampiai, who arose at …
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MISHNA 335 MISimA until midnight, the command reaches to dawn, etc.; and whv have they said till midnight? in order to keep man from transgression." The style of the jNIishna is, with very few exceptions, dry and crowded, with not a word to spare ; and the book is written for men who already know the great principl…
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MISHNA 336 MISHNA chal lamb— offered by the individual Jews on the great feasts. iii. The third part of the Mishna is called £"^'^3, -Vw- s)iim. women, and embraces seven treatises. The first of these, rin';', Yebamoth, Levirate (16), discusses the law found in Ueut. xxv, 5-9. Its first section may give a good idea…
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MISHNA 33Y MISHNA these and other rabbins. IMany of them are merely prac- tical rules of life; some address themselves to judges; but more of them exhort to the study of the law, and still more to good works. The future world is much referred to ; and one rabbi Jacob (ch. iv, § 21) says, in the spirit of the early C…
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The principal commentaries on the Mishna are, of course, the Talmuds— Jerusalem and Babylonian : the former covers the whole work, while the latter omits much of the obsolete parts. But the Mishna, or by the more appropriate phrase ni'^2":;?2, in the plural (setting aside the singular form for the single section), is f…
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sons of Apamonaeus [Asamonaci] were the authors of the fourth." So, too, Augustine, writing shortly before the date of the Jerusalem Talmud, says : " liesides the Script- ures of the law and the prophets, the Jews have certain traditions belonging to them, not written, but retained in memory, and handed down from one t…
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Mish'raite (Heb. MishraV, "''J^'O'Q, gentile, used collectively, from some noun Mishra', SldTD, perhaps slippery ; Sept. 'Hfiacrapativ v. r. 'Rfiaaapaifi, Vulg. Maserei, Auth.Vers. " Jlishraites"), an inhabitant of a place called Mishra, alluded to only in 1 Chron. ii, 53, as founded by the descendants of Caleb, and as…
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By subtle queries, invidious remarks, and treacherous insinuations, the slanderer infuses doubt into the mind of one respecting the integrity or the conduct of an- other; and thus he often effects his purpose with more safety than he could by a more open and direct attack. MISRI-EFFENDI 340 MISSA PRiESANCTIFICATORUM …
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rus, landed at Adrianople, and stormed the great mosque in which the sultan, with his court, was at the time at- tending the noon-service. Misri was defeated in his at- tempt, and he was arrested with his ringleaders and car- ried back to Broussa. No other punishment was in- flicted, because Jlisri had gained popular f…
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Leo Allatius, in his tract on this rite (at the end of his work, De Ecd. Occ. et Or. Perpetua Consensione'), names several variations. One is on the point just mentioned : "Alii sustoUebant Prresanctificata. Alii non exaltabant, sed tantum modo tangebant" (151)5). An- other important variation is, " Constantinopolitanu…
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Missal (Lat. Missale plenarium, or simply Plena- rium) is the name given to an office-book of the Roman Catholic Church, containing the liturgy, i. e. all of the MISSAL 342 MISSI DOMIXICI Jitiirgy required for the celebration of the Mass (q. v.) or 3Iissa,viz.the fixed Ordinary (q.v.), and Canon (q.v.), with the ch…
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of missal letters given to a certain kind of large types. The missal of the Oriental rites differs from that of the Roman Church, each having, for the most part, its own proper form. See IIossltius, Obseri-ationes; Pisart, £'a;- jwsitio liitbicarum missalis ; Mohrenius, KrpOs. Missce atque liiibicarum; Iluebner, Ilisto…
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Mission, Inner. See Inner Missions. Mission -Priests is the name by which those priests of Rome are designated who have been educated for mission work at home or abroad. There are certain monastic institutions that greatly aid in this work. In- deed, several monastic orders aim particularly at mis- sionary work, e. g.…
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Missions. True Christianity is essentially mis- sionary in character. Tlie Gospel having been designed for all nations, and its field being the world, it was from the first associated with means for its own extension. In a highly important sense, the Lord Jesus may be considered the first missionary. He was sent by the…
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Next to that of Peter we recognise the prominence of the apostle John, who, after protracted labors among the Jews in Palestine, took up his abode at Epliesus, from which centre he exercised supervision of the churches of Asia Minor till the period of his exile to Patmos, whence he yet speaks to the churches. As to th…
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plication of their numbers and influence, but by the bloody persecutions that were waged against them un- der successive Roman emperors. Owing to various causes there have come down to us but few details of the precise work that was done, or of the modes in ^vhich it was done. It is, however, but reasonable to suppose …
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As it has often been asserted, and indeed extensively believed, that tlie world owes something to monasticism in consideration of certain missionary labors conducted by members of monastic orders, it seems proper to set fortli the true bearing of that subject, from which it will appear that monasticism was, in fact, on…
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In taking a liistorical view, however brief, of the Christian missions of successive ages, it seems desirable to exercise charity in tlie largest degree consistent with truth. And, in fact, great allowance must be made for the ignorance and difliculties of ancient and mediicval times. Nevertheless, in the light of the …
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IV. Medimvul Missions. — It is not to be denied that the medieval period was one of revolution, and there- fore unfavorable to the propagation of true religion ; but it is by no means conceded, as is argued by some Prot- estant writers, including Milman, Guizot, and others of high reputation, that a defective developme…
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"After a while he was constrained to act the part of mediator between the Visigothic nation and the Homan emperor ^'alens. In the year A.D. 374 the barbarous horde of the Huns burst upon the kingdom of the Ostro- goths, and, having subdued it, turned their eyes to the lands and possessions of the Vifigoths. Unable to …
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2. The Conversion of Clovis and the Franks. — In the year 481 Clovis succeeded to the chieftaincy of the Sa- lian Franks. In 493 he married Clotilda, the daughter of the king of Burgundy, who professed Christianity, and sought to persuade her husband to embrace it also; but her efforts for a time were without success. …
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" We have thus sketched the rise of the Frankish monarchy because it has an important connection with the history of Christian missions. Orthodoxy advanced side by side with the Frankish domination. The rude warriors of Clovis, once beyond the local boundaries of their ancestral faith, found themselves in*the presence …
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'* Patrick being acipiainted with the language and customs of the Irish peoi)lo, as a consequence of his early captivity, gathered them about him in large assemblies at the beat of a kettle-drum, and told the story of Christ so as to move their hearts. Having taught them to read, he encouraged the importation of usefu…
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land, along the eastern coast to the Thames, and to the European continent. Columbanus entered on his mis- sion to the partially Christianized, but more especially to the pagan portions of Europe, in the year 589. That he was an evangelical missionan,^ may be confidently inferred from the tenor of his life, and from th…
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4. Similar in interest, though varied in detail, are the stories of Augustine's mission to England, A.D. 596; that of Boniface to Germany, A.D. 715; and that of Anksgar to Scandinavia, A.D. 826 ; together with that of many of their associates and successors. Nor were the missions among the Sclavonic races during the 9t…
933 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.