(6) Turning to the English versions, we are struck by the confusion occasioned by the indis- criminate use of the word 'miracle.' In AV it often represents arineXov (in the singular in Lk 23', Jn 4=\ Ac 4"^- -^, and in the plural in Jn 2"- -' 3° 6" =« 721 9'" 11" 12", Ac 68 8« 15'=, Rev 13" 16'« 19=°) : in these passages RV rightly substitutes ' sign ' except in the text of Lk 23*, Ac 4"--=, where ' miracle ' is with some inconsistency retained. Again, in AV 'miracle' represents SiWjais in Mk 939^ Ac 2=2 8" 19", 1 Co 12"'- •-«'•, Gal 3», He 2*, while in these passages there is an unfortunate confusion even in theRV text (though RVm gives 'power'), as we find ' mighty work ' in the first two passages, ' miracle ' in the next five, and ' powers ' in the last ; if ' powers ' was thought somewhat unintelli- gible, ' mighty works ' or ' mighty deeds ' might with a little ingenuity have been used in all these places. The confusion in AV is increased by ariiiiia being translated ' wonders ' in Rev 13'' and 'miracles' in v.", and by Swaixei^ being translated 'mighty deeds' in 2 Co 12"; in Mk &''", AV un- necessarily inserts ' the miracle,' which is not in the Greek. It is a serious misfortune that ' miracle' should be so much used in the AV to represent ariniiov, for the connotation of the English word is exactly what that of the Greek word is not, and it has given the English reader an erroneous idea of the purjjose of the works of our Lord and the dis- ciples ; it was not so much to produce wonder as belief.
40
MIRACLES
MIRACLES
2. Evidence for miracles in the Apostolic Age.
— («) The Gospels axe all full of tlio lui^'lity deeds worked by our Lord, nor is it possible to separate the miraculous from the noiimiriioulous in these histories. The Synoptic Gospels do not profess to be written by eye-witnesses, but the Fourth Gospel does claim to {^ive first-hand testimony (Jn 21^, contirmed by many internal indications), though it was written more than half a century after the events which are recorded. It narrates healings (4..UI. 58 62), giving sight to the blind (9«'-), raising the dead (11"), and several ' miracles of nature' — water made wine (2"), feeding the five thousand (6'"'), walking on the sea (6"), the miraculous draught of fishes (21*) ; also the Resurrection (20. 21 ) and ' many other signs ' (20'"). It is to be noted that in all the Gospels the evidence for ' miracles ' of nature is as strong as that for miracles of heal- ing, and that the evidence of Jn. does not differ in kind from that of the Synoptists. For the evi- dence of the Gospels, reference may be made to Sanday's art. 'Jesus Christ' in HDB ii. 623 f. Though the witness of the Synoptists is not in form at first hand, it still rests on very good authority, and there is excellent reason for believ- ing that the evidence of Mk. is in effect that of St. Peter himself (see DCG ii. 121 f., and, for the autoptiq character of the Second Gospel, ib. 124). Also the first-hand evidence of St. Paul that he himself had the power of working miracles (see below) indirectly gives good testimony to the fact that our Lord worked them, for we can hardly imagine that St. Paul could have thought that he himself had the power from Christ unless his Master also had it. For a classification of the Gospel miracles see DCG ii. 186 ff. (T. H. Wright).
Further, in the Gospels it is recorded that our Lord bade the disciples heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils (Mt 10') ; and that they would have power to do so if only they had faith is implied in 17-°. So in the ap- pendix to Mk. (16"'-) the signs which would follow believers are said to be casting out devils in Christ's name, speaking with new tongues, taking up serpents, drinking poison without hurt, and healing the sick by laying on of hands.
(6) We may proceed to consider how these pre- dictions are borne out by the Acts and Epistles. It will be convenient to separate the evidence which is at first hand from that which is at second hand.
(i. ) Under the former head will come those mighty deeds and outward charismata which are attested by those who claimed to see, or to do, or to possess them. In the ' we ' sections of Acts (accounts of events in which the author took part) and in St. Paul's Epistles we read of several mighty works, prophecies, and visions, attested at first hand. In Ac 16'* the Python is cast out of the ventriloquist girl ; in 16-* there is an earthquake, the doors of the prisons are opened, and the prisoners' bonds are loosed ; in 20" we read of the raising of Eutychus (J.U.), though it is not said that he was dead (the reverse seems to be implied in v.'"); in 21* of the prophesying of Philip's daughters ; in 21" of the prophecy of Agabus ; in 28^ of St. Paul's shaking off the viper without hurt (cf. ' Mk ' 16'* as above) ; and in 28°'- of the healing of Publius' father by St. Paul by the laying on of hands ; and of the healing of others, in which St. Luke himself seems to have taken part (see v.'": 'honoured us'). Further, the narratives in Ac 9^"'- 22S^- 2B'-"'- of the appear- ances of our Lord to St. Paul at his conversion are brought almost to the level of first-hand evi- dence by the corroboration of Gal 1'"". St. Paul claimed that Christ worked miracles through him (Ro 15'«-, 2 Co 12'2), and testifies to the fact that some (not all) of his converts also had the power I