§ 1. Their Nature. Meaning and Usage of the Word.
The word miracle is derived from miror, to wonder, and there- fore signifies that which excites wonder. In this etymological sense of the word it may be used to designate any extraordinary event adapted to excite surprise and rouse attention. The words used in the Bible in reference to miraculous events do not inform us of their nature. The most common of these are, (1.) wb?., something separated, or singular. (2.) ms, signum, portentum., something designed to confirm. (3.) riji^ (of uncertain derivation), used in the sense of tuVo?, of persons and things held up as a warning, and for remarkable events confirming the authority of prophets. (4.) ^"^^2?? power, used for any extraordinary manifestation of divine power. (5.) " Works of the Lord." Ip most cases these terms express the design, rather than the nature of the events to which they are applied.
Such being the indefinite meaning of these Scriptural terms, it is not surprising that the word miracle was used in the Church in a very loose sense. Anything wonderful, anything for which the proximate cause could not be discovered, and anything in which divine agency was specially indicated was called a mir'^cle. Thus Luther says, "Conversion is the greatest of all miracles." "Every day," he says, " witnesses miracle after miracle ; that any village adheres to the Gospel when a hundred thousand devils are arrayed against it, or that the truth is maintained in this wicked w.>rld, is a continued miracle to which healing the sick or raising the dead is a mere trifle." As neither the etymology nor the usage of the word leads to a definite idea of the nature of a miracle, we can attain that idea only by the examination of some confessedly mirac- ulous event.
Definition of a Miracle. According to the "Westminster Confession," "God, in ordinary providence making use of means, yet is free to work without, above,
618 PART I. -THEOLOGY. [Ch. XH. — Miracles.
or against them at pleasure." In the fii'st place, there are events therefore due to the ordinary operations of second causes, as upheld and guided by God. To this class belong the common processes of nature ; tlie growth of plants and animals, the orderly move- ments of the heavenly bodies ; and the more unusual occurrences, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and violent agitations and revolu- tions in human societies. In the second place, there are events due to the influences of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of men, such as regeneration, sanctification, spiritual illumination, etc. Thirdly, there are events which belong to neither of these classes, and whose distinguishing characteristics are. First, that they take place in the external world, i. e., in the sphere of the observation of the senses ; and Secondly, that they are produced or caused by the simple volition of God, without the intervention of any subor- dinate cause. To this class belongs the original act of creation, in which all cooperation of second causes was impossible. To the .same class belong all events truly miraculous. A miracle, there- j\ fore, may be defined to be an event, in the external world, brought I labout by the immediate efficiency, or simple volition of God.
An examination of any of the great miracles recorded in Scrip- ture will establish the correctness of this definition. The raising of Lazarus from the dead may be taken as an example. This was an event which occurred in the outward world ; one which could be seen and verified by the testimonyof the senses. It was not brought about either in whole or in part by the efficiency of natural causes. It was due to the simple word, or volition, or immediate agency of God. The same may be said of the restoration to life of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, on Christ's pronouncing the words, Talitha cumi; and of his healing the lepers by a word. So when Christ walked upon the sea, when He multiplied the loaves and fishes, when He calmed the winds and the waves by a command ; any cooperation of physical causes is not only ignored, but, by clearest intimation, denied.
Objections to this Definition of a Miracle. It is oVjected to this definition of a miracle that it assumes that the laws of nature may be violated or set aside. To this many theologians and men of science object, and declare that it is im- possible. If the law of nature be the will of God, that of course cannot be set aside, much less directly violated. This is Augustine's objection, who asks, " Quomodo est contra naturam, quod Dei fit voluntate cum voluntas tanti utique conditoris conditae rei cujus-