RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Miracles
is not concerned with historic events, natural phenomena, or Biblical cosmology. The investigator must pass thus from the Bible to im- 4. Theory mediate religious experience where, and Proof through the preaching of the Word, of Miracles, the Christian experiences a non-naturalistic power of an almighty will which, continuing and ever increasing, in itself constitutes a miracle in that it is by no means identical with the earthly agency through which it works, and reveals a power exalted above its surroundings. This coexistence of divine operation and natural phenomenon must be considered the chief characteristic of every sort of miracle. Revelation thus becomes a miracle, and miracle becomes revelation. Accordingly, in all the phases of life the Christian is convinced that God orders the world for the good of them that believe on him, and this in the smallest as in the greatest details. Even events which may be explained on purely natural grounds — as when Augustine heard the words Tolle, lege (see Augustine, I., 1, § 9) — may be considered miracles in so far as God is regarded as operating through them. From this point of view any event may be regarded as either miraculous or natural, according to the sensations which it evokes. If the experience of the revelation of God is thus experience of the miraculous, the divine revelation in question, operative through previous ages in a complex of concepts, naturally entered at a definite point in history. If, moreover, these concepts were permanent vehicles of the marvelous operation of God, those who first advanced them could form them only on the basis of their experience of the miraculous works of God. In confirmation of this, history shows that the Gospel bears witness to great historic facts judged from a specific point of view. In other words, the Gospel arose from witnessing miraculous facts, and is simply a record and explanation of these facts. Therefore the Christian takes a very different attitude toward them than toward other ancient religious records. The miracles here considered are almost invariably phenomena diverging from the regular course of nature. While it may be denied that some of the recorded miracles actually occurred, while it may be supposed that circumstances attending some of them were not quite those which were described, and while it may be alleged that they have been more or less modified involuntarily m transmission, it must be remembered that they were all wrought to proclaim knowledge of God or of Christ. Herein they were successful. The critic, on the other hand, has merely a report of an external event and of the impression upon the witness that this event was divine. The actual processes which led these witnesses to adjudge the events in question to be miraculous the critic can never know with certainty, and this lack of knowledge must be reckoned as a factor in the criticism of miracles. If, however, the uniform impression received by Christ's disciples from his many miracles be considered, it may be regarded as certain that this impression represents the true understanding of the miraculous works of Christ.
Two general objections may be alleged against the historicity of the miracles recorded in the Bible :
their violation of natural law; and the fact that they occurred in a credulous age. Considering the latter objection first, it is true that the ancients, including the Jews, not only did not 5. Argu- consider divine intervention of the ments deity to be suspicious or impossible, against but they absolutely required such vis- Miracles, ible divine manifestations. Especially was this the case if they were to believe that Christ was really divine. Again, the history of divine revelation shows that God has always given it the forms best adapted to the requirements of the age. The fact, therefore, that external miracles no longer occur implies simply that they are no longer needed for faith; but this does not militate in the least against the occurrence of miracles in periods of an entirely different character. Neither does the theory that miracles were merely types of attitude molded by the needs of ancient gods disprove the actuality of miracles. All these hypotheses are based on the unhistorical rationalistic notion that things must always have been as it is now thought they should be. It is also alleged that miracles are contrary to the law of nature. The laws of nature, however, are nothing but formulas describing the regular operations of natural phenomena; but if the concept of God be introduced, they may then be regarded as expressing the divine will, so that the course of the world in conformity with the laws of nature is in no way opposed to the will of God. Yet even as man, by attentively studying the laws of nature, is enabled to rise above nature and to produce results which nature itself can not produce, since he unites regular processes of nature in new combinations for the attainment of the end which he desires without annulling or impairing the original potencies or laws of nature, so miracles should not be construed as abrogations or violations of the laws of nature, but as special adaptation of the forces of nature for a specific and divine purpose.
In the present article three classes of miracles have been postulated: the constant miracle of the revelation of God; the operation of 6. Classifi- God in purely natural and orderly cation of events of human life; and the revela- Miracles. tion of God by irregular natural phenomena at a specific period. The question now arises as to the relation between these three classes, the first of which is usually ignored, while the second and the third are distinguished as subjectively and objectively miraculous respectively. At the same time, the great characteristic of a miracle, the arousing of consciousness of an external process, is common to all three classes, so that they all share in miraculousness. In the first and second class the miraculous process is in accordance with natural law, while in the third class it is irregular. Since, however, it can not be shown that the abnormal events in question are either opposed to nature or subversive of cosmic order, it follows that a miracle is not the producing of a more or less regular phenomenon, but the divine adaptation of an earthly event to make the presence of God immediately operative or to convince man of the divine presence in the event in question. The
Miracles
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