The Bible Testimony to Miracles

8/2/2019 The Bible Testimony to Miracles

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J "=~ ~~T II A n t i - R a t i o n a l i s t i c L e c t u r e s I. .I S~ !'~ DELIVERED AT I~ EAST STREET MI8SIO~ ];IALL, AUCKLAND, ~: IS UNDER THE AUSPICES OF ;~ THE AUCKLAND BROTHERHOOD. ill '~ ai Ii I~ !~ No. 4. / I Si~ The B ib le Testim ony /to Ii M iracles . - ~~ !~ - I~ I By GEO. ALDRIDGE, I~ iI Editor of "The Bible Standard." I ;~ ~.~-I PRICE THREEPENCE. I~ I~ ille I= i! ~PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY~ PHIPPS & HALL, 31 ,HIGH STREET, illi !I.. AUC~LAND. i- -:0.~, 'I~" ,~f t - c l ~''''''II '''''''''''~'''''I''.'''''''''''~''\I''lttf~~.l'_'''''I''.'''''''''''~'''''"''........,~ "'~"'(((~~~'I'l_"''''''''''''''''''~''''' ''''''''''"IIII'. "il"~"'''''''''''III''I'l_'''''''''''''"'''''~~\)'


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No. 4.

The Bible Testimonyto Miracles.


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The Bible Testimony toMiracles.

MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,This afternoon I have to speak to you upon the " BibleTestimony to Miracles," and I wish you to remember that I am

still engaged in the argument concerning the historicity ofJesus Christ, which, as you perceive, is taking me more than 10minutes to establish. Necessarily so, because I have first of allto deal with the main objections brought against it, and thenwith a mass of material which, in my judgment, goes verystrongly to support it, and because of these two phases it neces-sarily demands time to fully establishing the position I take.Bear in mind that I am trying not only to show that JesusChrist existed as a personage, but also that the Jesus of the fourGospels did live, did do just what the Gospels said He did, andI think I may say that, so far as I have gone, the steps takenlead to that as a very clear conclusion.

In order to build my argument, I first of all presented toyou available historical evidence to show that He existed as aperson, at the time and in the place assigned to him by theGospels. I then tried to show from the New Testament, andfrom the actual provisions to meet the needs of mankind, thatJesus was born in the manner specified, and now I am to dealwith that other matter which is the object of much modernscoffing, the miracles that are said to have been wrought byHim. But in order that we may treat that question rightly, itis absolutely necessary that I should deal with the broad ques-tion of miracle as a whole, as it is presented to us in the Bible,and if I can bring forward evidence in favour of miracles asthus presented, then I go a long way towards establishing thetruth of the miracles ascribed to Jesus Christ in the New Testa-men., So I will endeavour to put before you such evidence as Ithink worthy of consideration and acceptation-evidence suchas satisfies my mind concerning the veracity of the miracles.Of course the title of this address allows me a very wide lati-tude, but I think you will concede that. If I prove the larger Iof necessity supply adequate evidence for the smaller. Now

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this matter is of very great importance. I should say, judgingfrom my own personal experience, that there is no one topicperhaps that is more often selected for ridicule than the idea ofmiracles. If you take the man in the street who does not be-lieve in the Bible at all, and the question of miracles is broughtup, you will almost certainly find that he scoffsat the very ideaof the possibility of miracles. NowMr. Vivian, whom I take asa very fair representative of the position occupied by our Ra-tionalistic friends, speaks in this way: " The truth or otherwiseof the Bible miracles being of supreme importance, I beginwith the apologeticswith regard to them." It is a matter, then,judged to be of supreme importance, and I concedeit so to be,and because of this I am.now trying to defend the attitude ofChristians regarding it. It is said-and this will fairly sum-marise the objections against it-by the German poet Goethe,that "miracle is the favourite child of Faith, " and Prof.Foster, of the University of Chicago, says: " To the scientificunderstanding of the world, and to the intellectual aptitudesuperinduced by seienee,a miracle cannot be admitted." . . ." An intelligent man who now affirms his faith in such storiesas actual facts can hardly know what intellectual honestymeans." That's pretty rough, isn't it? I find a similar posi-tion taken up by Mr. Laing in his Modern Science and ModernThought who speaks on page 243 of rejecting all the .... " in-credible miracles, which had only a temporary value and can nolonger be believed without shutting ones eyes to facts andbecoming guilty of conscious or unconscious insincerity."Now, Gentlemen,Ideclare that I am not aware of being guiltyof conscious or unconscious insincerity in the position which Itake. I should not venture to stand before you this afternoonand present the evidence on which I believe miracles are to beaccepted if I had in my mind for a single moment the idea thatI was insincere. I believe these things, and therefore I speak.I must repeat that I de not ask that any person should believethat what I may say is necessarily true, and to be accepted, butI do ask to be heard and that you shall weigh the evidencewhich I produce. If you judge that the evidence is not strongenough to carry conviction, very well, then of course I do notexpect you to accept my conclusions; but if you think it is, andthe whole subject is deserving of examination and acceptance,then, as honest and sincere men you will followwhere it leads.From the very early days, as before stated, Christianity inits various phases was opposed. You learn in church historyhow men stood against it and evinced their desire to overthrowit because they believed the things it taught were against com-mon sense as well as against their accepted religion. I do notcharge them with insincerity when they withstood the doctrinesput forward-they undoubtedly believed as men believe now

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that they ought to be opposed, and opposed by whatever evi-dence could be brought to bear against them. But, Gentlemen,when the opposition came it was met-men stood and defendedChristianity, and made their apologies on its behalf. May Istate that I have heard that word " apology" referred to inthis connection as if it meant an excuse, and that we are makingexcuses for Christianity. Don't you believe it. The wordoriginally meant " to defend" as when Paul stood beforeAgrippa and said: " I make my defence," " I make apology."The original significanceof that word was" defence," and whenTertullian and others sent in their "apologies" to the Em-perors they sent in their " defence" of Christianity. I repeat,Do not make any mistake. Christianity need never give anyexcuses for itself, but it sometimeshas, as now ,to stand to makeits defence. In those days, then, men stood and made theirdefence for Christianity. They made their defence also inregard to miracles, and brought forward the evidence whichthey thought would amply uphold their position. The attackis still continued, but it is presented from another side, there-fore calls for another defence.During the last century or so-say from the end of the 18thcentury-the opposition has taken upon itself a peculiar formsuperinduced by advance in science, and if you notice the posi-tion which is taken by men who write against the miraculousyou will observe that the position is that from the standpoint ofscience miracle is discredited to-day. Some men have investi-gated into the facts and order of nature, and it is claimed thatthe evidence against the possibility of miracle is overwhelminglystrong, and so Rationalistic writers are presenting their argu-ments against miracles from the supposed testimony gatheredfrom the field of science. You take such a book as Mr. Lecky'sHist01'Y of Rationalism, and you will find the second chapterof that bookwhere he speaks of the decline of belief in the mira-culous, to be chiefly a presentation of the growth of scientificknowledge and acquirements, and that as these have becomemore widely known amongst the. people by education, so thebelief in miracles has gradually declined; as the one has spread,so the other has becomemore restricted, until it has almost diedaway. He says: " Generation after generation the province ofthe miraculous has contracted and the circle of scepticism hasexpanded," and on page 182: " In the present day Christianityis regarded as a system which courts the strictest investiga-tion. . The idea of the miraculous, which a superficialobserver might have once deemed its most prominent charac-teristic, has been driven from almost all its entrenchments, andnow quivers faintly and feebly through the mists of 1,800years."That is the view which is taken generally in the Rationalisticcamp. As I say it is believed that as the knowledge of nature

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has extended, so the belief in the miraculous has correspondinglydeclined, and it is believed that as we further advance and be-come more fully conversant with the order and facts of nature,so the belief in the miraculous will absolutely disappear, and, asMr. Laing has it in one of his chapters: " Christianity, if itexists at all, will exist without miracles." Gentlemen, it is anabsolute inconceivability that Christianity can be withoutmiracles. The moment it loses the conception of the miraculous,that moment it goes down and out of sight for ever.You will allow me to say, by way of interjection, that I amnot prostrate before. the idol of science. I read and admire thework which is being done by scientists, and I hope that I am asready to give full creditto their work as any other living person,but to expect that any theory formed from the facts discoveredby them must be accepted by me without the concurrence of myjudgment is an absolute absurdity. I refuse to join the numberof blind worshippers who bow before the idol of science.

Mr. Vivian has a statement here to which I wish to callattention. In his book, writing concerning the fundamentalmiracles, he says that " miracles are rejected not because theyare amazing, but because they are contradictory to experience,and at variance with the laws of nature." I believe that in thatexpression he summarises the attitude of the Rationalist or thescientist who objects to miracles. They are to be rejected notbecause they are wonderful, but because they are contradictoryto experience and at variance with the laws of nature. And sothe writer of Supernatural Religiorv-to whom, I think, most ofthese modern writers are indebted-has a similar statement. Ifind him saying: " Whatever is contradictory to universal andinvariable experience is antecedently incredible, and as that se-quence of phenomena which is called the order of nature is es-tablished, and in accordance with universal experience, miraclesor alleged violations of that order, are antecedently incredible. ,:Now when I take this statement I believe I have got back to thevery foundation of the objection on which the Rationalistico~jections rest, and that in this I am perfectly fair, I think youWIll agree.

The first thing to which I object is the statement thatmiracles are contrary to experience. It is said in SupernaturalReligion that they "are contrary to universal experience."Gentlemen, let me say that that is claiming a conclusion beforethe matter has been investigated, because, according to the OldTestament, they were not contradictory to the experience of themen of those times, therefore the question is not to be set asideuntil you have first of all examined the evidence for this matter.To say that it is contrary to experience is to say more than weon the face of it, know. For instance, there are many thing~that may occur in your experience to which I am an absolute

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stranger. Or there may be experiences occurring in other coun-tries which never come within our experience at all. The illus-tration has been given of people living in a place where there isnever sufficient cold for ice to form, and if they had never beenoutside their own land and were told that water became solid,they would say: " That is absolutely contrary to experience-itnever has been, it never can be, and never will be." But say acastaway sailor comes and affirms: " But it is an experience; Ihave seen it. I have been on it. There are places in the worldwhere there are hard blocks of ice, and sometimes we have to bevery careful on our journey through the sea to avoid them.Certainly ice can be formed from water." You see from theillustration. that a thing may be absolutely contrary to my ex-perience, and yet it may occur as a fact, so until the prior ques-tion is settled as to whether or not miracles have occurred, it isunfair to the argument to say at the outset that miracles arecontrary to experience. I think it would be better to say con-trary to the analogy of ou.r experience, and then we can go for-ward to see if it was ever possible for miracles to come withinthe experience of any other persons.

I further object to the statement that they are " at vari-ance with the laws of nature," because the man who says it isclaiming virtually an acquaintanceship with all the known lawsof nature-that is, he must have a universal knowledge of thelaws of nature to be able, with any confidence, to make a state-ment of that kind. Until it is absolutely certain that he knowseverything about all the laws of nature, I do not think he is in aposition to affirm that miracle is contrary to the laws of nature.Let me now note the term " Laws of Nature." What do ourfriends mean by it ~ I have looked very carefully in this bookto find out Mr. Vivian's meaning, but I cannot discover it. Iguess pretty well what he means, but he does not define histerms, and unless he defines exactly what he means, I cannot besure that I am dealing with it accurately. What is meant by a" Law of Nature 1" I turn to a book by the Duke of Argyle,The Reign of Law, in which he says: "Authorities uponthis matter use the expression ' law of nature' in five differentways. " We have, first, law as applied simply to an observedorder of facts; second, to that order as involving the action ofsome force or forces, of which nothing more may be known.Third, as applied to individual forces, the measure of whoseoperation has been more or less defined or ascertained. Fourth,as applied to those combinations of force which have referenceto the fulfilment of purpose or the discharge of function. Fifth,as applied to the abstract conception of the mind not correspond-ing with any actual phenomena, but deduced there from asaxioms of thought necessary to our understanding of them.

Now, if there are five interpretations of that expression71

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stranger. Or there may be experiences occurring in other coun-tries which never comewithin our experience at all. The illus-tration has been given of people living in a place where there isnever sufficient cold for ice to form, and if they had never beenoutside their own land and were told that water became solid,they would say: " That is absolutely contrary to experience-s-itnever has been, it never can be, and never will be." But say acastaway sailor comesand affirms: " But it is an experience; Ihave seen it. I have been on it. There are places in the worldwhere there are hard blocks of ice, and sometimeswe have to bevery careful on our journey through the sea to avoid them.Certainly ice can be formed from water.' , You see from theillustration. that a thing may be absolutely contrary to my ex-perience, and yet it may occur as a fact, so until the prior ques-tion is settled as to whether or not miracles have occurred, it isunfair to the argument to say at the outset that miracles arecontrary to experience. I think it would be better to say con-trary to the analogy of our experience, and then we can go for-ward to see if it was ever possible for miracles to comewithinthe experience of any other persons.I further object to the statement that they are " at vari-ance with the laws of nature," because the man who says it isclaiming virtually an acquaintanceship with all the known lawsof nature-that is, he must have a universal knowledge of thelaws of nature to be able, with any confidence,to make a state-ment of that kind. Until it is absolutely certain that he knowseverything about all the laws of nature, I do not think he is in aposition to affirm that miracle is contrary to the laws of nature.Let me now note the term " Laws of Nature." What do ourfriends mean by it? I have looked very carefully in this bookto find out Mr. Vivian's meaning, but I cannot discover it. Iguess pretty well what he means, but he does not define histerms, and unless he defines exactly what he means, I cannot besure that I am dealing with it accurately. What is meant by a" Law of Nature?" I turn to a book by the Duke of Argyle,The Reign of Law, in which he says: "Authorities uponthis matter use the expression ' law of nature' in five differentways." We have, first, law as applied simply to an observedorder of facts; second, to that order as involving the action ofsome force or forces, of which nothing more may be known.Third, as applied to individual forces, the measure of whoseoperation has been more or less defined or ascertained. Fourth,as applied to those combinations of force which have referenceto the fulfilment of purpose or the discharge of function. Fifth,as applied to the abstract conceptionof the mind not correspond-ing with any actual phenomena, but deduced therefrom asaxioms of thought necessary to our understanding of them.Now, if there are five interpretations of that expression

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" law of nature," which of these is the one which we shouldunderstand as the one used by writers from the Rationalisticstandpoint Y There should be some clear definition. Thewriter should say: " When I state that a miracle is opposedinvariably to the laws of nature, I mean by the term such andsuch a definition. That is the sense in which I use it." I be-lieve that the term " law of nature," as used in Rationalisticbooks is simply our registered observation of the order in whichwe fi~d causes and effects ordinarily linked together. Is thatfair? Will anyone object 1 Let me give it oncemore. "Lawof nature," as used in the Rationalistic books, is simply " ourregistered observation of the order in which we find causes andeffects ordinarily linked together," and that they are so linkedof course nobody disputes.

Thus far all that I have said is but preliminary. What dowe mean when we speak of a miracle 1 The word" miracle"simply means, in the Latin from which it is derived, " c lwonder," but when we turn to the New Testament and ask whatis meant there, I observe that the word behind " miracles" isthe word " powers." The Greek word is that from which weget our word dynamite. Two other terms are used. I find"miracles, wonders and signs." Miracles, then, are powers,forces. ' , Wonders" describe the same things, but from thestandpoint of the onlooker, to whom they are marvels or won-ders, and the last word " signs," signifies that they point tosome definite purpose, and that word occurs, I think, more fre-quently than any other.In order that we may find exactly how our friends think onthis particular matter, I observe that Dr. Horton, of London,said of the word " miracles" that " It was unfortunate, andrepresented a notion which is not contained in the New Testa-ment terms ' signs' and 'mighty works,'" and Mr. Viviancomments: " If this be not word-spinning, then what is 1 Doesit matter whether we call the raising of Lazarus a ' miracle' ora ' sign ?' " That evidences that Mr. Vivian is not in a rightstate of mind to investigate; if it be a sign, certainly it matters,and the man who thinks it does not, is not in a right attitude toexamine the bearings of this important question.What is the nature of the evidence for miracles 1 Mr.Hume has said, and it is carried forward by the writer in Super-natural Religion, that " it is more likely that men should bedeceived than that miracle should happen." You see we haveto depend wholly upon human testimony. There is no othersource that I know of for our investigation this afternoon. Iknow that Mr. Vivian goes so far as to say that the proofs formiracle ought to be so strong that they would never be disputed.I had better put that as he gives it: " The doubters ask why. ifGod graciously furnished proofs to one generation, He did not,

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in His infinite wisdom,ordain that these proofs should be estab-lished for all time beyond all possibility of caviL" How can itbe that a miracle should be " established for all time beyond allpossibility of cavil?" If Mr. Vivian or any other man whocares to represent him will kindly rise up and say how this canbe, I will be glad to hear it. Why, objectors could cavil at any-thing, no matter what it is.Now let me turn to the Bible, and let me try to present toyou that which it has to say. With its evidence before us wecan estimate its value. I am not asking you to deal with thequestion of pagan miracles or ecclesiastical miracles. We arehere to look at the subject from the Bible standpoint. Whattestimony does the Bible offer to miracle ~ I cannot look at amiracle by itself; I must look at it from the presentation of allits circumstances, in the Bible, in which it is found. Then I amin a fit attitude of mind, I trust to judge whether or not it iscredible.In my positive argument I must start somewhere, and Ibegin with the postulate " God is." I am not now speakingupon the " Being of God," but I start there. That is sufficientfor my present purpose. The next thing is the question as tothe manner in which the miracles are presented. Let me putbefore you a statement repeated by several Rationalistic writersthat indicates to me that in this they are not very trustworthyguides. On page 12 of Blatchford's little book, I find him say-ing that "the Rationalist denies all miracles alike-miraclesnever happen." Arnold, from whomhe quotes, says "Miraclesdo not happen," which is a different statement. He says: " TheChristian Bible is /tIll of miracles. The Christian religion isfounded on miracles." Observe the statement, "The Chris-tian Bible is full of miracles." I observe that Mr. Laing alsosays that " Former ages saw miracles everywhere j the age inwhichwe live seesthem nowhere." The writer of SupernaturalReligion says that " in the Old Testament miracles occur inces-santly." Here is my point. These men would have us get theimpression that throughout the Bible, from beginning to end,miracles are incessant.-the Bible is full of them-the Bibleteems with them-the men of those days saw them everywhere.I will present to you the evidencewhich will disprove that, andI affirmthat he who states that miracles are incessant indicatesthat he is not a guide that any man should follow on this par-ticular subject. For what is the fact ~ You open your Bible,and, of course, you start with the story of the creation, which Iagree is miraculous, but from the time of the creation for 2,500years no miracle is recorded save the Delugeand the destructionof Sodomand Gomorrah, which were punitive and do not comeexactly in the line of the miracles which we have to investigate.Two thousand fivehundred years without miracle! I read the

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story of those men who were the founders of the Hebrew race-who stand out as its early heroes-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.Now, it is precisely so, our friends tell us, about the founders-those who belong to the early age-of any race that miraclesgather and myths are formed. How does it come to pass thatno miracle is ever assigned to Abraham, to Isaac, or to Jacob ?You read of them as men who were in close touch with God, whoare referred to again and again as the founders of their race,but you do not read of any miracle associated with them. Theseare the men who founded the great race called the Hebrewpeople, and they did no miracle. How is it that the Bible, in itsrecord of a nation's origin, should start out on a line whollydifferent to that of any other history 1 It is not until you comedown to the time of Israel in Egypt that you begin to read aboutmiraculous energy. Of course, it will be said by our Rational-istic friends: " Certainly, when a nation begins to form it isabout the early growth of the nation that you find miraclesgather." But Moses, let me say, although he became the greatLeader and Law-giver, did no miracles that marked him out asspecially distinct from others as a person to be admired. Thefirst miracles were wrought in order to compel him to do a workwhich he did not want to do. He was sent upon an errand, andhe was compelled to do that which he tried to avoid. Thenwhen that people were in the wilderness, there to be formed andfashioned into a nation, miracles were wrought. What for ?They were wrought for preservation purposes, to supply themwith necessary food and to guard and help them upon the way.But the moment that people enter into a covenant agreement,that moment there came in the possibility of punitive miraclesshould they disobey. Instead of the miracles glorifying thispeople, they were wrought upon a stiff-necked and incurablerace, not to glorify them or to make them objects of envy toother peoples.

They lie there in the Pentateuch, that first group ofmiracles centred around that redemption from Egypt. Thenyou go forward, finding but a few recorded in Joshua andJudges, to the time when the people were settled in the land,when the golden age of Israel was introduced under David andSolomon. In that age there were no miracles. How singular,is it not? Here you step aside altogether from the ordinaryrun of the bygone history of peoples, for in the days when theraces touched their highest point, the miracles are found to benumerous. But not so with Israel. In their day of splendour,in the golden age of David and Solomon, there is not one miraclerecorded-not one. Then we come down the stream of time for200 years, and discover that miracles lie in another group inthe days of Elijah and Elisha. And then the time goes on againwith no miracles right until the period when Judah goes into

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captivity in Babylonia, and there in the imperial city of theBabylonian empire, amongst the captive Jews who are connectedwith the Court, miracles are wrought, and from that time on-wards for a period of 600 years until the New Testament opensthere are no miracles recorded. When you open the New Testa-men, there they are found again. Thus miracles lie in well-marked historical groups in the Bible. They are not " inces-sant, " and the Bible is not " full of them," and the Bible doesnot " teem with miracles." Have I established that 1 I thinkso. If any reader of the Bible examines it for himself he willnot in future believe the statement that the Bible is crammedwith miracles from one end to the other.

Now my next point, which is, " But why did these miraclesoccur in groups at these times 1" Why Any person whonotes the facts just put before you will want to know why it isso. Why miracles pertaining to the redemption of Israel fromEgypt, and not in the days of Abraham, Isaac and J acob; in thedays of Elijah and Elisha, and not in the days of David andSolomon ~ How is it that miracles lie in groups ~ Is there anyreason for it Certainly there is a reason, and it is in thatreason that I find the strength of my position when puttingforward this evidence. Observe the promise that was madeoriginally to Abraham, a promise which the great apostle to theGentiles declared to be " the gospel"-a promise which said:" In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In thatpromise lies the whole groundwork of the Bible developments,whether it be of history or prophecy. Here is a great designbeginning to be outlined; the purpose is declared, and when de-clared it is not left to stand by itself, but attention is called to themanner in which it shall be accomplished. As one fond ofliterature, I do not know of anything that is equal to this won-derful purpose that begins to develop in the days and from thetime of Abraham-a purpose that fascinates me, binds me withunbreakable chains to its chariot. Here is a great thing: " Iwill make of thee a great nation;' and in the words "I willmake" God puts Himself, His wisdom, and His power, and asthe story. develops you see how from the one man spring familiesthat are apparently separate until the time that they go downinto Egypt, and there in the days of their affliction those fami-lies are welded together by the common sufferings they endure.Then they are brought out, and in the wilderness they arefashioned into a nation. God, who said " I will make," gavethem laws, and at no time were they to be under an.administra-tion not of divine ordering, and the miracles that are wroughtare for the purpose of carrying out that divine " making:"They are redeemed by the hand of God Himself, led across theRed Sea and into the wilderness, and there they are throwncompletely upon Him and upon His wisdom and power and love

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for help and succour. He declares, "I will make," and Hedoes it; if miracle is required it is done in order that the praisemay be to Him and not to them. At that stage, then, miraclesoccur. When He has brought them into the land according tothe purpose, when He has brought the land He gave, and theseed He had fashioned, together, that is the initial step towardsthe attainment of the purpose He had designed, then there is nomore need for miracles, because the purpose has begun to workin what we may call a natural order. The land promised is se-cured and the seed dwells in it, and so long as that people isobedient to the authority that brought them out, so long is thereno need of any miraculous energy; but there comes a time inthe days of Elijah and Elisha when the nation falls away fromits allegiance to God, and in order that it may be brought backmiracle is wrought, either to punish or to prove the necessity ofresting wholly upon the power of God who is their king. ForIsrael in those days was under a theocracy, that is, a divinegovernment. God was their king. He made their laws, Heappointed and established their monarchs, who, as vicegerents,sat upon" the throne of the Lord" in Jerusalem.Now I pass on to the time when those people went intocaptivity, and there miracles are wrought, but they are still inconnection with governmental administration, for they are theoutward and visible signs of God,who ruleth in the kingdoms ofmen and giveth it to whomsoeverHe pleaseth.When the New Testament opens I observe that it is withthe account concerning the Person who should be born and theposition and dignity that should be His. Well, you observethat to-day men are speaking of Jesus as the Saviour ofMen,butI will tell you that the New Testament does not present Himfirst as the Saviour of Sinners, but as the Monarch who shouldrule and benefit mankind, and thus be the Saviour, for it wassaid to Maryconcerning the child that should be born: " Thoushall call His name Jesus. . . and the Lord God shall give untoHim the throne of His father David, and He shall reign overthe House of Jacob for ever, and of His Kingdom there shall beno end." That is how and why He comes.Although he walkedin lowly guise amongst the men of that day, a wanderer, whohad not where to lay His head, footsore and oft forsaken, He is. still a King, who shall rule someday as King of kings and Lordof lords, and it is to that officeHis miracles are attached, and tothat position only, He, the Monarch who shall rule under Godupon this earth and who shall be able to exercise powers on be-half of mankind that are not available to men now. This is thelinkage always in the Gospels. When He worked miracles, theysaid of Him: " Is not this the Son of David ? " and He said, asHe cast out demons: " If I by the finger of God cast out devils,then is the Kingdom of God comeupon you." It was with that

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regal aspect and authority Re stands, and that is the connectionwith the miracle in this Bible from beginning to end. Themiracles from first to last are connected with a theocratic go-'vernmental and administrative order, and, being such, must beexamined in the light of that presentation, and not simply bythemselves, or as to whether or not, according to our notions,they contravene the laws of nature.Now I pass on to put before you certain propositions whicharise naturally out of the position I have laid down. The pro-positions are as follows,and if I take them from my Bible, whereI put them many years ago, you will learn that they were notformulated yesterday.1. Miracles are not continuous-they occur in groups.2. They are wrought chiefly to establish the Kingdom ofGod upon the earth.3. The land of Israel was God's land, designed by Rim asthe centre of His Kingdom, whence blessing should flow to allthe earth.4. When Israel was nearing the land miracles were wroughtto give them possession.5. When established under David and Solomon,no miracleswere wrought, for no miracles were needed.6. When Israel failed in obedience to God, miracles werewrought to bring them back to their allegiance.

7. When the Kingdom was in abeyance for 400 years, nomiracles were wrought.8. When Christ came Re wrought miracles under the title" Son of David."9. The disciples, after His ascension, wrought miracles bythe power of the ascended Messiah. They were the seals ofGod's acknowledgment of the claims of Christ to the Throne ofDavid.10. When God's Kingdom does come there will be wroughtmiracles of like order, but more extensively than in the daysgone by, to fully establish that Kingdom upon the earth.Now let me comeback to a position which necessarily -smstbe examined, and that is the statement that miracles, whatevermay be their connection, disturb the uniformity of nature. Theadvocates of science say that such disturbances cannot be, be-cause nature is uniform, and to accept miracles is to accept thedestruction of the uniformity of nature. Mr. Laing has put, Isuppose as clearly as any person can, the position on this parti-cular point. He says: ' , We have seen how, throughout thewide domains of space, time and matter, law, uniform, univer-sal and inexorable reigns supreme, and there is absolutely noroom for the interference of any outside personal agency tosuspend its operations." Here is the strength of the Rational-istic position. Law is uniform, and it is impossible for it to be

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in any case suspended. Now let me observe that there is onething which these gentlemen overlook-I don't know why-it isa marvellous thing to me that when they talk about uniformityof nature, they always leave out the most important factor tobe considered, and that is man, and man's will, which is inoperation here in the Cosmos. Why is it left out? Forexample, here is an acorn; it is planted in the ground; it putsforth its tender shoot and green leaves; it becomes a saplingand in the course of generations it will grow into a mighty tree.It is growing according to the uniform operations of nature.Here are the workings of cause and effect, and although I maynot be able to trace them, still I know they are in operation.But that oak tree, gentlemen, will never become a house, or asideboard, or a waggon by itself. The laws of nature do notthere work. But bring in the will of man to it. He says: " Iwill cut it down; I will shape and fashion it, and I will buildmyself a house." Or," When I come to the heart of it I willmake a sideboard for my wife." Or," I will make for myselfa waggon." So because the will of man comes in that oak treewill become a house, or a sideboard; or a waggon as he wills. Isthere not here a factor introduced which modifies the uniformityof the laws of nature, and should that not be considered 1

The Duke of Argyle, in his Reign of Law, calls attention toa statement made by Mr. Tyndall in one of his addresses, whosays, " There is no such thing as spontaneousness in Nature,"and the Duke notes the fact that Mr. Tyndall is leaving himselfout of it. He does not observe that he himself is a factor whichmust be considered when dealing with the operations of thingsthat are.

I have a book here written many years ago on this questionof the miracles. It contains a passage worthy of being read toyou: " If the laws of nature be restricted to merely physicalphenomena, then it must be confessed that we have in them noexperience or observation of any interference with the uni-formity of its operations; but if within the domain of nature,we include human nature, then we can no longer make suchadmission. For here we come in contact with a new sort ofpower, namely, the power of the soul (will) of man, which doescontinually intervene among the forces of nature, and produceseffects aside from, and out of, the usual sequences oflphysicalphenomena. " Gentlemen, when you are talking of the unifor-mity of law in nature you must consider what man can dowithin the sphere in which he can operate, and how by his willhe can change and modify to bring about certain effects. In the ~earth are deposited certain ores-gold, silver, tin, lead and iron,and nature may go on depositing them for ages, but natur-e willnever make out of these jewellery and machinery; but mancomes-he digs and 'delves-he submits them to -certain opera-

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tions-and presently he fashions some gleaming jewel, or asteam engine, or possibly a Dreadnought, to be used for the des-truction of his fellow creatures. Man's will brings about theseeffects that never come within the operation of nature. Whenyou consider the question of miracle you must consider morethan the uniformity of nature. Why does man bring his powersto bear upon nature itself. The answer lis it grows out of hisneeds, he must do something to make himself more comfortable,to help himself; he advances in civilisation, and possibly seeksto advance his fellows. He wants houses to live in, he wantsclothes to wear, he would satisfy his cravings in a thousanddirections and so brings his mind and his powers to work onnature that his growing needs may be supplied.Now turn with me for a moment to a passage which Ibelieve gives the true definition of miracles. You will, I think,put it into your minds in such a manner that it will not beforgotten. According to Hebrews vi., verse 5, miracles arepowers of the age to come. What does that mean ~ Why itmeans that they belong to an age that has not yet come, andthat they are the normal operations of that age that is to be, incontradistinction to the operations of the age that now is. Youspeak of the laws of nature. Did you ever for a moment think(you might do worse than think on these lines) why we speakof these laws as natural? From the standpoint of this defini-tion of miracle, I say they are unnatural; they are abnormal.They are here because man is not right with God. They arehere because he is alienated from God, and he cannot expectthat his environment should work in perfect harmony if he, theresponsible moral being, is out of touch with God, the Head andRuler of all law. How is it possible to conceive that an en-vironment (the word which some of you love and use so much)in which man is the transgressor out of harmony with God,should be at once in perfect accord with the will of a free andholy and happy Being and a transgressor of His will ~ It is anabolutely impossible conception. You have here and now theworking of the law of sin and death-a moral order with its end,death; and it is a very good thing that sin has as its end, death-and that same law works, pervading no~ only man the sinner,but also nature. The Apostle Paul under'tood that when he said:" The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together,waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."The whole creation groaneth and travaileth, and in this crea-tion, causing the pain and sorrow, are in operation what we callthe laws of nature, and they are absolutely abnormal, unnaznral,.because man, to be truly natural, should be in harmony withGod Himself, and he is not. But if those laws are brought.intooperation that are promised for that age to come, then they willbe normal to that age, and the normal laws of that age will suit

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the environment of those who are in perfect harmony with GodHimself. It is said in prophecy that righteousness and assur-ance shall dwell together, that peace shall rule the world wideover, but that can be only when man is in perfect touch withGod Himself, and then will be removed for ever those thingswhich are inimical to the well-beingof man.In the present time are many physical ills. We have estab-lished our hospitals, we have our medical men, and yet howlittle can be done. Epidemics, malarias, sicknesses and diseasescome,and they comebecause it is a world inhabited by a peoplewho are out of touch with Godby reason of their sin, and humaneffort can do but little to resist and alleviate. But into thisdark, sin-cursed earth there has comethe Grace of God. He hastaken the Lamp of Mercy from His Throne, and held it out tothe sons of men, and now, in order that they may see what theage to comemeans, into the present age have been injected thenormal laws of the future age as earnests of what shall be whenit arrives. How do these laws operate ~ How ~ It is said ofJesus Christ: " He shall save His people from their sins." Atonce you think of a moral salvation by which sin is pardoned,but that, without the attainment of a perfect salvation, is oflittle value, but that latter will comeas the normal consequenceof the working of the law that can pardon sin. Then the eyesof the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be un-stopped, the tongues of the dumb shall sing, and the deadshall be raised by the operation of power from God Him-self, which will involve, first of all, the pardoning of sin andwrong-doing to the man who so desires it. .Here is a splendid illustration. One day the Master wasspeaking to his friends in a little house-a band of people crowdabout Him, and there, in the distance, come four men bearinganother, who is helpless and impotent. He is a palsied man,and they bring him to the cottage door, but they find they can-not enter in because of the press of the throng. Being men ofresource they lift their comrade to the roof of the house; theymake a hole through it sufficiently large to let him down at thefeet of the Master standing there, and when the man lies beforeHim, Jesus says: " Thy sins be for~iven thee." But that wasnot what the man nor his friends exflected. He was not broughtfor that purpose. They thought there would be a touch or aword which would restore that man to health. Instead, Hesays: " Thy sins be forgiven thee." The Pharisees round about,murmuring, say, " This man blasphemeth; who can forgive sinsbut God only," and He, knowing their thoughts, said: " Butthat ye may know that the Son of Man hath po~r on earth toforgive sin," He saith to the sick of the palsy, " Arise, take upthy bed and walk," and the impotent man rose to his feet andwalked, made physically whole. What was the testimony to

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the power of Jesus as a miracle worker 1 Was it a credentialsimply; that He was sent of God to save men morally? Thepresentation He makes is that the Son of Man hath power toforgive, " but that ye may know that the Son of Man hathpower to forgive sins, " He saith to the sick of the palsy, "Arise,take up thy bed and walk." The physical wholeness of the manwas the. outward testimony to the power of the Lord to forgivesins. Why? Because sin is the root cause of physical ill, andhe who can rightfully pardon sin can and must remove all thephysical consequences of it.

You who are speaking against the credibility of miraclesimagine that a miracle is given simply to establish religion, andyou, use the word religion in its moral sense. From beginningto end of the Bible, I do not find a single instance where miraclewas given simply to establish religion. The only cases that Iknow of that can be brought at all near to that idea are, first,the statements of Paul in Romans 15: " For I will not dare tospeak of any things save those which Christ wrought throughme, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed in thepower of signs and wonders." I do not find that to be neces-sarily connected with religious worship as the primary thought;and second, in the Old Testament there is a miracle wrought onMount Carmel when Elijah sought to turn Israel back to alle-giance to God. "If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal,follow him." But observe even then it is not primarily a reli-gious matter as ordinarily interpreted, for neither in the OldTestament nor in the New-neither in the Jewish nor Christianreligion-has miracle the bearing of an establishment of reli-gion. Miracle has to do always with an administrative or go-vernmental order, for the perfection of the state of mankind if itwill submit to the Divine will. I say once more that which Icalled attention to a Sunday or two ago. Some of you are work-ing for the well-being of the people-you are earnestly endea-vouring to help forward movements which you believe willeventuate to the benefit of mankind; but let me say, withoutwishing in the least to decry your efforts, that you cannot pos-sibly have a happy, holy perfected state until ,omething comesin that shall deal with the environment in a way that no humanpower can touch. You have your large modern cities, welldrained (it is one of the curses of modern times that we havelarge cities); you have sanitary authorities with compulsorypowers, because of human selfishness, and yet epidemic comesand sweeps through your cities, and you can do next to nothingat all. You can but help the sufferers with your sympathy.Some volcanic outbreak, some eruption, or tome tidal wavecomes, and you can only sit and mourn and tliink of the utterhelplessness of mankind. Why are these things 1 YourRationalistic writers shut their eyes to the original cause and

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blame them upon God. Why do they happen 1 Because Godis careless? No! Forgetful? No! Impotent ~ No! Why,then 1 Because they are part of the environment of a race thatthrew itself out of harmony with God and wills to remain 60,and that is why.If you really desire to know what miracle is and signifies,you must read what is said in the Word, and whether you acceptit or not, look at it in the full circumstances as there presented,and then judge as to whether or not it can be received. If youare labouring for the social well-being of man, you will labourwith saner views and greater freedom and less disappointmentif you know that all your efforts cannot accomplish the finalperfection of mankind, but that it shall come. There was anAmerican who once stood to proclaim an unwelcome message,and when the people would not listen, he raised himself to hisfull height and cried aloud, " I speak for God, I will be heard ;"and I, from my humble position in opposition to those who decrythe Word, say, " I, too, will be heard," and will declare theways' and purposes of God for the redemption of mankind. Iwill speak of that glorious kingdom which shall be, which beganin promise, which has been steadily carried forward throughhuman history. I will speak of that plan which has wovenitself inextricably through the course of human progress, whichhas paid down as earnests, glorious samples of the powers of theage to come. Through the long ages past its preparation hasgone on, until there came in the present time wherein God isoffering to the sons of men the possibility of coming into asso-ciation with His dear Son in a Kingdom in which shall be en-joyed-c-Eternal Life in incorruptible organism. When I thinkof that time when God's Kingdom shall come, and His will shallbe done on earth as it is done in heaven, and of that centralthrone to be occupied by the Worthy Ruler, whence shall out-flow blessing to all men, when .

" Peace with her olives crowned, shall stretchHer wings from shore to shore,No longer trump shall rouse sad warNor murderous cannon roar."

Then do I pray that it may speedily come, and that every-where men shall rejoice in the sway of an autocrat who isrighteous and who will execute righteous judgment, and inwhose administration will operate the powers that shall counter-act and abolish all evil.

" For those days we wait,By prophets long foretold,Fly swifter, sun and moon and starsAnd bring the age of gold." ,

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QUESTIONS.Question: The lecturer gave the Biblical definition of miracle;" Miracles are a power of an age to come." Earlier in the lec-ture it had been claimed that there were no miracles performedin Israel so long as the people were obedient to God's will. Now,taking these two statements together, does this mean that in theage to come, when God shall have established His Kingdom, thatit will be again necessary for Him to perform miracles becausethe people will be disobedient to His will 1Answer-: Why draw that conclusion 1 If there is no re-quirement in that age to come for the powers of the age to cometo be manifested in that direction, then there will not be suchthings done, but for the establishment of the ,age to come mira-culous powers will be absolutely necessary. I intended to giveyou in iny address my concluding propositions. I will do thatnow without further remark. The first is that God has pro-mised a golden age for the world. (2) If ever that age comesit must be introduced by miracle. (3) They must be of thesame kind as those which are described in the Bible. (4)Christ's miracles are presented as pledges and earnests of theage to come.Qnestion: Do you think that some of our Spirttualistiefriends who travel through this country do not producemiracles ~ And would you not call Mr. Bailey a miracle-workerwhen he, in a state of nudity, can produce birds from Africa 1Answer: I should say that miracles in the present time arepossible, but a miracle, if I saw it, and believed that it were so,would be of no value to me, excepting it bore witness to some-thing. A miracle is of no witness value unless it is a sign ofsomething else. With regard to Mr. Bailey, the things that havebeen published concerning him do not lead me to the conclusionthat all things said of him are necessarily true; but supposingthat when he is in a room, with no possibility o f having anythinghidden about him, he produces, as he is said to have produced, acouple of foreign birds, or brings' some ancient object from far-off Babylonia. That, no doubt, is a wonderful thing, but whereis its utility? Why is it done? Simply to astonish? But amiracle wrought simply to create astonishment is of no value tome. It must have reference to some great central truth. ThenI can examine it and see if it has any bearing on that; if not itis of no value.Question: Is it not within the domain of the organisation oftthe workers of the present day to unify the forces of labour, andforce a condition of affairs in this world, to make it easier for aman to do right, and harder to do wrong ?Answer: The advance in civilisation and the growth of com-forts have made it easier for. a man to do right, and easier forhim to do wrong.

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I do not take that for an answer.But that is my answer, and Istick to it. Isay that therehas been a diminution of some forms of evil, but the change

that has come about by advance in' civilisation and extension ofcomfort has opened new doors by which man may further op-press his fellows and wrong them.Isay that it is within the province of the workers of thiscountry to organise and say that a condition of affairs shallbe brought into being that shall render it unnecessary for mento stoop to selfish principles. There are men who, to keep theirfamilies from starvation, are compelled to do wrong.

My friend, Iam sick of statements of that kind. You aretalking to a man who knows by personal experience what hard-ships mean, and Isay that a man who pleads that his environ-ment is leading him into evil doings is trying to excuse himself

Ought the workers to stand together ~Certainly the workers ought to combine. Ihave said thatfor twenty years and more in this city, and Isay it now.But is it possible for them to bring in a better state ofaffairs than now exists?It is possible for them to bring about a change that willspell more of comfort to themselves, Ihave no doubt; but whatIsay now is, that unless a man's heart is changed, all his out-

ward experience goes for nothing in the removal of evil.Question: You said there, were 2,500 years without miracle.Iwould like to know what about the woman of Zarephath whohad the cruse of oil and the barrel of meal that wasted not; alsoAaron's rod that budded, and the rock smitten by Moses?

Answer: Does the record of the miracle concerning thewidow of Zarephath occur in the Pentateuch ?

Yes.Oh! I think you will find that story in the first book ofKings, and it, therefore, nor the other miracles mentioned, didnot take place in the period of the 2,500 years I spoke of. Ibegan with Creation, and the Pentateuch covers a period of 2,553years.

Question: When we see physical miracles throughout theBible, are they not typical of the spiritual life to which we eachhave to aspire-that true-heartedness which you have spokenabout this afternoon ?Answer: My mind does not travel that way. It may bethat it is of a materialistic order. I like that which is tangibleand real. My friends can often perceive and deal with typesand allegories, and leave me in a state of abs


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Question: You said that sciencewanted us to fall down andworship it, but don't you think it wants us to stand on our feet 1. Answer: I am not sure that I said that. I think what Isaid was that I was not falling down to worship the idol ofscience. Science is the result of man's investigation into nature.He puts forward his findings, and often adds the theories whichare based upon the facts, and then the theories are taken up bymen who are not conversant with the facts, and forced to anissue that the investigator himself does not agree with. When Isay that I do not fall down and worship the idol of science, Imean that I do not accept all the deductions which are drawnfrom the observed facts of nature. The deductions are in dis-pute amongst the scientists themselves. I am particularly in-terested, for instance, in astronomy, and I know some of thetheories which are current, and I also know that astronomers donot agree upon all of these theories. The facts are all right, butthe theories must be submitted to judgment.Don't you think we should study for ourselves ?Certainly, that is what rwant you to do.Question: I understand from you that miracles were notgiven to establish religion; also that Christianity cannot bewithout miracle. Do these two statements harmonise ~Answer: Miracles were not given to establish religion, andChristianity without faith in the miracles-miracles past andmiracles to come-(without any necessity at all to believe thatmiracles now are) has no ground to stand upon.Question: On what day of the weekwere the seven marvel-lous miracles wrought ?Answer: Do you mean the miracles that were wrought onthe Sabbath?Question: Yes.Answer: Well, if they were wrought on the Sabbath, theywere wrought on the Sabbath.The fourth miracle was the opening of a man's eyes.Well, I have been trying to showthat miracle works for theperfection of physical nature.Question: Seeing that Jesus had to rebuke His disciples forhaving little faith, and seeing that these same disciples saw BOmany miracles, why should the people of these days not havemiracles for having little faith ~Answer: Your comparison is hardly just. He blamed themfor having" little faith." The comparison you draw relates tothose who have tl no faith."Question: I refer you to the 14th and 15th chapters of Mat-thew and the feeding of the two multitudes. "If I saw that)would believefor certain."Answer : You would? tl But there were thousands ofpeople who knew of those things and yet did not believe. My

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friend said if he saw them he would believe. What was it theydid not believe? Not that a miracle had not been wrought, butthey did not believe in the claims of the Person whowrought themiracle. They did not receive Him. If my friend saw amiracle and said I believe in the miracle but do not believe inthe claims of the Person whowrought it, his belief in the miraclewould be of no value at all. "

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The Bible Testimony to Miracles