"cles do not happen now, that they did not happen then. "In those times they were profitable, and now they are not." He proceeds to say that in spite of this difference, the mode of conviction was substantially the same. "We persuade "not by philosophical reasonings, but from Divine Scripture, " and we recommend what we say by the miracles then done. "And then they persuaded not by miracles only, but by dis"cussion." And presently he adds, "The more evident and "constraining are the things which happen, the less room there " is for faith." Again in another part of his works, "Why are "there not those now who raise the dead and perform cures? "I will not say why not; rather, why are there not those now who despise the present life? why serve we God for "hire? When however nature was weak, when faith had to "be planted, then there were many such; but now He wills, "not that we should hang on these miracles, but be ready "for death "." In like manner St. Augustine introduces his catalogue of contemporary miracles, which has been partly given above, by stating and allowing the objection that miracles were not then as they had been. "Why, say they, do not these "miracles take place now, which, as you preach to us, took place once? I might answer that they were necessary "before the world believed, that it might believe." He then goes on to say that miracles were wrought in his time, only they were not so public and well-attested as the miracles of the Gospel. St. Ambrose, on the discovery of the bodies of the two Martyrs, uses language of surprise which is quite in accordance with the feelings which the miracles of Antony and Hilarion seem to have roused, in Alexandria and in Sicily. "You know, you yourselves saw that many were cleansed Hom. in 1 Cor. vi. 2 and 3. "Hom. 8. in Col. § 5. * De Civ. Dei xxii. 8. § 1. "from evil spirits, very many on touching with their hands "the garment of the saints, were delivered from the infirmi"ties which oppressed them. The miracles of the old time are come again, when by the advent of the Lord Jesus a "fuller grace was shed upon the earth." Under a similar feeling he speaks of the two corpses, which happened to be of large size, as "miræ magnitudinis, ut prisca ætas ferebat z." y And Isidore of Pelusium, after observing that in the Apostles holiness of life and power of miracles went together, adds, "Now, too, if the life of teachers rivalled the Apostolic "bearing, perhaps miracles would take place; though if they "did not, such life would suffice for the enlightening of those "who beheld it a." The doctrine, thus witnessed by the great writers of the end of the fourth century is declared by as clear a testimony two centuries before and two centuries after. Pope Gregory at the end of the sixth in commenting on the text, "And these "signs shall follow those that believe," says, "Is it so, my "brethren, that, because ye do not these signs, ye do not "believe? On the contrary, they were necessary in the beginning of the Church: for, that faith might grow, it required miracles to cherish it withal; just as when we plant shrubs, we water them till they seem to thrive in the ground, and as soon as they are well rooted, we cease our irrigation. This is what Paul teaches, Tongues are a "sign not for those who believe, but for those who believe ""not;' and there is something yet to be said of these signs "and powers of a more recondite nature. For Holy Church "doth spiritually every day, what she then did through the "Apostles, corporally. For when the Priests by the grace of "exorcism lay hands on believers and forbid evil spirits to "inhabit their minds, what do they but cast out devils? "And any believers soever who henceforth abandon the "secular words of the old life, and utter holy mysteries, and "rehearse, as best they can, the praise and power of their "Maker, what do they but speak with new tongues? Moreover, while by their good exhortations they remove evil "from the hearts of others, they are taking up serpents, &c. Which miracles are the greater, because they are the "more spiritual; the greater because they are the means of raising not bodies but souls; these signs then, dearest "brethren, by God's aid, ye do if ye will b." And St. Clement of Alexandria at the end of the second century: "If it was imputed to Abraham for righteousness on his believing, and we are the seed of Abraham, we too must "believe by hearing. For Israelites we are, who are obe"dient, not through signs, but through hearing." In Evang. ii. 29. Strom. ii. 6. p. 444. So Mr. Osburn, Errors Apost. Fathers, p. 12. and I think rightly. The Bishop of Lincoln, however, observes, "I find "only one passage in the writings of "Clement which has any bearing on "the question of the existence of mira"culous powers in the Church;" and proceeds to refer to the Extracts from the writings of Theodotus. Kaye's Clement, p. 468. The Bishop argues in his work upon Tertullian that miracles had then ceased, from a passage in the De Pudicitiâ, in which, after saying that the Apostles had spiritual powers peculiar to themselves, Tertullian adds, "Nam et mortuos suscitaverunt, quod "Deus solus; et debiles redintegrave"runt, quod nemo nisi Christus; immo "et plagas inflixerunt, quod voluit "Christus." c. 21. 4 The following passages will be found to testify to the same general fact, that the special miraculous powers possessed by the Apostles did not continue in the Church after them. Eu sebius says that according to St. Irenæus, instances of miraculous powers, ἐν ἐκκλησίαις τισὶν ὑπολέλειπτο, Hist. v. 7. xvn, of the miracles still remain, Origen contra Cels. i. 2. fin. xvn, καὶ τινά γε μείζονα. ibid. ii. 8. ίχνη 66 66 What are the distinctions between the Apostolic and the later miracles, which allow of the Fathers saying in a true sense that miracles ceased with the first age, has in many ways appeared from what has already come before us. For instance, it has appeared that the Ecclesiastical miracles were but locally known, or were done in private; or were so like occurrences which are not miraculous as to give rise to doubt and perplexity, at the time or since, as to their real character; or they are so unlike the Scripture miracles, so strange and startling in their nature and circumstances, as to need support and sanction rather themselves than to supply it to Christianity; or they are difficult from their drift, or their instruments or agents, or the doctrine connected with them; happened [to the Jews] they were "few and scattered, as when the sun "stood, &c. and this too has appeared "in our case;" and then he goes on to mention the fiery eruption at the temple, &c. in Matth. Hom. iv. 1. And ibid. Hom. xxxii. 7, after mentioning the Apostolic miracles of cleansing lepers, exorcising spirits, and raising the dead; he says, "This is the greatest proof of your nobleness and love, to believe "God without pledges; for this is one reason, among others, why God ceased "miracles. . Seek not miracles then, "but health of soul." And then he contrasts with visible miracles the 66 66 66 66 nec omnia modo, non quia nulla fiunt "etiam modo." Again, "Cum Ecclesia "Catholica per totum orbem diffusa "atque fundata sit, nec miracula illa in "nostra tempora durare permissa sunt, ne animus semper visibilia quæreret," &c. De Ver. Rel. 25. He adds in his Retractations, "Non sic accipiendum "est quod dixi, ut nunc in Christi no"mine fieri miracula nulla credantur. "Nam ego ipse quando istum ipsum "librum scripsi, ad Mediolanensium "corpora Martyrum in eâdem civitate cæcum illuminatum fuisse jam no"veram," &c. Vid. also Pope Greg. Mor. xxvii. 18. 46 in a word, they are not primarily and directly evidence of revelation, though they may become so accidentally, or to certain persons, or in the way of confirmation. That they are not the direct evidence of revealed truth, is fully granted by St. Augustine in the following striking passage from one of his works against the Donatists: "Let him prove that we must hold to the Church in Africa only, to the loss of the nations, or again that we must re"store and complete it in all nations from Africa; and prove "it, not by saying 'It is true, because I say it,' or 'because "my associate says it,' or 'my associates," or 'these our "Bishops,' 'Clerks,' or 'people;' or 'it is true because "Donatus, or Pontius, or any one else, did these or those "marvellous acts,' or 'because men pray at the shrines of "our dead brethren, and are heard,' or 'because this or "that happens there,' or 'because this brother of ours,' or "that our sister,' 'saw such and such a vision when he was "' awake,' or 'dreamed such and such a vision when he was asleep.' Put away what are either the fictions of men who "lie, or the wonders of spirits who deceive. For either what "is reported is not true, or, if among heretics wonders happen, we have still greater cause for caution, inasmuch "as our Lord, after declaring that certain deceivers were to "be, who should work some miracles, and deceive thereby, "were it possible, even the elect, added an earnest charge, in "the words, 'Behold, I have told you before.' Whence also "the Apostle warns us that 'the Spirit speaketh expressly, ""in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.' Moreover, if any one is heard who prays in the shrines of heretics, what he receives, whether good or bad, is con"sequent not upon the merit of the place, but upon the "merit of his own earnest desire. For the Spirit of the 'Lord,' as it is written, 'hath filled the whole world,' and |