A THE CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. TESTIMONY Communicates to us the greatest part of our knowledge of actual existence, and its evidence may arise to such a height, as to be perfectly equivalent to that of sense or demonstration.* A man who has never travelled out of Great Britain, is, by testimony alone, as much convinced of the existence of France and America, as he is of the existence of that country in which he resides. No one seriously doubts that there was such a city as ancient Rome, and that it flourished under certain forms of government. Its history has been recorded in the works of several historians, and these, bearing the stamp of antiquity, and the impress of truth, have been transmitted to the present time from distant ages. Certain subordinate circumstances in these histories may be feigned or misrepresented. But there are leading facts which none call in question. All, for instance, are convinced that there existed such a man as Julius Cæsar; that he lived about the time which history testifies; that he wrote commentaries of many * Probable evidence is essentially distinguished from demonstrative by this, that it admits of degrees, and of all variety of them, from the very lowest presumption to the highest moral certainty. of his exploits; and that he gave rise to a new form of government, which continued for ages, and produced very important effects. The truth of these events is so firmly established by the general and concurrent testimony of history, that were certain learned men now to arise, and, without being able to produce any ancient contradictory statements, to endeavour to destroy their authority, it would argue the greatest folly and weakness to be moved by their reasonings. like manner, the truth of other facts which happened in distant periods is substantiated, and upon such evidence almost the whole business and intercourse of human life are conducted. In On the same grounds of historical testimony, but furnished to us in a measure far more extensive, and connected, moreover, with a variety of other kinds of evidence, we are assured of the fact, that Jesus Christ appeared in the world, and that he was born, and lived, and died in the country of Judea. This is attested by contemporary historians; and no man acquainted with history can be so absurd as to admit the reality of the existence of Julius Cæsar, and at the same time to deny that of Jesus of Nazareth. This fact is admitted by the greatest enemies to Christianity; and it is also acknowledged on all hands, that the Christian religion, which is professed at this day, took its rise from Jesus Christ, and in the age in which he lived: Till then it is never mentioned; but from that period it begins to be noticed by historians, shortly after becomes the subject of public edicts, and afterwards produces revolutions in government, both more important and more permanent than that which Julius Cæsar effected. To diminish the force of this statement, it may be replied, that while it cannot be denied that we have the same kind of evidence for the fact of the existence of Jesus Christ as of Julius Cæsar, yet the whole tenor of the history of the latter is according to the common course of events, while that of the former is entirely different. It is true that the history of Julius Cæsar presents nothing dissimilar to the appearances we constantly witness, and what is related of him readily accounts for all that he accomplished. But it is also true that, while the divine mission of Jesus Christ must, from its nature, like the creation of the world, stand alone, the miracles that accompanied his life, and attested his doctrine, consisted of matters of fact, which, being evident to the senses of those who witnessed them, and of such a nature that they could not be mistaken, are, equally with common occurrences, the subjects of credible testimony. It has indeed been laid down as a maxim by some, that no human testimony is sufficient to prove a miracle, which has been defined to be a work in which the stated laws of nature are departed from, suspended, or controlled. But if human testimony cannot be admitted as the proof of this, it must be because such a work is in its nature either impossible or incredible. Respecting the impossibility of miracles, if by the stated laws of nature be meant a physical necessity, under which God acts, it is evident that in this case there could be no such thing as a miracle; but this is absolute atheism. To affirm, then, that a suspension or alteration of the laws of nature is impossible, is to confer on them the attributes of Deity, and to declare that they are supreme; and their having no superior, precludes the existence of God as well as of miracles, or it represents him as subordinate to his: own laws. But whoever believes in the being and omnipotence of God, must be convinced that he has power to interfere in his own works, and to make such interference manifest, and likewise to alter or suspend those laws by which he is pleased usually to regulate them. Yet, when this is admitted, an idea seems to prevail, that the world has been so formed, and its laws so permanently fixed, that, after being once set in order, all proceeds of itself like the motion of a machine, in the absence, and without the interference, of him who constructed it. This, indeed, is the perfection of any work of man, who, owing to his limited nature, can only be present in one place, and employed in one way, at the same time. But such an idea is totally inapplicable to the Supreme Being. The Scriptures represent God to be infinite. Vast as we believe the universe to be, it has its bounds, but we must go beyond them to conceive of God. "The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him.”— "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? As high as heaven, what canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." We cannot conceive of God but as everywhere present, and upholding all things by the word of his power. This can occasion to him no weariness, no distraction, no waste. "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."-"Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" The whole of the Scripture histories represent God as working on the right hand and on the left, though men do not discern him, and as constantly maintaining and directing all things. Without him, "not a sparrow falls to the ground."-" My Father," says Jesus Christ, "worketh hitherto, and I work." These descriptions accord with every idea we can form of God, and this belief of his constant operation, is far more consistent than the notion that certain laws were at first impressed on matter, which, under the name of the course of nature, continue to operate, without the interference of the Creator. For what is the course of nature but the agency of God? It has been justly denied, that the course of nature is a proper active cause, which will work and go on by itself without God, if he permits it. The course of nature, separate from the agency of God, is no cause, or nothing. It is impossible that it should continue of itself, or go on to operate by itself, any more than to produce itself. God, the original cause of all being, is the only cause of all natural effects. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, "It is the will of the mind that is the first cause, that gives subsistence and efficacy to all these laws; who is the efficient cause that produces the phenomena which appear in analogy, harmony, and agreement, according to these laws." "In compliance with custom," says Dr Reid," or perhaps to gratify the avidity of knowing the causes of things, we call the laws of nature causes and active powers. So we speak of the powers of gravitation, of magnetism, of electricity. We call them causes of many of the phenomena of nature; and such they are esteemed by the ignorant and the half learned. But those of juster discernment see that laws of nature are not agents. They are not endowed with active power, and therefore cannot be causes in the proper sense." "The reason," says Warburton, |