THAT THE OTHER NEW TESTAMENT MIRACLES ARE PROBABLY TRUE.
(_A._) THEIR CREDIBILITY.
They present few difficulties; the casting out of evil spirits.
(_B._) THEIR TRUTHFULNESS.
(1.) General marks of truthfulness.
(2.) Special marks of truthfulness.
(_C._) THEIR PUBLICITY.
(1.) They occurred in public.
(2.) They were publicly appealed to.
(3.) They were never disputed.
(4.) The silence of classical writers.
(_D._) CONCLUSION.
Futile attempts to explain them away, the subject of
modern miracles.
Having discussed in the last two chapters the Resurrection of
Christ, we pass on now to the other New Testament miracles, and will
consider in turn their _credibility_, their _truthfulness_, and
their _publicity_.
(_A._) THEIR CREDIBILITY.
Now with one exception, the casting out of evil spirits, the
miracles present scarcely any difficulty provided miracles at all
are credible, which we have already admitted. Most of them,
especially those of healing, were very suitable from a moral point
of view, while that they were meant to confirm Christ's teaching and
claims is beyond dispute. Not only do all the Evangelists declare
this, but Christ Himself though He refused to work a miracle when
challenged to do so--He would not work one _to order_, as we might
say--yet appealed to His _public_ miracles in the most emphatic
manner.
Thus, when St. John the Baptist sent messengers to inquire whether
He was the Messiah, His only answer was, 'Go your way, and tell John
the things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and
the dead are raised up,'[330] etc. And this is specially important
because Christians would not have _invented_ an incident which shows
that Christ's own messenger had (apparently) lost faith in Him. Yet
it is not easy to separate his question from the reply which it
received; while if we admit that Christ gave this reply, it seems to
settle the question as to His working miracles.
[Footnote 330: Matt. 11. 4; Luke 7. 22; see also Mark 2. 10; John 5.
36.]
And He afterwards condemned Chorazin, and other cities, in the
strongest terms, because, although He had done so many miracles
there, they had not repented; which again shows both the publicity
of the miracles, and their intended evidential value.[331] And this
passage also is very important, since its genuineness is confirmed
by the fact that not a single miracle is recorded as having been
worked at Chorazin. Yet, if the Evangelists (or anyone else) had
invented the saying, they would surely have invented some miracles
there to justify it. If on the other hand, they did not invent it,
and the words were actually spoken by Christ, is it conceivable that
He should have blamed these cities for not believing on Him in spite
of His miracles, if He had done no miracles?
[Footnote 331: Matt. 11. 21-24; Luke 10. 13-15. Both this passage,
and the last, belong to Q, the supposed earliest source of our
Gospels.]
We pass on now to the _casting out of evil spirits_, which implies
that persons may sometimes be _possessed_ by such spirits, and this
is often thought to be a difficulty. But though our ignorance on the
subject is undoubtedly great, there is nothing incredible here. For
we have already admitted the _influence_ of such spirits (Chapter
XII.), and what is called _possession_ is merely an extreme form of
influence. Indeed, the accounts of mesmerism at the present day,
though they cannot always be trusted, seem to show that even one man
may so entirely _possess_ the mind and will of another as to make
him do whatever he wishes. And it is certainly no more difficult to
believe that this power may in some cases be exercised by an evil
spirit. With regard to the outward symptoms mentioned in the
Gospels, they seem to have resembled certain forms of madness;
though, as the patients are now kept under restraint in civilised
countries, they have not the same notoriety.
But it may be said, why ascribe this madness to an evil spirit? But
why not? Madness often follows the frequent yielding to certain
temptations, such as drunkenness or impurity; and that it may really
be due to the action of an evil spirit (an _unclean_ spirit is the
significant term used in the Gospels) and be the appropriate
punishment for yielding to _his_ temptation, is certainty not
incredible. And if so, considering the immoral state of the world at
the time of Christ, we cannot be surprised at such cases being far
more common then than now. And the writers, it may be added, do not
(like some early nations) attribute _all_ maladies to evil spirits,
for we read of men having fever and palsy, as well as being blind,
lame, deaf, and dumb, without any hint of its being due to an evil
spirit; so they were quite able to distinguish between the two.
There is, however, one instance--the swine at Gadara--of _animals_
being thus afflicted,[332] which undoubtedly forms a difficulty, and
I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of it. But still our
ignorance about animals, combined with the fact that they resemble
man in so many respects, prevents us from saying that it is
absolutely incredible. And as to the alleged _injustice_ of the
miracle (which is often objected to) we must remember that if Christ
were the Divine Being He claimed to be, the world and all it
contained belonged to Him; so His allowing the swine to be destroyed
by evil spirits was no more unjust to their owners, than if He had
allowed them to die by disease.
[Footnote 332: Matt. 8. 30-32; Mark 5. 11-13; Luke 8. 32-33.]
Lastly, all the Christian miracles lose a great deal of their
improbability when we consider the _unique position of Christ_. And
what would be incredible, if told of another man who had done
nothing to alter the history of the world, may easily be credible of
_Him_. We decide, then, that all the New Testament miracles are
_credible_: we have next to consider whether they are _true_.
(_B._) THEIR TRUTHFULNESS.
Now the testimony in favour of these miracles is very similar to
that in favour of the Resurrection of Christ. They are recorded by
the same writers and in the same books, and everything points to
these accounts being trustworthy. To put it shortly, the writers had
no motive for recording the miracles unless they believed them to be
true, and they had ample means of finding out whether they were true
or not; while many of them are such as cannot possibly be explained
by want of investigation, or an error in reasoning. Moreover, as we
shall see, they contain numerous marks of truthfulness. These may be
divided into two classes, _general_, or those which concern the
miracles as a whole; and _special_, or those which concern
individual miracles, or sayings about them; and we will consider
each in turn.
(1.) _General marks of truthfulness._
Among these we may notice first the extremely _simple and graphic_
way in which many of the miracles are described, such as the curing
of the man who was born blind, with the repeated questioning of the
man himself.[333] Then there is the raising of the daughter of
Jairus, and the curing of the man who was deaf and had a difficulty
in speaking, both of which are described with the most minute
details, including the actual Aramaic words spoken by Christ.[334]
It is difficult to think that they do not come from eye-witnesses.
And the same may be said of a large number of the miracles.
[Footnote 333: John 9. 8-34.]
[Footnote 334: Mark 5. 41; 7. 34.]
Secondly, the _kind_ of miracles ascribed to Christ seem (as far as
we can judge) to be worthy of Him. They were not for His own
benefit, but for that of other people, and they are a great contrast
to the imaginary miracles ascribed to Him in the Apocryphal Gospels,
most of which are extremely childish. When for instance Christ was a
boy, we read of His making clay birds fly; of His turning children
into kids for refusing to play with Him; and of His cursing another
boy who had run against Him, and who in consequence fell down
dead.[335] How different such miracles are from those in our Gospels
scarcely needs pointing out. Nor is the case of the _barren
fig-tree_, so often objected to, an exception. For the tree itself
could have felt no injury, and as far as we know, its destruction
injured no one else.
[Footnote 335: Gospel of the Infancy, chapters xv., xvii., xix.]
Thirdly, the miracles are closely connected with the _moral
teaching_ of Christ, and it is difficult either to separate the two,
or to believe the whole account to be fictitious. His wonderful
works, and His wonderful words involve each other, and form together
an harmonious whole, which is too life-like to be imaginary. Indeed,
a life of Christ without His miracles would be as unintelligible as
a life of Napoleon without his campaigns. And it is interesting to
note in this connection that our earliest Gospel, St. Mark's,
contains (in proportion to its length) the most miracles. As we
should expect, it was Christ's miracles, rather than His moral
teaching, which first attracted attention.
Fourthly, the miracles were as a rule miracles of _healing_: that is
to say, of restoring something to its natural state, such as making
blind eyes see; and not doing something unnatural, such as giving a
man a third eye. Miracles of either kind would of course show
superhuman power; but the former are obviously the more suited to
the God of Nature. And this _naturalness_ of the miracles, as we may
call it, seems to many a strong argument in their favour.
Fifthly, there were an immense _number_ of miracles, the ones
recorded being mere _examples_ of those that were actually worked.
Thus in St. Mark's Gospel we are told that on one occasion, Christ
healed _many_ who were sick with _divers_ diseases; on another that
He had healed so _many_, that those with plagues pressed upon Him to
touch Him; and on another that everywhere He went, into the
villages, cities, or country, the sick were laid out, so that they
might touch His garment, and _as many as touched Him were made
whole_.[336]
[Footnote 336: Mark 1. 34; 3. 10; 6. 56]
Sixthly, there was a great _variety_ in the miracles. They were of
various kinds, worked in various places, before various witnesses,
and with various details and characteristics. They occurred in
public as well as in private; in the towns as well as in the
country; at sea as well as on land; in groups as well as singly; at
a distance as well as near; after due notice as well as suddenly;
when watched by enemies as well as among friends; unsolicited as
well as when asked for; in times of joy, and in times of sorrow.
They were worked on the blind as well as the deaf; the lame as well
as the dumb; the leprous as well as the palsied; the dead as well as
the living. They concerned men as well as women; the rich as well as
the poor; the educated as well as the ignorant; the young as well as
the old; multitudes as well as individuals; Gentiles as well as
Jews; nature as well as man--in fact, according to our accounts, it
is difficult to imagine any miracles that could have been more
absolutely convincing.
Seventhly, the miracles of Christ were (with trifling exceptions)
worked _suddenly_. They were not like gradual cures, or slow
recoveries, but they were done in a moment. The blind man
_immediately_ received his sight; the palsied _immediately_ took up
his couch: the leper was _straightway_ cleansed; the infirm was
_straightway_ made whole; the dead _immediately_ rose up, etc.[337]
This was evidently a striking feature in the miracles, and the
Evangelists seem to have been much impressed by it.
[Footnote 337: Luke 18. 43; 5. 25; Mark 1. 42; Matt. 8. 3; John 5.
9; Luke 8. 55.]
Eighthly, many of the miracles were of a _permanent_ character, and
such as could be examined again and again. When, for instance, a man
who had long been lame, or deaf, or blind, was restored to health,
the villagers, as well as the man himself, could certify to the
cure for years to come. And miracles such as these are obviously of
much greater value than what we may call _momentary_ miracles (such
as Christ's calming the storm) where the only possible evidence is
that of the actual spectators.
Lastly, and this is very remarkable, the Evangelists nearly always
relate that Christ worked His miracles _by His own authority_: while
the Old Testament prophets, with scarcely an exception, worked
theirs by calling upon God. Take for instance the similar cases of
raising a widow's son.[338] Elijah prays earnestly that God would
restore the child to life; Christ merely gives the command, _I say
unto thee, Arise_. The difference between the two is very striking,
and is of itself a strong argument in favour of Christ's miracles;
for had the Evangelists invented them, they would certainly have
made them resemble those of the Old Testament. But instead of this,
they describe them as worked in a new and unprecedented manner, and
one which must at the time have seemed most presumptuous.
[Footnote 338: 1 Kings 17. 21; Luke 7. 14.]
The Gospel miracles then, from the simple and graphic way in which
they are described; their not containing anything childish or
unworthy; their close connection with the moral teaching of Christ;
their naturalness; their number; their variety; their suddenness;
their permanence; and above all from the authoritative way in which
they are said to have been worked; have every appearance of being
truth fully recorded.
(2.) _Special marks of truthfulness._
Moreover several individual miracles, and sayings about them, are of
such a kind as could scarcely have been invented. Take, for
instance, the raising of the daughter of Jairus.[339] Now of course
anyone, wishing to magnify the power of Christ, might have invented
this or any other miracle. But if so, he is not likely to have put
into the mouth of Christ Himself the words, _The child is not dead
but sleepeth_. These words seem to imply that Christ did not
consider it a miracle; and though we may be able to explain them, by
the similar words used in regard to Lazarus,[340] they certainly
bear the marks of genuineness.
[Footnote 339: Mark 5. 39.]
[Footnote 340: John 11. 11.]
We are also told, more than once, that Christ's power of working
miracles was _conditional_ on the faith of the person to be healed,
so that in one place He could do scarcely any miracles _because of
their unbelief_.[341] This is not the sort of legend that would have
grown up round a glorified Hero; it bears unmistakably the mark of
truthfulness. But then if the writer had good means of knowing that
Christ could do no miracles in one place, because of their unbelief;
had he not equally good means of knowing that Christ could, and did,
do miracles in other places?
[Footnote 341: Matt. 13. 58; Mark 6. 5-6; Luke 18. 42.]
And what shall we say of Christ's frequent commands to keep His
miracles _secret_?[342] There were doubtless reasons for this in
every case; but Christ's followers, who presumably recorded the
miracles in order to get them known, are not likely to have
invented, and put into His mouth the command to keep them secret.
Nor is Christ likely to have given it, had there been no miracles to
keep secret. Nor again is anyone likely to have added, unless it was
the case, that the command was generally _disobeyed_. This seems
surprising, yet it is very true to human nature that a man who had
been suddenly cured of a long complaint, should insist on talking
about it.
[Footnote 342: _E.g._, Mark 3. 12; 5. 43; 7. 36.]
In the same way the discussions about working miracles _on the
Sabbath Day_ have a very genuine tone about them and it is difficult
to imagine them to be inventions.[343] Yet such discussions could
not have arisen, if there had been no miracles on the Sabbath, or
any other day.
[Footnote 343: Mark 3. 1-5; Luke 13. 10-17; John 5. 9-16; 9. 14-16.]
Then there is the striking passage where Christ warned His hearers
that even working miracles in His name, without a good life, would
not ensure their salvation.[344] This occurs in one of His most
characteristic discourses, the Sermon on the Mount, and it is hard
to doubt its genuineness. But even if we do, it is not likely that
Christ's followers would have invented such a warning, if as a
matter of fact no one ever did work miracles in His name.
[Footnote 344: Matt. 7. 22.]
And much the same may be said of another passage where Christ is
recorded as saying that _all_ believers would be able to work
miracles.[345] If He said so, He must surely have been able to work
them Himself; and if He did not say so, His followers must have
been able to work them, or their inventing such a promise would
merely have shown that they were not believers. On the whole, then,
as said before, the accounts of the New Testament miracles have
every appearance of being thoroughly truthful.
[Footnote 345: Mark 16. 17.]
(_C._) THEIR PUBLICITY.
But the most important point has still to be noticed, which is the
alleged _publicity_ of these miracles; and as this renders the
testimony in their favour peculiarly strong, we must examine it at
some length.
(1.) _They occurred in public._
To begin with, according to our Gospels, all the miracles of Christ
occurred during His _public ministry_, when He was well known, that
at Cana being definitely called the first.[346] And as they were
meant to confirm His teaching and claims, it was only natural for
them to begin when His teaching began. But if they had been
invented, or had grown up as legends, some at least would have been
ascribed to His earlier years (as they are in the Apocryphal
Gospels) when there was less chance of their being disputed.
[Footnote 346: John 2. 11.]
Moreover, many of them are stated to have been worked openly, and
before crowds of people, including Scribes, Pharisees, and
lawyers.[347] And the _names_ of the places where they occurred, and
even of the persons concerned, are given in some cases. Among these
were _Jairus_, a ruler of the synagogue; _Lazarus_, a well known man
at Bethany; _Malchus_, a servant of the High Priest; and the
_centurion_ at Capernaum, who, though his name is not given, must
have been well known to the Jews, as he had built them a synagogue.
While the miracles recorded in the Acts concern such prominent
persons as the _proconsul_, Sergius Paulus, at Cyprus, and the
_chief man_, Publius, at Malta. And it is hard to overestimate the
immense difficulty of thus asserting _public_ miracles, with the
names of persons, and places, if none occurred; yet the early
Christians asserted such miracles from the very first.
[Footnote 347: _E.g._, Luke 5. 17-21.]
Take for instance the feeding of the five thousand, near the Lake of
Galilee. This is recorded in the earliest Gospel, St. Mark's, and
must therefore have been written down very soon after the event,
when a large number of the five thousand were still alive. Now is it
conceivable that anyone would have ventured to make up such an
account, even twenty years afterwards, if nothing of the kind had
occurred? And if he had done so, would not his story have been
instantly refuted? Or take the case of healing the centurion's
servant at Capernaum. This, as before said, belongs to Q, the
supposed source common to Matthew and Luke, and admitted by most
critics to date from before A.D. 50. And how could such a story have
been current within twenty years of the event, if nothing of the
kind had occurred?
It is also declared that the miracles were much talked about at the
time, and caused widespread astonishment. The people _marvelled_ at
them, they _wondered_, they were _amazed_, they were _beyond measure
astonished_, there had been nothing like them _since the world
began_.[348] The miracles were in fact the talk of the whole
neighbourhood. And we are told that in consequence several of those
which occurred at Jerusalem were at once officially investigated by
the Jewish rulers, who made the most searching inquiries about
them;[349] and in two instances, at least, publicly admitted them to
be true.[350] And this also is not likely to have been asserted,
unless it was the case; and not likely to have been the case, if
there had been no miracles.
[Footnote 348: Matt. 9. 33; 15. 31; Mark 5. 42; 7. 37; John 9. 32.]
[Footnote 349: _E.g._, John 9. 13-34; Acts 4. 5-22.]
[Footnote 350: John 11. 47; Acts 4. 16.]
(2.) _They were publicly appealed to._
Moreover, these public miracles were _publicly appealed to_ by the
early Christians. According to the _Acts_, this was done in the very
first public address, that at Pentecost, by St. Peter, who reminds
his hearers that they had themselves seen the miracles (_even as ye
yourselves know_), as well as in one other speech at least.[351] And
this is important, because even those critics, who deny the
genuineness of the Acts, yet admit that these speeches date from a
very early time. And if so, it shows conclusively that some of
Christ's immediate followers not only believed themselves that He
had worked miracles, but spoke as if their opponents believed it
too.
[Footnote 351: Acts 2. 22; 10. 38.]
That they are not more frequently alluded to in the Acts is not
surprising, when we remember that, according to the writer,--and he
was an _eye-witness_ in some cases, as they occur in the _We_
sections,[352]--the Apostles themselves worked miracles. There was
thus no occasion for them to appeal to those of Christ as proving
the truth of what they preached; their own miracles being quite
sufficient to convince anyone who was open to this kind of proof.
But still the important fact remains that in the first recorded
Christian address the public miracles of Christ were publicly
appealed to. And this was within a few months of their occurrence;
and at Jerusalem, where the statement, if untrue, could have been
more easily refuted than anywhere else.
[Footnote 352: Acts 16. 18, 26; 28. 6, 8-9.]
Passing on to _St. Paul's Epistles_; it is true that they do not
contain any reference to Christ's miracles, except of course the
Resurrection. But as they were not written to convert heathens, but
to instruct those who were already Christians, there is nothing
surprising in this; and they do not mention any of His parables
either. On the other hand, they do contain direct reference to
_Apostolic_ miracles. St. Paul in two of his undisputed Epistles
positively asserts that he had worked miracles himself; and he uses
the same three words, _signs_, _wonders_, and _mighty works_, which
are used in the Gospels to describe the miracles of Christ.[353]
[Footnote 353: Rom. 15. 18, 19; 2 Cor. 12. 12.]
The second passage is extremely important, since he speaks of them
as the _signs of an apostle_; and calls upon his opponents at
Corinth to admit that he was an apostle _because_ he had worked
these miracles. And this implies not only that the miracles were
done in public, but that his readers as well as himself believed
that the power of working miracles belonged to all the Apostles. And
it will be noticed that he is addressing the very persons among
whom he declares he had worked the miracles; which makes it almost
inconceivable that his claim was unfounded, quite apart from the
difficulty of believing that such a man as St. Paul would wilfully
make a false statement.
From all this it follows that the first preachers of Christianity
not only appealed to Christ's miracles; but also to their own, in
support of their claims. And, as just said, how they could have done
so, if they worked no miracles, is not easy to understand.
We next come to a class of writings where we should expect to find
Christ's miracles alluded to, and these are the first Christian
_Apologies_. Nor are we disappointed. The three earliest, of which
we have any knowledge, were by Quadratus, Aristides, and Justin; the
first two being presented to the Emperor Hadrian, when he visited
Athens, A.D. 125.
_Quadratus_, in a passage preserved by Eusebius, lays stress on what
we have called the _permanent_ character of Christ's miracles. He
says: 'The works of our Saviour were always conspicuous, for they
were real; both they that were healed and they that were raised from
the dead were seen, not only when they were healed or raised, but
for a long time afterwards; not only whilst He dwelt on this earth,
but also after His departure, and for a good while after it,
insomuch that some of them have reached to our times.'[354]
[Footnote 354: Eusebius, Hist., iv. 3.]
_Aristides_ bases his defence of Christianity on its moral
character, and does not appeal to any public miracles, though as
before said (Chapter XIV.) he asserts the Divinity, Incarnation,
Virgin-birth, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ.
Lastly, _Justin_, about A.D. 150, not only specifies many of
Christ's miracles; but also says in general terms that He 'healed
those who were maimed, and deaf, and lame in body from their birth,
causing them to leap, to hear, and to see by His word. And having
raised the dead, and causing them to live, by His deeds He compelled
the men who lived at that time to recognise Him. But though they saw
such works, they asserted it was magical art.'[355] Justin, however,
does not base his argument on miracles, but on prophecy, because, as
he tells us again, the former might be ascribed to magic.
[Footnote 355: Dial., 69; Apol. 1. 30.]
But still, the actual occurrence of the miracles, he evidently
thought to be indisputable. He even says that the Emperor and Senate
can learn for themselves that Christ worked miracles (healing the
lame, dumb, and blind, cleansing the lepers, and raising the dead)
by consulting the _Acts of Pilate_.[356] And this certainly implies
that such a document, whether genuine or not, then existed in Rome;
and that it contained an account of the miracles. Thus two out of
the three earliest writers in defence of Christianity appealed to
Christ's miracles, in the most public manner possible, when
addressing the Emperor.
[Footnote 356: Apol. 1. 48, 35.]
(3.) _They were never disputed._
But now comes another important point. Though these public miracles
were publicly appealed to by the early Christians, and though
written accounts of them were in circulation very soon after they
are stated to have occurred; yet, as far as we know, they were
_never disputed_. And this is the more remarkable, since they are
said to have been worked among enemies as well as friends. They were
thus peculiarly open to hostile criticism; and we may be sure that
the bitter opponents of Christ, who had brought about His death,
would have exposed them if they could. Yet, as just said, they were
never disputed, either by Jews or Gentiles; though, of course, they
both denied their evidential value.
The _Jews_--that is to say the Scribes and Pharisees--did this, by
ascribing them to the Evil One. And though this was a very strange
expedient, as their effect was obviously good, and not evil, they
had really no alternative. The common people were much impressed by
the miracles, and were anxious to welcome Christ as their
Messiah;[357] yet the Pharisees decided that such a man as this--so
unlike what they expected--could not possibly be their Messiah. They
had then to explain away the miracles somehow. And since they denied
that they were worked by God, they were bound to ascribe them to the
Devil, for these were the only supernatural powers they believed in;
though of course both of these had subordinate angels under them.
But we may ask, would the Jews have adopted such an expedient had
there been any possibility of denying that the miracles occurred?
Yet that they did adopt it can scarcely be disputed. It is
positively asserted in each of the first three Gospels;[358] and
Christians are not likely to have reported such a horrible
suggestion as that their Master was an agent of the Evil One, unless
it had been made.
[Footnote 357: John 6. 15; Mark 11. 10.]
[Footnote 358: Matt. 9. 34; 12. 24; Mark 3. 22; Luke 11. 15.]
The _Gentiles_ on the other hand, believed in a variety of gods,
many of whom were favourable to mankind, and could be invoked by
_magic_; so they could consistently ascribe the miracles to some of
these lesser deities; or, in popular language, to magic. And we have
abundant evidence that they did so. As we have seen, it is expressly
asserted by Justin, who in consequence preferred the argument from
prophecy; and Irenæus did the same, and for avowedly the same
reason.[359]
[Footnote 359: Bk. ii. 32.]
Moreover, _Celsus_, the most important opponent of Christianity in
the second century, also adopted this view. His works are now lost,
but Origen in answering him frequently and positively asserts it;
saying that he often spoke of the miracles as _works of
sorcery_.[360] And though Celsus lived some years after the time in
question, it is most unlikely, if the early opponents of
Christianity had denied that the miracles occurred, that its later
opponents should have given up this strong line of defence, and have
adopted the far weaker one that they did occur, but were due to
magic. We are quite justified, then, in saying that Christ's
miracles were not disputed at the time, and considering their
alleged publicity, this is a strong additional argument in their
favour.
[Footnote 360: Origen cont. Cels., i. 38; ii. 48.]
(4.) _The silence of classical writers._
All that can be said on the other side is from the _silence_ of
classical writers. Had the miracles really occurred, it is said,
especially in such a well-known place as Palestine, the writers of
the day would have been full of them. Yet, with the single exception
of Tacitus, they do not even allude to Christianity; and he
dismisses it with contempt as a _pernicious superstition_.[361]
[Footnote 361: Tacitus Annals. Bk. xv., ch. 44.]
Now these words of Tacitus show that he had never studied the
subject, for whatever may be said against the religion, it certainly
was not pernicious; so he must have rejected Christianity _without
examination_. And if the other classical writers did the same, there
is nothing remarkable in their not alluding to it. Alleged marvels
were common enough in those days, and they probably did not think
the Christian miracles worth inquiring about. But we do not know of
any writer who did inquire about them, and was not convinced of
their truth.
It may, of course, be replied that some of the events ought anyhow
to be alluded to, such as the _darkness over all the land_ at the
time of the Crucifixion. And if this extended over the whole of
Palestine, it is certainly strange that it should not be noticed.
But it may only refer to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Compare the
expression _all the country of Judæa_[362] (when referring to the
people being baptized) which is evidently not meant to be taken
literally. And if the darkness was limited to the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem, there is nothing surprising in its not being recorded by
any except Christians, for whom of course it had a special
significance.
[Footnote 362: Mark 1. 5.]
It should also be noticed that in some respects the testimony of
Christian writers is _more_ valuable than that of either Jews or
Gentiles: since none of the writers of that country were brought up
as Christians. They were all unbelievers before they were believers;
and if such testimony from unbelievers would be valuable, it is
still more so from those who showed how thoroughly convinced they
were of its truth by becoming believers. Indeed, the best Jewish or
Gentile evidence conceivable is that of well-educated men, like St.
Paul and St. Luke, who, on the strength of it, became Christians.
Lastly, it must be remembered that the argument from silence is
proverbially unsound. We have, for instance, over two hundred
letters of the younger Pliny, and in only one of these does he
mention Christianity. Suppose this one had been lost, what a strong
argument could have been formed against the spread of Christianity
from the silence of Pliny, yet this one shows its marvellous
progress (see Chapter XXII.). This objection, then, is quite
insufficient to outweigh the positive testimony in favour of the
miracles, to which we have already alluded.
(_D._) CONCLUSION.
In conclusion we must notice certain rationalistic explanations
which have been given of the miracles. It was hardly to be expected
that, with such strong evidence in their favour, the modern
opponents of Christianity would merely assert that the accounts
were pure fiction from beginning to end. Attempts have of course
been made to explain the miracles in such a way that, while
depriving them of any supernatural character, it may yet be admitted
that some such events occurred, which gave rise to the Christian
accounts.
The miracles of _healing_ are perhaps the easiest to explain in this
way, as some wonderful instances of sudden, though natural, cures
have been known. But it is doubtful whether any of Christ's miracles
were of such a kind, for St. Paul is careful to distinguish between
_gifts of healing_ and _working of miracles_.[363] Both were
evidently known to the early Church, and known to be different.
[Footnote 363: 1 Cor. 12. 9-10, 28.]
And of course no such explanations will apply to most of the
miracles, which have to be got rid of in various other ways. Thus
Christ's walking on the sea is explained as His walking on a ridge
of sand or rock running out just under the water; the raising of
Lazarus as his having had himself buried alive, so that when Christ
came, there might be a pretended miracle;[364] and feeding the five
thousand as nothing more than the example of Christ and His friends,
who so freely shared their small supply with those around them, that
others did the same, and thus everyone had a little. It seems
scarcely necessary to discuss these theories in detail, as they are
all most improbable.
[Footnote 364: This extraordinary theory was maintained by Rénan in
the earlier editions of his _Life of Jesus_, though he afterwards
abandoned it.]
Moreover, their difficulties are all _cumulative_. The Christian
explanation has but _one_ difficulty for all the miracles, which is
that they _are_ miracles, and involve the supernatural. Once admit
this, and twenty miracles (provided they occur on suitable
occasions) are no more difficult to believe than two. But the
difficulties of these explanations are all cumulative. If for
instance, the raising of Lazarus is explained by his having been
buried alive, it does not account for Christ's walking on the sea.
If this is explained by the supposed ridge of sand, it does not
account for feeding the five thousand, etc. Thus each difficulty has
to be added to all the others, so taken together they are quite
insuperable.
One other point has still to be considered, which is the subject of
modern miracles. Why, it is said, are there no miracles _now_, when
they could be properly tested? If they were really employed by God
as helps to the spread of His religion, why should they not have
accompanied it at intervals all along, as it is said they did the
Jewish religion? They are surely wanted for the support of
Christianity at the present day; and if God were, _after due
warning_, to work a public and indisputable miracle every
half-century, all the other evidences of Christianity might be
dispensed with.
The answer to this objection is that the Christian revelation does
not claim to be a gradual one, like the Jewish; but a final and
complete revelation, made once for all through Christ and His
Apostles. Therefore, as there is to be no fresh revelation, there
can be no fresh miracles to confirm it. The question of _other_
miracles, such as those which are said to have been worked by
Christians at various periods, need not be considered here. If
_true_, they would of course tend to prove the New Testament ones;
while, if _untrue_, they would not disprove them, any more than
imitation diamonds would disprove the existence of real diamonds.
Of course, it may be replied that God might still work a miracle now
by a man, who stated that it was not to confirm anything that he
said himself, but merely what the Founder of Christianity had said;
and this is no doubt possible. But it would be a different method
from that recorded in the Bible, where a messenger from God always
brings his own credentials, even though, as in the case of a
prophecy, they may not be verified till afterwards. And what reason
have we for thinking that God would change His method now? It is
also very doubtful whether a public miracle at the present day,
would convince everybody.
This objection, then, must be put aside, and we therefore conclude,
on reviewing the whole subject, that the New Testament miracles are
not only _credible_, but that there is extremely strong evidence in
their favour. Indeed their marks of _truthfulness_, combined with
their alleged _publicity_, form together a very powerful argument.
And it is rendered all the stronger by their having been so
thoroughly successful. Their object was to establish the truth of
Christianity, and this is precisely what they did. The evidence they
afforded was so decisive, that a hostile world found it
irresistible.
Moreover it is doubtful whether any other religion, except, of
course, the Jewish, has ever claimed to have been confirmed by
public miracles. Christianity thus rests upon a unique foundation.
Unlike other religions, it appealed at first not to abstract
reasoning, or moral consciousness, or physical force, but to
miraculous events, of the truth or falsehood of which others could
judge. They did judge, and they were convinced. We decide, then,
that the New Testament miracles are probably true.