appearance.

Now, we believe that it is just as wonderful, and contrary to the
experience of a lifeless world, that life should appear on that world,
as that it is contrary to the experience of the present state of things,
that a dead body should be raised.

When he asserts that a miraculous event is contrary to uniform
experience, we can only reply that it is not contrary to the experience
of the Evangelists, of St. Peter and St. Paul, and of the other Apostles
and companions of the Lord; that it was not contrary to the experience
of the multitudes who were miraculously fed, and of the multitudes who
were miraculously healed. When it is replied to this, that we have
insufficient evidence of the fact that these persons witnessed miracles,
we rejoin that there is far greater evidence, both in quality and
amount, for these miracles, especially for the crowning one, than there
is for any fact of profane history; but, if there was twice the evidence
that there is, its reception must depend upon the state of mind of the
recipient himself.

If a man, whilst professing to believe in "a God under whose beneficent
government we know that all that is consistent with wise and omnipotent
law is prospered and brought to perfection," yet has got himself to
believe that such a God cannot introduce into any part of the universe a
new power or force, as for instance that He is bound not to introduce
vital force into a lifeless world, or mental power into a reasonless
world, or moral power into a world of free agents, but must leave these
forces to work themselves out of non-existence;--if it man, I say, has
got himself to believe in such a Being, he will not, of course, believe
in any testimony to miracles as accrediting a Revelation from Him, and
so he will do his best to get rid of them after the fashion in which we
have seen the author of "Supernatural Religion" attempt to get rid of
the testimony of Justin Martyr to the use of the Four Gospels in his
day.

SECTION XXI.

OBJECTIONS TO MIRACLES.

I will now briefly dispose of two or three of the collateral objections
against miracles.

1. The author of "Supernatural Religion" makes much of the fact that the
Scripture writers recognize that there may be, and have been, Satanic as
well as Divine Miracles, and he argues that this destroys all the
evidential value of a miracle. He writes:--

"Even taking the representation of miracles, therefore, which
Divines