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Page 7
(40) We may conclude, then, that we cannot gain knowledge of the existence
and providence of God by means of miracles, but that we can far better infer
them from the fixed and immutable order of nature. (41) By miracle, I here
mean an event which surpasses, or is thought to surpass, human
comprehension: for in so far as it is supposed to destroy or interrupt the
order of nature or her laws, it not only can give us no knowledge of God,
but, contrariwise, takes away that which we naturally have, and makes us
doubt of God and everything else.
(42) Neither do I recognize any difference between an event against the laws
of nature and an event beyond the laws of nature (that is, according to
some, an event which does not contravene nature, though she is inadequate to
produce or effect it) - for a miracle is wrought in, and not beyond nature,
though it may be said in itself to be above nature, and, therefore,
must necessarily interrupt the order of nature, which otherwise we conceive
of as fixed and unchangeable, according to God's decrees. (43) If,
therefore, anything should come to pass in nature which does not follow from
her laws, it would also be in contravention to the order which God has
established in nature for ever through universal natural laws: it would,
therefore, be in contravention to God's nature and laws, and, consequently,
belief in it would throw doubt upon everything, and lead to Atheism.
(44) I think I have now sufficiently established my second point, so that we
can again conclude that a miracle, whether in contravention to, or beyond,
nature, is a mere absurdity; and, therefore, that what is meant in Scripture
by a miracle can only be a work of nature, which surpasses, or is believed
to surpass, human comprehension. (45) Before passing on to my third point, I
will adduce Scriptural authority for my assertion that God cannot be known
from miracles. (46) Scripture nowhere states the doctrine openly, but it can
readily be inferred from several passages. (47) Firstly, that in which Moses
commands (Deut. xiii.) that a false prophet should be put to death, even
though he work miracles: "If there arise a prophet among you, and giveth
thee a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder come to pass, saying, Let us
go after other gods . . . thou shalt not hearken unto the voice of that
prophet; for the Lord your God proveth you, and that prophet shall be put to
death." (48) From this it clearly follows that miracles could be wrought
even by false prophets; and that, unless men are honestly endowed with the
true knowledge and love of God, they may be as easily led by miracles to
follow false gods as to follow the true God; for these words are added: "For
the Lord your God tempts you, that He may know whether you love Him with all
your heart and with all your mind."
(49) Further, the Israelites, from all their miracles, were unable to form a
sound conception of God, as their experience testified: for when they had
persuaded themselves that Moses had departed from among them, they
petitioned Aaron to give them visible gods; and the idea of God they had
formed as the result of all their miracles was - a calf!
(50) Asaph, though he had heard of so many miracles, yet doubted of the
providence of God, and would have turned himself from the true way, if he
had not at last come to understand true blessedness. (See Ps. lxxxiii.) (51)
Solomon, too, at a time when the Jewish nation was at the height of its
prosperity, suspects that all things happen by chance. (See Eccles. iii:19,
20, 21; and chap. ix:2, 3, &c.)
(52) Lastly, nearly all the prophets found it very hard to reconcile the
order of nature and human affairs with the conception they had formed of
God's providence, whereas philosophers who endeavour to understand things by
clear conceptions of them, rather than by miracles, have always found the
task extremely easy - at least, such of them as place true happiness solely
in virtue and peace of mind, and who aim at obeying nature, rather than
being obeyed by her. (53) Such persons rest assured that God directs nature
according to the requirements of universal laws, not according to the
requirements of the particular laws of human nature, and trial, therefore,
God's scheme comprehends, not only the human race, but the whole of nature.
(54) It is plain, then, from Scripture itself, that miracles can give no
knowledge of God, nor clearly teach us the providence of God. (55) As to the
frequent statements in Scripture, that God wrought miracles to make Himself
plain to man - as in Exodus x:2, where He deceived the Egyptians, and gave
signs of Himself, that the Israelites might know that He was God,- it does
not, therefore, follow that miracles really taught this truth, but only that
the Jews held opinions which laid them easily open to conviction by
miracles. (56) We have shown in Chap. II. that the reasons assigned by the
prophets, or those which are formed from revelation, are not assigned
in accordance with ideas universal and common to all, but in accordance with
the accepted doctrines, however absurd, and with the opinions of those to
whom the revelation was given, or those whom the Holy Spirit wished to
convince.
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