Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1876-03-29
Miracles.

Epiphanius tells us that at each ami.
versary of the miracle of Cana the water
of the springs of Cibyra in Caria anG
Gerasa in Arabia was changed into
wine; that he himself had drunk of the
transformed water of Cibyra, and his
brothers of that of Gerasa. Fifty years
ago plain Englishman would have
had no difficulty in thinking that the
Cana miracle was true, and the other
miracles were fables. He is now IRE
sistibly led to class all these occurrences
in one category as unsubstantial tales
of marvel. Scales seem TO drop from
his eyes in regard to miracles, and il
he is to hold fast his Christianity, it
must no longer depend upon them. 1t
was not TO discredit miracles that Liter
dtltre and Dogma was written, but be-
cause miracles are so widely and deeply
discredited already. And it is lost la
Dor, we repeat, 10 be arguing for or
against them. Mankind did not origi-
nally accept miracles because it had for
NAL proof of them, but because its i'm
perfect experience inclined ii to them.
Nor will mankind now drop miracles
because it has formal proof against them,
but because its more complete expert
ence detaches it from them. The final
result was sure, as soon as ever miracles
began to embarrass people, they began
to be elegated-especially the greater
miracles-to certain limited period
long ago over. Irenaus says that peo-
pie in his time had arisen from the
dead, sand abode with us a good num-
Der of years." One of his commenta-
tors, embarrassed by such stupendous
miracles occurring outside of the Bible,
tries to explain away the remarkable
allegation, but the most recent editor of
1ren8us points out, with truth, that the
attempt is vain. Iren9us was as sure
TO want and to find miracles as the BIZ
ble-writers were. And sooner or later
mankind was sure to see how univer-
sally and easily stories like this of Ire
naus arose, and that they arose with
the Bible-writers just as they arose with
Irenaus, and are not whit more solid
coming from them than from him.
A Catholic imagines that he gets over
the difficulty by believing, or protesting
70 believe, the miracles of Irenaus and
tEpiphanius as well as those of the BIZ
t't riuers. But for him, too, even for
non,;. nn,n; tne Time Spirit is gradually be-
ooniihg 700 strong. As we NAV saw in |
Sherai' that, although an educated |
Irotestant 4 may manage to retain for
ms own lifetime the belief in miracles
IN winch he has been brought mn We,
ms children will lose it; SO to an edncas
oeu catholic we may saw, putting tba
Shahge only little further of. that fun1
less some unforeseen deluge should over
Whelm European civilization Ieoy;n,
everything TO be begun anewS his
grandchildren will lose il. Thay ,nso
it insensibly, as the last century has
seen the extinction, among the educa-
ted classes, of that belief in witchcraft
which, in the century previous a man
like Sir Matthew Hale affirmed to have
the authority of Scripture and of the
wisdom of all nations-spoke of, in
short, just as many religious people
speak of miracles now. Witchcraft is
but one department of the miraculous;
and it was comparatively easy, no doubt,
TO abandon one department when men
had the rest of the region to fall back
upon. Nevertheless, the forces of ex-
perience which h ave prevailed against
wltchcraft will inevitably prevail also
against miracles at large. and that by
the mere progress of time. The charge
OF presumption, and of setting ones
self up above all the great men of past
days, above "the wisdom of all nations -
which is often brought against those
who pronounce the old view of our re-
hgion to be untenable, springs out of a