The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-12-02
MIRACLES MADE EASY.
An Able Argument for the
Almighfy's Power.
DIR. Driver Proves Miracles Of
Scripture by the Natural
Laws of Creation.

the G1dts1cc q the Flfe- - L coItC1.
Friday night. fhst ingesolFs mistakes
were mach worse than those of Moses. he
succeeded stfil more last evening. for he
convinced his fe~ hundred auditors in the
sane little vestrY-roorn that there have
truly been such miracles as the bible
speaks Of, aad that, notwithstanding mans
constant doubling, such miracles IS have
been. and such az are yet TO be, are easy
possibilities with God. .-Nirseles'' was bis
Subject and they were explained IN
sach n Logical and illustrative way
that his listeners were actually led either
20 ask II everything was not miraculous, or
fall miracles are not simply the results
in various WAYS Of Gods immutable laws,
whether law. acting upon matter, laws OPP
Grating forces and influences. or laws of
logic, intelligence, cause and effect, etc. !:
and the doctors illustrations were not un-
ike those Of the savior, viz: The things
around us-the propeller screw, the birds
wing, machinery. the clock, and many
others The conflict between materialism
and Christianity he explained easily by
com peusztfon and satisfaction-fhe princi-
pie which allows the bad TO Overcome"
not suspend gravity. the Law which per-
mits the screw 10 propel the steamer
through the water, and even against the
current. the same law which aids the sailor
who taeks his schooner against the wind,
indeed, the same law by which right over
comes wrong, and Jesus is to overcome the
world. By showing up the error of the
doctrine Of spontaneous generation, as
proved false by Huxley's transmission of
life"-that life must come from iife-Dr.
Driver elinehed his argument that therei is
no such thing as suspension of natures
al EaF IA " los nr
The law of compensation and satisfaction is
the same law la nature, science and re-
HgiOn. The sun and the heat OF the sun
all one thing-weFe beautifully brought
into his argument to show the eternity,
divinity, emanation from God, and the
sameness as God, of the divine man Jesus.
The Savior was an incarnation, and so is
all ereatioB-the entire universe, every
thought OF intelligence, every effect Of
natural force, the progression of humanity,
IL Is all incarnation The trouble with
people generally is that they take q mis-
conception OF the statements of the Bible.
Their interpretations are too narrow, and
confined within the scope of their own
ideas: but DR.. Driver appeals to nature
itself 10 make foolishness the teachings OF
maierialsm; and his scope includes the
whole universe TO demonstrate the iLfinity
OF Gods power. None could go back of
Gods eternity, nor find the maker of the
existence in the boundless ages of the
future. God was never idle, never
VIII be. His hands constantly working
In everything around us can be plainly
seen in all things aud everywhere. DIR.
Driver went into details. aud then com
pretended ages and mighty strides of ere
alton and vast realms of life to demon
strate all this. So far as the theory of sus-
pension would operate, take the miracle of
making the sun stand still, for instance as
recorded in the book OF Joshua 1t would
neeessitate, according to Prof. o, N.
Mitchell, three separate exertions of
Almighty power, viz: To stop the earth's
revolution on its axis, to hold the equa-
torial oceans from rushing to the poles,
and TO again start aud establish the
earth's revolution as before. This is the
very proof positive of the law OF compen-
satan, that when the centrifugal force 10
gravity. was suspended. then gravity would
cause the waters to rush to the poles and
deluge all the northern hemispheres, even
tearing away the equatorial land, and
Transforming the earth from sphere TO
cylinder, and this. all within one second,
destroying the work of ages. But in the
way Of confrolment by the immediate ex-
ertion OF Almighty power, making differ
ent combination and arrangement of the
forces, it became possible to over
come this law, and that by
the natural law OF refraction
DETECTING the rays of the sun. Thus, for
the space of time stated, the suns light
was detected and "the sum- or light from
the sun, stood still until the armies OF Israel
became victorious. The atmosphere has
the power of blending the rays OF the sun,
much as the refraction OF the
water viii apparently bend the spoke
OF buggy wheel. To understand
DIR. Drivers lecture better. il may be well
TO bear In mind that he starts out with the
INTERPRETATION nj kA Lob Nrd
10Th, meaning q token or sign. or an
extraordinary exertion OF power and that
Is the proper miracle as translated, no
matter what meaning common usage may
have given 1t to-day. In conclusion says
the lecturer:
'lf miracle is a departure from uni J.
form and well established course of events,
recording but one departure in the history
OF the world or within the knowledge OF
man, then the existence and preservation
of the Jewish people is the greatest miracle
ever witnessed or recorded on the face of
the earth.
Make circuit of the globe aud in every
civilized nation you can enter Jewish
synagogue and see a worship aud people
that have descended from the cradle OF the
human race, with an ordinance and an
eesiry reaching back 500 years before
Homer sang the siege of Troy; with statutes
and Laws that have moulded the civilized
world, given them a thousand years be-
fore Alexander marched on his con
quest against the world Their an
cestral tree was full of bloom in
the days of Hannibal. Cyrus and
Caesar. Their prophets sang the funeral
dirge OF Tyre, Babylon, aud Nineyeh.
They have seen the worlds growth from
the patriarchs 10 our presidents; its progress
from the war chariot to the iron-elad, from
the parchment to the steam printing press.
add now, like the founder of their institu-
ton on the mountain top, their eve s
not dim nor their natural force abated. :"
For two thousand years they have been
separated till climate has changed their
skin. Their tongues speak the language of
all nations. yet their blood COWS in but one
channel and their faith has never changed
Prosecuted aud robbed since the days of
their dispersion, yet they hold the purse
strings Of the world like the bush in
which God appeared to Moses, ever bura-
Ing hnt never yet consumed. A quarter Of
million OF them live in the United states,
aud Yet they cost less for crime than
MultuOmeh county costs Oregon: and
from the days OF their idolatry. polvga-
my, and slavery. they have had hut one
guide, one rule OF life; and yet by imnious
lips this Teacher has been called immoral.
with such results as well might IL be
said that our OK teams made better
time than locomotives. To read these pro
pheiic delineatianS of their own prophets.
with their promised preservation and re-
stuTat!Ou, u the marvel Of the world"