Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-07
HERE'S AN ARGUMENT
Faith TempletOn EXcepts to Gail
HamiEton's Idea of the
SCIENCE OF CHRISr'S MIRACLES,
And Asks Why, if They Can be Duplicated,
No One Has Obtained
PATENT TO MAKE WINE FROM WATER
WRITTEN FOR THE p1spA1cH.l

EOh THE DISPAICHsI
1t was argued and decided in last SUM-
days DISPATCH; that the miracles Of the
New Testament were neither unscientifc
nor unreasonable, but in strict harmony
with Gods laws. 1t is refreshing to have
this fact established with so little difficulty
and apparently beyond a peradventure.
Still, as assurance is not always set down as
argument, perhaps we may be pardoned for
asking q little more light upon certain
points, not so clear to US as to this trained
thinker" and scientific expounder of pro-
gressive theology.
She says: "With the wider and higher
views that theology shares with and learns
from all other sciences, theologians see that
miracle is not the violation of law but the
action Of law. Miracle is not even q
deviation from known law" 'The
wont of science is not to deny the ap-
pearance of the deviation but to account
for it.
Now, will Miss Hamilton, with her
thorough knowledge of the modus operandi
of miracles and the processes of the Deity,
for the benefit of those who have not at
tanned to her state of mental proficiency,
deal little more in specialties and little
less in generalities in her next letter to the
public?
A TIMELY DISCOVERY.
Will she tell US, in regard to that first
miracle-upon which she touches so lightly,
yet comprehends SO clearly-by what pro-
cess of reasoning she sees that instead of
being inconceivable, it is conceivably credi-
IL
| turned into wine Of the finest flavor, with
only the action of pouring it into jars and
| drawing it forth again. She modestly con-
fesses that the science is not hers, but we
would suggest that she make careful study
of it, in view Of the amendment being car
ried, and the marvellous industry that would
result from a comprehensive knowledge of
| this special science in the near future.
She informs us-not in the concise man
| ner of one who says of Gods work in the
creation: "He spake and it was done; He
commanded and it stood fast'-but we
gather this one idea from column or more
of verbiage, that Christ was an advanced
scientist playing upon the credulity of the
| ignorant by flashing his superior knowledge
of the chemical afinities of elements He
had created upon the world; s'and never
| pretended any miracle more absurd-to all
but the credulous-than to hear a man talk
ing 100 miles away"
Without this positive assurance we should
undoubtedly have continued in the ignorant
belief that not one of the miracles of Jesus
Christ had ever been duplicated; that not a
single patent had ever yet been taken out
upon even the least of these, by any erudite
scientist of any age or nation, appropriating
the idea involved, with slight variation OF
process, as his own. Will Miss Hamilton.
in her next treatise upon science and theol-
ogy. cite to US an instance of this kind, and
explain the analogy between either miracle
and any known science, with which she is
SO competently equipped.
FOR CHINA's SAKE.
Will she inform US how five loaves and
two small fishes can be made to satisfy the
hunger OF 5000 people? Such knowledge
would be the salvation of famine-stricken
| China at this moment. The natural and
easy requirement of walking upon the
water, if properly understood, would be-
come a saving act, in the event of sinking
! ship at sea, and any hint aiding in the at
tainment Of such knowledge would be CRATE
! fully appreciated by ocean travellers, and
| generally utilized in all cases where toll
bridges embarrass the pedestrian.
In the realm of medical science, instan-
taneous healing, we might suppose, had
never been SO successfully and and perma-
nently performed, in cases of original NAL
formation or pestilential disease, as in the
| few remarkable instances recorded in the
New Testament Scriptures.
But these and all other miracles seem
minimized, as in fancy we stand beside the
grave of Lazarus, with bowed and reverent
head, surrounded by group of mourners
and hear the anguished voice of Mary the
broken-hearted sister, sobbing out Che des-
pairing thought: "Lord, by this time he
stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. +"
And then to listen to the simple appeal to
the Father, and thrill to the magnetic and
startling cry:
LAZARUS, COME FORTH"
And to behold the solid earth rent and
the grave to give up its dead! We should
| have exclaimed with another: "Surely this
man is the son of GodP' At the summons
| of that voice, we are told, Lazarus came
forth, bound hand and foot with the cere-
ments of death, and the Master only said:
''Loose him and let him CO."
| Will Miss Hamilton tell us now that this
voice that broke the dead was but the key
note of sound, for which patient search is
being made, the vibrations of which are con-
fidently expected to yet revolutionize the
forces of nature? We wait her lucid expla-
nation of these rather marvellous events.
Mrs. Humphrey Ward says: "Miracles
do not happen" We agree with her. They
were specially designed by omnipotent wis
dom to establish the divinity of Jesus
Christ and to set up His kingdom upon the
earth, and the history of almost !, 300 years
is incontrovertable evidence of their ef-
! 6cienoy. FAITH TEMPLETON.