Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-15

of mystery. It is not alone in the realm OF
the miraculous that a spiritual cause pro-
duces a physical effect. Is it impossible
that "there is sphere Of free-will above the
human, in which as IN the human-not
physical law, but spiritual. moves natter?
must we not maintain that the miraculous Is
at least possible?
This brings us to the second assertion:
That the miraculous is improbable. Hume
has stated the case against the probability
of miracles with great ingenuity. We
arrive at our decisions, he says, by bal
ancing of probabilities If one man says
saw it thus, and five other honest and
equally informed witnesses say, mo, but
we saw it so" we doubt the one mans
affirmation. But in the case of miracles we
have on one side the testimony OF few wit
nesses, and on the other side the testimony
of almost universal human experience.
The miraculous is improbable.
Humes' argument !. very strong, indeed,
against any single miracle. 1t explains the
need that there is that every assertion of a
miracle should be most rigidly Investigated.
So far as particular instances are concerned,
Hume is perfectly right. Every assertion OF
an occurrence of the miraculous is improba-
BILE.
WHERE THE BRIDGE BREAKS.
when it touches the very point which we
are now considering. So far from there be-
ing any improbability of the miraculous as
entering somewhere and somehow into hu-
man history, there is on the contrary dis
tinct probability of it. For remember that
we are starting with the assertion of the eI-
istence of God. Out OF that we are draw
ing our inferences Is it likely, there being
God who cares for men, and who desires
that we should keep His willis 1t likely
that such a Being would never make
His existence unmistakably known? I will
have more to say on this head when come
to speak of revelation. But I am content
to mingle the testimony OF a comparatively
few instances in one scale against the testi-
mony of almost universal human expert
ence in the other scale, if can add to the
first scale this immense likelihood, that God
will somehow enter plainly into history
somewhere. That, it seems to me, makes q
denial of the probability OF the miraculous
difficult.
The most important question Of all, how
ever, is the question of fact. We may show,
at least to our own satisfaction, that the
miraculous is both possible and probable,
but we have not gained much unless We
can show that the miraculous is veritiable.
Is it a fact7 Did miracle ever really
happen?
The assertion OF the miraculous cannot be
too critically tested. It ought to be pnt
under the strongest light. Can it be myth
or legend? Can it be fact seen through
dim eyes, and SO misreputed and misinter-
preted? Can it be fact exaggerated in the
memory of it, or taken by credulity into the
realm of mystery? What are the mental
and moral conditions under which this
asserted miracle" is seen? The genuinely
miraculous will stand all tests.
THE MIRACLE OF RESURRECTION.
Did miracle ever really happen? Yes.
Of at least one miracle we can be perfectly
sure. What miracle is that? The miracle
OF the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth died upon the cross
After that something happened Something
happened, else how will you Iexplain such
a change of day as that from Saturday to
Sunday; how else came that old Sabbath to
be set aside? Something happened; else how
will you account for the existence of the
Christian Church? The cross was the crisis
of a career of failure. The whole move
ment" headed by Jesus of Nazareth, which
month by month had been visibly declining
for at least q year, seemed ended on the
cross. All the apostles. even, had forsaken
their Master, and left him to die alone.
They were but Hebrew peasant people, any
way, not one of them possessed of any
genius, any originality or even indepen-
dence of thought, not one OF them brave
enough to be hero or good enough to be
saint. The Master was dead. The COM
pany of followers was broken up. Nothing
was left. Then something happened which
changed everything. some cause came in
whose effect is the Christian Church. What
was it?
Did half dead Christ come TO life again?
Such q pitiful cripple, with wounded feet
and hands, could have awakened no en-
thusiasm.
Did the disciples see vision? Whatever
it was, it continued with them more than a
month, talked with them, ate with them,
appeared in many places to many people,
convinced the doubling, and uttered words
whose commands are still to-day being full
filled. As for visions, it is the expectant
who see visions. The disciples expected
nothing. That is the unbroken testimony.
But perhaps the apostles made it all up?
Nobody is willing to maintain that. They
said that they had seen Christ alive after
His crucifxion. That would explain things.
That would be cause commensurate with
the effort No other theory ever approaches
an adequate explanation. Here is a miracle
which happened. GEORGE HODGES.