St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1906-10-31

historians who treat of this subject is
Gibbon. In his history of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire he goes
deliberately into it, under the head of
the early Christians. l quote briefly
from his work:
1.-The Christian Church, from the time
of the apostles and their first disciples,
has claimed an uninterrupted success
sion of miraculous powers, the gift of
tongues, of vision, and of prophecy, the
power of expelling demons, of healing
the sick, and of raising the dead.
The expulsion of the demons from the
bodies of those unhappy persons whom
they had been permitted to torment,
was considered as a signal though ordi-
nary triumph of religion, and is repeat
edly alleged by the ancient apologists,
as the most convincing evidence of the
truth of Christianity. But the mirac-
ulous cure of diseases of the most in
yeterate or even preternatural kind,
can no longer occasion any surprise,
when we recollect that in the days of
Iren@us, about the end of the second
century, the resurrection of the dead
was very far from being considered an
uncommon event; that the miracle was
frequently performed on necessary oc-
casions, by great fasting and the joint
supplicatiOn of the church of the place.
and that the persons thus restored had
lived afterwards among them many
years."
In the course Of his remarks Mr..
Gibbon refers to the prevailing skepti-
cism of those early times in terms that
might well be applied to many modern
skeptics, both within and without the
churches. He says
''At such a period, when faith could
boast of so many wonderful victories
over DEATH it seems difficult to account
for the skepticism of those philoso-
pliers, who still rejected and derided
the doctrine of the resurrection. 4.
From the first of the fathers to the last
of the popes, a succession of bishops, of
saints, and martyrs, and of miracles,
is continued without interruption. i.
Every age bears testimony to the Won
derful events by which it was dis
tinguished, and it's testimony appears
no less weighty and respectable than
that of the preceding generation, until
we are insensibly led on to accuse our
own inconsistency, If in the eighth or
the twelfth century we deny to the ven
cradle Bede or to the holy Bernard, the
same degree of confidence which, in the
second century, we had so literally
granted to Justin or to Iran@us. If
the truth of any of those miracles is
appreciated by their apparent use and
propriety, every age had unbelievers to
convince, heretics to confute, and idola-
trous nations to convert; and sufficient
motives might always be produced to
Justify the interpOsition of heaven"
am the possessor of a set of the
writings of the Ancient Apologists re-
ferred to by Gibbona They constitute
library of eight volumes. l have read
them with much interest and profit
and, as Gibbon says, they go infinitely
into the history of healing sickness and
raising the dead by the early Christians
through the efficacy of prayer and fast
ing. We understand that fasting, as
used by the ancient Christians, meant
simply right or righteous living. That
manner of living which brings men into
their true relationship to God and His
law
In direct line with the above quote
from an able article by Prof J. K
| Mosley, published in the Christian
| Science Sentinel of November 7th, 1903
Prof. Mosley says:
l and
| political and departed from the pure
and simple faith of the primitive Chris
tan Fathers, these special manifesto
| tons of Gods healing and resurrection
power became less pronounced and less
| frequent; but healing through direct
spiritual means has been believed in
| and to q certain extent practiced, II
every age of the Christian Church. The
healing will of God has been re-empha
sized and re-demonstrated in ever!
spiritual movement and religious re
| form that sought to bring man into
closer unity with the Mind and nature
| of Christ. In their days of Creates
spirituality and conservation, specia
signs of healing followed the work o.
the Waldenses, the Moravians, thu
Huguenots, the Covenanters, thu
Friends, the Baptists, and the Metho
| dists. Some healing followed the work.
| of Luther, and John Wesley was tirn
believer in the power and willingness
of God to heal the sick. His journa
contains many reports of healin,
through direct spiritual means. III
even prayed for his horse, and claime'
remarkable answers to prayer over tn
elements
1t is interesting here to quote a few
words from Southey's Life of Wesley
SAYS Southey: "He related cure
wrought by his faith and his prayers
which he considered and represented
as positively miraculous. BY thinking
strongly on a text of Scripture, whicl
promised that these signs should FOLLOW
those that believed, and by calling o.
Christ to increase his faith and confirm
the word of his grace, he shook off In
simultaneously, he says a fever whic
had hung upon him for some days, an
was in moment freed from all pain
and restored to his former strength.
Wesley had evidently read with n
greet the seeming dereliction of the Oh
Testament priests as indicated by til
prophet Ezekiel, 34th Chapter, Al
verse: "The diseased have We nj
strengthened, neither have We heale
that which was sick, neither have J
bound up that which was broke
neither have We brought again tn;
which was driven away, neither hay
| w sought that which was lost :" for