The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-11-03
POPULAR APoLoeETIcs.
Adapted From the German of Rev.
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev.
James Watcher.
SECTION w.
81. Miracles Not movable.

) H..
Objections: Even if / concede that
miracles are possible, still dispute
the possibility of knowing them as
such, at least clearly
Answer: l prove to you that many
miracles, even if not ALL can be
known with the greatest certainty and
clearness; for
/. The real facts, as historical facts,
can be verified with certainty: e. g.,
the public miracles of Christ and His
apostles and others.
g In many cases we can say with
full certainty that the wonderful fact
surpasses by far the forces of ma
ture.
g. We can also be certain about
the author of a miracle. For even if
one would assume higher spirits as
the authors, it is clear that good spir-
its can only act in unison with God,
and thus the miracle effected by them
would come ultimately from God. But
whether evil spirits are at the bottom
is easy to know, either from the I'M
worthy object, or from the immortality
of the purpose, or from the bad char
acter of the wonder-worker, or from
The manner which is unworthy of
God (charlatanism), or from the bad
effects and consequences. The devil
betrays himself somewhere and some
how by his hoof
God must take care that we can
know this deception, otherwise He
would deprive Himself of the means
to give revelations to men and ap-
prove and attest them by miracles
80. Miracles, the Dearest Child of
Faith.
Objection: Faith belongs to the
miracle; faith is the indispensable
supposition of the miracle. Who be-
lieyes sees miracles everywhere, and
is gladly deceived by them. But this
credulity has diminished considerably
in the last decades" From an article
of Frankfurter fortnightly, entitled:
The Collapse of the Belief in Mir
acles."
Answer: For the acceptance of
miracle we need not faith, but thor
ough investigation of the real facts
and logical conclusion that a SUI
pernatural cause is acting, if the
natural causes are clearly insufficient.
Hence not: faith belongs to the
miracle but "the miracle belongs to
faith" that is, if l am to believe some
one reasonably, who claims to be
messenger of God, he. must prove by
miracles the truth of his assertion.
The miracle is, therefore, apologet-
ically considered, not "the dearest
child of faith but a reasonable and
earnest leader to faith. Christ said:
Though you will not believe Me, be-
lieve the works" John x, 38), that is,
the miracles I do, which prove My di-
vine mission.
No earnest Catholic, well educated
in his religion, secs miracles every
where" on the contrary, he knows
how rigorous and cautious the Church
is in investigating miracles. There
fore, not who believes" but the
credWpus, "sees miracles everywhere"
or who, contrary to the, Church, judg-
ing hastily or stupidity, GLADLY be-
lieves in miracles"
That this credulity has diminished
considerably is very desirable. But
the reasonable belief in miracles re-
mains, based on solid ground; it suf-
fers no collapse"
But what collapses with so many of
our modern people is the belief in
God; but with the disappearance of
this belief many other things col
lapse; mans honor morality and hap
piness.
SO. The Two Scales of the Balance.
Objection: If / believe in miracles
on the testimony of others, l have on
one scale the moral certainty that the
witnesses have observed correctly and
reported truthfully, and on the other
scale the physical certainty (which is
greater) of the constancy of the laws
of nature, which excludes miracles.
Evidently the latter scale is heavier
than the former; hence, can not ac-
cept the report of miracles. Hume,
Strauss and others.)
Answer: On the latter (physicaD
scale lies enormously false weight.
It4is the false assertion that the con-
stancy of the laws of nature excludes
miracles. The laws of nature do not
say: There can be no Miracles,
but only: Through mere natural
causes there can be no miracle
But whether there is a divine inter
vention can be ascertained in certain
cases by unquestionable witnesses and
confirmed by logical conclusion, for
example, by the raising to life of "a
dead person: verify the actual death,
then the actual life of the person, and
what the miracle-worker did.
Please, therefore, take the false
weight from the scale!