The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-01
POPULAR APoLoGETlcs.
Adapted from the German of Rev.
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev..
James Watcher.
Section Ill. Miracles.

i
r Section Ill. Miracles.
No bonds of Nature bind the Almighty
Hand;
BY wonders we divine things under
stand.
-Ionotus.
20. Miracles in the Past and Present
Objections: With the knowledge of
nature the belief in miracles disap-
pears. A wagon that runs without
without oars, a speaking and writing
wire, all these and other things, for
us of everyday occurrence, would
have been considered great miracles
by the good monks of DID,
Answer: If wagon would run
without any motive power, or az ship
would go upstream without rudder,
propeller, or steam, etc., at the mere
motion of the captains hand, that
would also be considered miracle in
our days.
The monks of the middle ages
dSIOulSDGQ
at the sight of steam ship Or loco
motive the same as our fathers and
grandfatherS; but be assured they
would have discovered the real state
of affairs very soon the same as peo-
pie do in our days.
You know no doubt that such
monk of old discovered gun powder,
but the other monks did not consider
1t miracle.
81. Miracles and Science.
Objections: In our days no man of
science believes any more in miracles.
All science is hostile to miracles.
Answer: y Science" has refused
to accept many thing without there
by changing the facts.
Till the beginning of the 10Th cen
fury it was considered impossible by
all scientists that stone could fall
from heaven. The learned Vienna
professor Stuetz wrote in 1890 about
the big meteorite which fell near
Agram a city of Hungary, in 1751:
That that iron fell from heaven, even
the enlightened heads Of Germany in
1751 may have believed on account of
the then prevalent uncertainty in
natural history and physics But it
would be objectionable in our days
to hold such fairy-tales even as prob
able"
In several museums such stones
were thrown away, so as not to be
considered ridiculous by keeping
them.
In the same year 1890 stone fell
near ufilac in France, and the mayor
sent a written report signed by 800
eye witnesses, to the Academy of Sci
ence. But the reporter of the Acad-
envy, Bertholon, said, that COM
munity with such foolish mayor, be-
lieving such fairy-tales, is to be pitied,
and added: How sad it is to see
whole municipality subscribe to
formal report on popular myths,
which can only be pitied! What shall
] add further to such report? All
remarks are self-evident to the reader
of philosophical education, if he
reads this authentic evidence of an
evidently false fact, of physically
impossible phenomenon"
The learned physicist and geologist,
A. Deluc (f1S17), otherwise SO cool
headed, says even, that if such
stone would drop at his feet, he would
have to say indeed that he had seen
it, but would not believe it. Also
Vaudin said that one must rather
deny fatty such incredible things
than try to explain them. That was
the opinion of the French Academy,
which at that time indisputably domi-
mated science.
Today we do not only accept the
possibility of such falls of stone, but
it has been calculated that such
phenomena take place about 700 times
every year on the whole earth. (Karl
Braun S. J. Kosmogonie, Sd ed, D.
378
The proud science" of infidels
pitied the poor, foolish people with
their fairy-tales, and still the people
were right; their so-called fairy-tales
were the unvarnished truth, as every
one knows now, and science made
itself ridiculous.
But all this disgrace did no good;
the modern infidel says with the fool
ish Delue and Vaudin, if they hear the
most authentic accounts of miracles,
even if he would see it, he would not
believe, and such incredible things
have to be rather denied than to try
to explain them.
But this is no honest striving after
truth, but the power of the will,
which does violence to inconvenient
truth.
p If by science we understand
only the natural Sciences excluding
philosophy, then indeed it is not the
office of science to give final de-
cision on miracles, but it has simply
to examine critically the facts; the
conclusions are drawn by sound hui
man reason and sound philosophy.
To give a decision in such matters
would be- an invasion of foreign ter
ritory for science.
81 We can easily understand the
infidels fear of miracles. A single