The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-08
POPULAR APoLoGETICs.
Adapted from the German of Rev
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev.
James Watcher.
David Strauss and Miracles.

universally valid laws of what hap
pens the miracle is irreconcilable
According to correct philosophical
ideas and all attested experience, the
Absolute Causality never interferes
by special acts with the chain of spe
cial CASUALTIES, manifesting itself
only in the production of the whole
complex of limited causality and its
reciprocal effect [Strauss (f1S74)
Life of Jesus, End Germ. ed, L., p
102
Answer: y What does Strauss
understand by absolute Causality"?
At the end of his life he declared
plainly that he did not believe in a
personal, eXtramundane .(outside of
the WORLD God. Hence he lacks the
correct philosophical idea of God and
the world, and hence his poor "Abso
Cute Causality," his pantheistic divin,
Ity chat the whole world is an i'm.
personal God, is naturally entirely
helpless against the universally valid
laws of what happens" whilst our
Almighty Creator of heaven and earth
stands powerfully above His works
and rules the laws which He laid
down.
y If Strauss appeals to the "at-
tested experience" it is amusing to
see how he, and all those who follow
him, move nicely in the circulus
vitiosus, the vicious circle &c. g. prov
ing A by B and B by Az. First they
declare that miracles can't be &C
Cepted; Why? Because there are no
attested reports from experience. But
If we bring such reports, e. g., the
Gospels, then they say Immediately
that these reports are not trustworthy.
And If we ask why? Because they
report miracles and miracles can not
be accepted. Strauss continues after
the above quoted words of the
'ObjectiOn": Wherever a document
reports an apparition or event with
the express or implied affirmation that
1t comes directly from God &c. g.,
voices from heaven, apparitions of
God, etC.), or of human individuals
with supernatural powers from God
(mlracles, prophCSies), in that case
we must not acknowledge it as a his
tOrical report. Thus infidels and ra-
tionalists move in a circle and do not
come nearer the truth.
With the same logic" Father Lud-
wig Won Hammerstein, S. j., Chris
tentum, p. go proves to Prof. Strauss
that there is no such mountain as
Chin1bOrazo Ga high mountain in
South America), for the reports of
travellers, who tell about Chimborazo,
are not trustworthy. And why are
they not trustworthy? Just because
they tell about Chimborazo. And
why can there not be a Chimborazo?
Because it is against all experience.
That is the logic" of DR.. Strauss.
We common human beings say:
Whether miracles have happened or
not, philosophy can not tell us. We
must consult experience for that. If
experience reports to us reliable
events that transcend the powers of
nature, we look for a higher reason or
cause. No believer in God can deny
the possibility of miracles. For God
certainly can do as much with His
work as matchmaker can do with
his watch; he can move the hand for
ward or Backward etc., something
the watch can not do.
%. Miracles and the Laws of Nature,
Objection: 1t is the great triumph
of modern science to have proved the
Interchangeable constancy of the laws
of nature: every arbitrary action is
excluded; from the blazing sun in the
armament to the smallest atom every
thing follows it's course and laws.
Exceptions, miracles, are not possible.
Answer: For nature itself, certain
ly not, nor for the small lord Cor
better, steWard) of nature, miracles
are not possible. J. J. Rousseau
(T177S), the patriarch of infidelity,
says: IF any one claims in earnest
that God can work no miracles, one
does him too much honor to answer
him: it is sufficient to order a place
for him in an insane asylum
p A sthe things of nature them
selves so also their working accord
ing to law is the work of God. He
is the Lord of their working as we'll
as of their being. Even man is not
powerless in regard to the work of
his hand. Can't a machinist substi-
tute his hand sometimes for minutes
instead of a lever or replace weight,
without interfering with the working
of the machine?
Why then should God not be able.
to use the forces of nature to produce
effects which nature alone can not
do?
Already man knows how to use the
forces of nature in various ways. The
law of nature says: Overcompressed
steam bursts the boiler. The intelli-
gence of man releases steam by max
ing it move a piston and thus we OBJ
tain steam power to run the ma
chinery of the world.
How much more can the highest
Intelligence, God, make the forces of
nature His servant to produce such
effects which we cannot attain!
Furthermore, why should God not
be able to attain directly by His al