CHAPTER III. CLASSIFICATION OF THE EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELATION. MIRACLES.-A MIRACLE DEFINED.-THE GENERAL ARGUMENT STATED. 1. THE evidences of Divine Revelation may be classed under three heads, external, internal, and collateral. Under the first of these is included the argument which establishes the authenticity of Scripture, and the credibility of the history which it contains; together with the proofs from miracles and prophecy. The internal evidence is derived from a consideration of the doctrines taught, the morality inculcated, and the character of the Founder of Christianity, together with the marks of consistency, integrity, and piety of the writers of the Scriptures which are inherent in the record. Under this head is also included the adaptation of Christianity to the wants of mankind, and the effects which it produces in renovating and improving human nature. The collateral evidence embraces the consideration of those circumstances which furnish powerful proofs, though somewhat less direct than the former, of the authority of divine revelation. This classification, though it has been objected to, is sufficiently accurate and comprehensive for our purpose. 2. With respect to miracles, the primary external proofs of revelation, it is necessary that we distinctly define what we mean by them. A miracle is an extraordinary work or event, different from the established course of things, or known laws of nature, wrought either by the immediate act, or by the permission of God, for the proof of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the authority of some particular person. 3. According to this definition, the design of miracles is simply to make known to mankind, that it is the Al mighty Maker and Ruler of all things who addresses them, and that whatever is accompanied with this species of evidence, comes from him, and claims their implicit belief and obedience. Whenever an effect happens which is an evident and sensible deviation from the laws known to be established in nature, such an effect cannot be accounted for but by admitting the interposition of God. On the other hand, no event, however uncommon or extraordinary, can, according to the definition given, be viewed as miraculous which does not absolutely exclude all possible solutions from natural causes. 4. The definition assumes the fact, that there is an established constitution of things; that the course of events is fixed; and that similar causes will produce similar effects: It assumes that the laws of nature are universal as they are uniform in their operation; that the order which pervades all nature, and on which we reckon with confidence, is the result, in regard to inanimate matter, not of necessary connexion, but of divine appointment. The will of God unites in exact regularity the phenomena with which we are surrounded. To a Being who is omnipresent, and whose will can accomplish all that is possible, it is no effort to effect by his own immediate efficiency every thing that exists. All power is his, and whatsoe'er he wills 5. It is equally evident and certain that no created power, without the permission of God, can disturb this arrangement, on the stability of which the happiness of man as well as of the inferior animals depends. The laws which the Creator has established for the accommodation of sentient and rational beings will not be suspended or reversed but by his own power or appointment; and as the order which has been fixed by infinite wisdom was the best that could have been chosen in reference to the beneficent purposes intended to be se cured, we may be assured, that no deviation from that order ever has been, or ever will be, permitted, but for some very important end foreseen and provided for by the Almighty. 6. It would, however, be unreasonable to argue, as some have done, that because the laws of nature are thus uniform in their operation, or, in other words, because the mode in which the Deity conducts the government of the world is fixed with unvarying precision, therefore no deviation from those laws, no inversion of this order, is possible. For, what greater exercise of power is required to effect such deviation than is necessary to the maintenance of the course of nature? The same divine power which has created all things, and which upholds all things, can surely suspend or alter the constitution which it has established. No one who believes in the existence, perfections, and providence of God, can consistently doubt the possibility of miracles. To say that he is obliged to act only in the way in which he usually acts, is virtually to deny his being and perfections. 7. The question regarding the probability of miracles is of a different nature. Being deviations from the laws established by infinite wisdom, they are not to be often expected, nor upon slight occasions. We cannot suppose that they will be performed excepting in circumstances and for ends worthy of the special interposition of God. I observe (I.) That to authenticate a revelation from God is a purpose worthy of miraculous interposition. So much is this the case, that the idea of a revelation includes that of miracles. A revelation cannot be made but by a miraculous interposition of the Deity. But what object can be worthier of his interposition than to reveal to mankind, involved in ignorance and error, his own being and perfections, the immortality of the soul, a future and eternal state, the mode in which the forgiveness of sins may be obtained, and the happiness of eternity secured? "Of all the inhabitants of the earth, man is incomparably the noblest. Whatever, therefore, regards the interests of the species, is a grander concern than what regards either the inanimate or brute creation. If man was made for an afterstate of immortality, whatever relates to that immortal state, or may conduce to prepare him for the fruition of it, must be immensely superior to that which concerns merely the transient enjoyments of the present life. How sublime then is the object which religion, and religion only, exhibits as the ground of supernatural interpositions. This object is no other than the interest of man, a reasonable and moral agent, the only being in this lower world which bears in his soul the image of his Maker, not the interest of an individual, but of the kind; not for a limited duration, but for eternity; an object, at least in one respect, adequate to the majesty of God."* 8. A revelation from God, and miracles wrought by God in attestation of that revelation, or of the divine commission of those who make it, are essentially connected. On the supposition that a divine revelation is given, this mode of attesting its divinity is suitable and necessary. For though the instruments employed to convey such communication from God to his intelligent creatures were men of known veracity, whose affirmation would be admitted as sufficient evidence for any fact in accordance with the laws of nature; yet, as every man knows by experience, that a revelation from heaven is a deviation from these laws, he who lays claim to the character of a teacher sent from God must prove his commission by credentials which indubitably bear the divine signature. Would not the power of suspending or inverting the established constitution of nature, or, in other words, the power of working miracles, be necessary and sufficient for this purpose? If, while there was nothing in the doctrines taught that was absurd, impious, or immoral, the teacher appealed to * Campbell on Miracles, p. 53. God for the reality of his claim to divine inspiration, by raising, in our presence, to life a person who had been dead, by calling upon him to come forth from his grave,—we should have the most complete evidence for believing that the instructor was sent from God. Would not the only objection to the truth of his declarations, arising from the extraordinary nature of his claims, be removed by the performance of the miracle? When so much preternatural power was visibly communicated to this person, no one could have any reason to question his having received an equal portion of preternatural knowledge. A palpable deviation from the known laws of nature in one instance is a sensible proof that such a deviation is possible in another; and in such a case as this, it is the witness of God to the truth of man. I therefore observe, 9. (II.) That the evidence furnished by miracles to the truth or divine authority of the doctrines in proof of which they are wrought is complete. The nature of the evidence of miracles in attestation of a divine revelation may be briefly stated thus: A miracle, which is a sensible deviation from the laws of nature, cannot be wrought but by the power of God, employed immediately by himself, or mediately by the instrumentality of others. If it be highly probable, considering the necessities of man, and the goodness of God, that a revelation should be given, it is not less probable, that the persons through whose agency such revelation is given should have the power of working miracles in confirmation of its truth. But from our knowledge of the wisdom and goodness of God, it appears altogether inconsistent with these attributes of his nature, that he should suffer a miracle to be wrought to establish a falsehood, and that he should do so in regard to concerns of infinite moment, since such procedure would leave his intelligent creatures in perpetual uncertainty,-an uncertainty that would be most painful to the virtuous, who have always wished most for a revelation. We have, therefore, a moral certainty that the evidence furnished |