,,miracles                      ,,and   
,,supernatural ,,religion               
,,by      ,,james ,,morris ,,whiton1    
,,ph4,d4 7,,yale7      ,portentum non   
fit contra naturam1 sed  contra quam est
 nota natura                            
--,,augustine                     ,new  
,york            ,,the ,,macmillan      
,,company        ,,london3 ,,macmillan  
,,co41 ,,ltd4                     #aijc 
,all rights reserved                    
,,copyright1 #aijc1            ,,by     
,,the ,,macmillan ,,company4   ,set up1 
electrotyped1 and published ,may1 #aijc4
                    ,norwood ,press     
,j4 ,s4 ,cushing  ,co4--,berwick  ,smith
 ,co4             ,norwood1 ,mass41     
,u4,s4,a4     ,transcriber's ,note3     
,minor typographical errors have been   
corrected without note4 ,variant        
spellings have been retained4 e         
represents e with upper macron4     ,to 
,m4 ,b4 ,w4     ,,prefatory ,,note      
,while the present subject of discussion
 tempts to many an excursion into       

particulars1 its treatment is restricted
 to general outlines1 with an aim simply
 to clarify current ideas of miracle and
 the supernatural1 so as to find firm   
holding ground for tenable positions in 
the present drift period of theology4   
,the chief exception made to this       
general treatment is the discussion     
given to a class of miracles regarded   
with as much incredulity as any1 yet as 
capable as any of being accredited as   
probably historical events--the raisings
 of the dead4 ,the insistence of some   
writers on the virgin birth and         
corporeal resurrection of ,jesus as     
essential to ,christianity has required 
brief discussion of these also1 mainly  
with reference to the reasonableness of 
that demand4 ,as to the latter miracle1 
it must be observed that in the         
,biblical narratives taken as a whole1  
whichever of their discordant features  
one be disposed to emphasize1 the       
psychical element clearly preponderates 
over the physical and material4         

,j4 ,m4 ,w4  ,,new ,,york1    ,april    
#aa1 #aijc4     ,,contents              
,,page  ,,introductory                  
#ac   ,,the ,,argument                  
,i   ,the gradual narrowing of the      
miraculous element in the ,bible    by  
recent discovery and discussion4--,the  
alarm thereby    excited in the         
,church4--,the fallacy which generates  
the    fear4--,the atheistic conception 
of nature which generates    the        
fallacy4--,the present outgrowing of    
this conception4           #be          
,,ii   ,the present net results of the  
discussion of the miraculous    element 
in the ,bible4--,evaporation of the     
former evidential    value of           
miracles4--,further insistence on this  
value a    logical blunder4--,the       
transfer of miracles from the           
artillery to the baggage of the         
,church4--,probability of a    further  
reduction of the list of                
miracles4--,also of a    further        
transfer of events reputed miraculous to

 the domain    of history4              
#cg                                     
,,iii   ,arbitrary criticism of the     
,biblical narratives of the raising     
of the dead4--,facts which it           
ignores4--,the subject    related to the
 phenomena of trance1 and records of    
premature burial4--,the resuscitation in
 ,elisha's tomb    probably             
historical4--,jesus' raising of the     
ruler's    daughter plainly such a      
case4--,his raising of the widow's      
son probably such4--,the hypothesis that
 his raising of    ,lazarus may also    
have been such critically               
examined4--,the    record allows this   
supposition4--,further considerations   
favoring it3 #a4 ,the supposition       
threatens no real interest    of        
,christianity4--#b4 ,enhances the       
character of the act as a    work of    
mercy4--#c4 ,is independent of the      
belief of the    witnesses of the       
act4--#d4 ,is coherent with the general 
conception of the healing works of      

,jesus as wrought by a    peculiar      
psychical power4--,other cases4--,the   
resurrection    of ,jesus an event in a 
wholly different order of               
things4--,the practical result of       
regarding these    resuscitations as in 
the order of nature4                    
#dg                                     
,,iv   ,a clearer conception of miracle 
approached4--,works of ,jesus    once   
reputed miraculous not so reputed now1  
since not now    transcending as once   
the existing range of knowledge and     
power4--,this transfer of the miraculous
 to the natural    likely to            
continue4--,no hard and fast line       
between the    miraculous and the       
non-miraculous4--,miracle a provisional 
word1 its application narrowing in the  
enlarging mastery of    the secrets of  
,nature and of life4                    
#ge                                  ,v 
,biblical miracles the effluence of     
extraordinary lives4--,life    the      
world's magician and miracle-worker2 its

 miracles now    termed                 
prodigies4--,miracle the natural product
 of an    extraordinary endowment of    
life4--,life the ultimate               
reality4--,what any man can achieve is  
conditioned by the    psychical quality 
of his life4--,nothing more natural1    
more    supernatural1 than life4--,the  
derived life of the world    filial to  
the self-existent life of ,god2         
begotten1 not    made4--,miracle as the 
product of life1 the work of ,god4      
#he                                     
,,vi   ,the question1 old and new1 now  
confronting    theologians4--,their     
recent retreat upon the minimum of      
miracle4--,the present conflict of      
opinion in the    ,church4--,its        
turning-point reached in the antipodal  
turn-about in the treatment of miracles 
from the old to the    new              
apologetics4--,revision of the          
traditional idea of the    supernatural 
required for theological readjustment4  
#ie                                     

,,vii   ,account to be made of the law  
of atrophy through disuse4--,the        
virgin birth and the corporeal          
resurrection of ,jesus1 the    two      
miracles still insisted on as the       
irreducible minimum1    affected by this
 law4--,the vital truths of the         
incarnation    and immortality          
independent of these miracles4--,these  
truths now placed on higher ground in a 
truer conception of    the              
supernatural4--,the true supernatural is
 the spiritual1    not the              
miraculous4--,scepticism bred from the  
contrary    view4--,the                 
miracle-narratives1 while less          
evidential for    religion1 not         
unimportant for history4--,psychical    
research    a needed auxiliary for the  
scientific critic of these4             
#ajg                                    
,,viii   ,the cardinal point in the     
present discussion the reality not    of
 miracles1 but of the                   
supernatural4--,fallacy of pointing     

to physical events as essential         
characteristics of    supernatural      
,revelation4--,the character of a       
revelation    determined not by its     
circumstances1 but by its               
contents4--,moral nature supernatural to
 physical4--,nature a    hierarchy of   
natures4--,supernatural ,religion       
historically    attested by the moral   
development it generates4--,transfer    
of its distinctive note from moral      
ideals to physical    marvels a costly  
error4--,jesus' miracles a revelation1  
of    a type common with others before  
and after4--,the unique    ,revelation  
of ,jesus was in the higher realm of    
divine ideas    and ideals4--,these1    
while unrealized in human life1 still   
exhibit the fact of a supernatural      
,revelation4--,the    distinction of    
natural and supernatural belongs to the 
period of moral progress up to the      
spiritual maturity of    man in the     
image of ,god4--,the divine             
possibilities of    humanity1 imaged in 

,jesus1 revealed as our inheritance and 
our prize4                              
#aca     ,,introductory   ,in a         
historical retrospect greater and more  
revolutionary changes are seen to have  
occurred during the nineteenth century  
than in any century preceding4 ,in these
 changes no department of thought and   
activity has failed to share1 and       
theological thought has been quite as   
much affected as scientific or ethical4 
,especially remarkable is the changed   
front of ,christian theologians toward  
miracles1 their distinctly lowered      
estimate of the significance of miracle1
 their antipodal reverse of the long    
established treatment of miracles4      
,referring to this a ,british           
evangelical writer#a observes that the  
intelligent believer of our own day1 444
 instead of accepting ,christianity on  
the ground of the miracles1 accepts it  
in spite of the miracles4 ,whether he   
admits these miracles1 or rejects them1 
his attitude toward them is toward      

difficulties1 not helps4  ,by this      
diametrical change of ,christian thought
 a great amount of scepticism has       
already been antiquated4 ,a once famous 
anti-,christian book1 ,supernatural     
,religion1 regarded as formidable thirty
 years ago1 is now as much out of date  
for relevancy to present theological    
conditions as is the old smooth-bore    
cannon for naval warfare4 ,that many1   
indeed1 are still unaware of the change 
that has been experienced by the leaders
 of ,christian thought1 no one          
acquainted with current discussions will
 deny2 the fact is indubitable4 ,it is  
reviewed in the following pages with the
 constructive purpose of redeeming the  
idea of supernatural ,religion from     
pernicious perversion1 and of exhibiting
 it in its true spiritual significance4 
,the once highly reputed calculations   
made to show how the earth's diurnal    
revolution could be imperceptibly       
stopped for ,joshua's convenience1 and  
the contention that the ,mediterranean  

produced fish with gullets capable of   
giving passage to ,jonah1 are now as    
dead as the chemical controversy about  
phlogiston4 ,yet some sceptical         
controversialists are still so far from 
cultivating the acquaintance with recent
 thought which they recommend to        
,christian theologians1 as to persist in
 affirmations of amazing ignorance1 e4g4
 ,it is admitted that miracles alone can
 attest the reality of divine           
revelation4#b ,sponsors for this        
statement must now be sought among      
unlearned ,christians1 or among a few   
scholars who survive as cultivators of  
the old-fashioned argument from the     
evidences4 ,even among these latter the 
tendency to minimize miracle is         
undeniably apparent in a reduction of   
the list classified as such1 and still  
more in the brevity of the list insisted
 on for the attestation of              
,christianity4  ,a transitional state of
 mind is clearly evidenced by the       
present division and perplexity of      

,christian thought concerning the       
,christian miracles4 ,many seem to      
regard further discussion as profitless1
 and are ready to shelve the subject4   
,but this attitude of weariness is also 
transitional4 ,there must be some       
thoroughfare to firm ground and clear   
vision4 ,it must be found in agreement1 
first of all1 on the real meaning of a  
term so variously and vaguely used as   
miracle4 ,in the present imperfect state
 of knowledge it may be impossible to   
enucleate miracle1 however defined1 of  
all mystery4 ,but even so will much be  
gained for clear thinking1 if miracle   
can be reasonably related to the greater
 mystery which all accept1 though none  
understand1--the mystery of life4 ,this 
view of the dynamic relation of life to 
miracle#c is here suggested for what it 
may prove to be worth4  ,the great and  
general change that transfigured        
theology during the nineteenth century  
was characteristically ethical4 ,this1  
indeed1 is the distinctive feature of   

the so-called new theology1 in contrast 
with that which the ,protestant         
,reformers inherited from ,st4          
,augustine4 ,god and ,man1 ,faith1      
,salvation and ,inspiration1 ,redemption
 and ,atonement1 ,judgment and          
,retribution1--all these themes are now 
presented in orthodox pulpits far more  
conformably to ethical principles1      
though in degrees varying with educated 
intelligence1 than was customary in the 
sermons of half a century ago4 ,one     
great source and spring of theological  
progress1 says ,professor ,bowne1 in his
 recent work on ,theism1 has been the   
need of finding a conception of ,god    
which the moral nature could accept4    
,the necessity of moralizing theology   
has produced vast changes in that field2
 and the end is not yet4  ,the ethical  
character of the theological change will
 perhaps be most obvious in the field of
 ,biblical study1 to which the present  
subject belongs4 ,the traditional       
solution of such moral difficulties in  

the ,old ,testament as commands1        
ostensibly divine1 to massacre idolaters
 has been quite discarded4 ,it is no    
longer the mode to say that deeds       
seemingly atrocious were not atrocious1 
because ,god commanded them4 ,writers of
 orthodox repute now say that the ,thus 
saith the ,lord1 with which ,samuel     
prefaced his order to exterminate the   
,amalekites1 must be understood         
subjectively1 as an expression of the   
prophet's belief1 not objectively1 as a 
divine command communicated to him4     
,this great change is a quite recent    
change4 ,if a personal reference may be 
indulged1 it is not twenty years since  
the present writer's published protest  
against ,the ,anti-,christian ,use of   
the ,bible in the ,sunday ,school1#d the
 exhibition to children of some vestiges
 of heathen superstition embedded in the
 ,old ,testament narratives as true     
illustrations of ,god's ways toward men1
 drew forth from a religious journal a  
bitter editorial on ,the ,old ,testament

 and its ,new ,enemies4 ,but a great    
light has since dawned in that quarter4 
,it is no longer deemed subversive of   
faith in a divine ,revelation to hold   
that the prophet ,gad was not infallible
 in regarding the plague which scourged 
,jerusalem as sent to punish ,david's   
pride in his census of the nation4  ,a  
significant fact is presented in the    
comparison of these two aspects of the  
theological change that has come to     
pass1--the growing importance of the    
ethical1 and the dwindling importance of
 the miraculous in the religious thought
 of to-day4 ,this may reassure those who
 fear whereto such change may grow4 ,the
 inner significance of such a change is 
most auspicious4 ,it portends the       
displacement of a false by the true     
conception of supernatural ,religion1   
and the removal thereby of a serious    
antagonism between ,science and         
,christian ,theology1 as well as of a   
serious hindrance of many thoughtful    
minds from an intelligent embrace of    

,christianity4   ,,footnotes3  #a       
,professor ,w4 ,t4 ,adeney in the       
,hibbert ,journal1 ,january1 #aijc1 p4  
#cjb4  #b ,see the recent new edition of
 ,supernatural ,religion1 carefully     
revised4  #c ,for an earlier statement  
of this by the present writer1 see a    
discourse on ,miracle and ,life1 in ,new
 ,points to ,old ,texts4 ,london3 ,james
 ,clarke  ,co41 #ahhi4 ,new ,york3      
,thomas ,whittaker4  #d ,the ,new       
,englander1 ,september1 #ahhd4          
,,miracles ,,and ,,supernatural         
,,religion  ,i     ,i                   
,,synopsis4--,the gradual narrowing of  
the miraculous element in the     ,bible
 by recent discovery and                
discussion4--,the alarm thereby excited 
in the ,church4--,the fallacy which     
generates the fear4--,the atheistic     
conception of nature which generates the
 fallacy4--,the present     outgrowing  
of this conception4   ,it is barely     
forty years since that beloved and      
fearless ,christian scholar1 ,dean      

,stanley1 spoke thus of the miracles    
recorded of the prophet ,elisha3 ,his   
works stand alone in the ,bible in their
 likeness to the acts of mediaeval      
saints4 ,there alone in the ,sacred     
,history the gulf between ,biblical and 
,ecclesiastical miracles almost         
disappears4#e ,it required some courage 
to say as much as this then1 while the  
storm of persecution was raging against 
,bishop ,colenso for his critical work  
on the ,pentateuch4 ,the evangelical    
clergymen in ,england and the ,united   
,states then prepared to confess as much
 as this1 with all that it obviously    
implies1 could have been seated in a    
small room4 ,but time has moved on1 and 
the ,church1 at least the scholars of   
the ,church1 have moved with it4 ,no    
scholar of more than narrowly local     
repute now hesitates to acknowledge the 
presence of a legendary element both in 
the ,old ,testament and in the ,new4    
,while the extent of it is still        
undetermined1 many specimens of it are  

recognized4 ,it is agreed that the early
 narratives in ,genesis are of this     
character1 and that it is marked in such
 stories as those of ,samson1 ,elijah1  
and ,elisha4 ,even the conservative     
revisers of the ,authorized ,version    
have eliminated from the ,fourth ,gospel
 the story of the angel at the pool of  
,bethesda1 and in their marginal notes  
on the ,third ,gospel have admitted a   
doubt concerning the historicity of the 
angel and the bloody sweat in           
,gethsemane4  ,furthermore1 some events1
 recognized as historical1 have been    
divested of the miraculous character    
once attributed to them1--the crossing  
of the ,red ,sea1 for instance1 by the  
,hebrew host4 ,a landslip in the        
thirteenth century ,a4,d4 has been noted
 as giving historical character to the  
story of the ,hebrew host under         
,joshua's command crossing the ,jordan  
on dry ground1 but in a perfectly       
natural way4 ,other classes of phenomena
 once regarded as miraculous have been  

transferred to the domain of natural    
processes by the investigations and     
discoveries that have been made in the  
field of psychical research4 ,the       
forewarning which ,god is said to have  
given the prophet ,ahijah of the visit  
that the queen was about to pay him in  
disguise#f is now recognized as one of  
many cases of the mysterious natural    
function that we label as telepathy4    
,the transformations of unruly1 vicious1
 and mentally disordered characters by  
hypnotic influence that have been       
effected at the ,salpetriere in ,paris1 
and elsewhere1 by physicians expert in  
psychical therapeutics are closely      
analogous to the cures wrought by ,jesus
 on some victims of demoniac            
possession4#g ,the cases of             
apparition1#h also1 which have been     
investigated and verified by the        
,society for ,psychical ,research have  
laid a solid basis of fact for the      
,biblical stories of angels1 as at      
least1 a class of phenomena to be       

regarded as by no means altogether      
legendary1 but having their place among 
natural though mysterious occurrences4  
,but this progressive paring down of the
 miraculous element in the ,bible has   
caused outcries of unfeigned alarm4     
,christian scholars who have taken part 
in it are reproached as deserters to the
 camp of unbelief4 ,they are accused of 
banishing ,god from his world1 and of   
reducing the course of events to an     
order of agencies quite undivine4       
,miracle1 writes one of these           
brethren1#i is the personal intervention
 of ,god into the chain of cause and    
effect4 ,but what does this mean1 except
 that1 when no miracles occur1 ,god is  
not personally1 i4e4 actively1 in the   
chain of natural causes and effects8 ,as
 ,professor ,drummond says1 ,if ,god    
appears periodically1 he disappears     
periodically4 ,it is precisely this view
 of the subject that really banishes    
,god from his world4 ,those who thus    
define miracle regard miracles as having

 ceased at the end of the ,apostolic age
 in the first century4 ,except1         
therefore1 for the narrow range of human
 history that the ,bible covers in time 
and place1 ,god has not been personally 
in the chain of natural causes and      
effects4 ,thus close to an atheistic    
conception of nature does zeal for      
traditional orthodoxy unwittingly but   
really come4  ,the first pages of the   
,bible correct this error4 ,while the   
earth remaineth1 so ,god is represented 
as assuring ,noah1 seedtime and harvest1
 and cold and heat1 and summer and      
winter1 and day and night1 shall not    
cease4 ,the presence of ,god in his     
world was thus to be evinced by his     
regular sustentation of its natural     
order1 rather than by irregular         
occurrences1 such as the deluge1 in     
seeming contravention of it4 ,to seek   
the evidence of divine activity in human
 affairs and to ground one's faith in a 
controlling ,providence in sporadic and 
cometary phenomena1 rather than in the  

constant and cumulative signs of it to  
be seen in the majestic order of the    
starry skies1 in the reign of           
intelligence throughout the cosmos1 in  
the moral evolution of ancient savagery 
into modern philanthropy1 in the        
historic manifestation throughout the   
centuries of a ,power not our own that  
works for the increase of righteousness1
 is a mode of thought which in our time 
is being steadily and surely outgrown4  
,it is one of those idols of the tribe  
whose power alike over civilized and    
uncivilized men is broken less by       
argument than by the ascent of man to   
wider horizons of knowledge4  ,it is for
 the gain of religion that it should be 
broken1--of the spiritual religion whose
 ,god is not a tradition1 a             
reminiscence1 but a living presence1    
inhabiting alike the clod and the star1 
the flower in the crannied wall and the 
life of man4 ,so thinking of ,god the   
religious man may rightly say1#aj ,if it
 is more difficult to believe in        

miracles1 it is less important4 ,if the 
extraordinary manifestations of ,god    
recounted in ancient history appear less
 credible1 the ordinary manifestations  
of ,god in current life appear more     
real4 ,he is seen in ,american history  
not less than in ,hebrew history2 in the
 life of to-day not less than in the    
life of long ago4   ,,footnotes3  #e    
,lectures on the ,history of the ,jewish
 ,church1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #cfb1 ,american
 edition4  #f #a ,kings xiv4 #a-g4  #g  
,it is not intended to intimate that    
there is no such darker reality as a    
possession that is demoniac indeed4 ,it 
cannot be reasonably pronounced         
superstitious to judge that there is    
some probability for that view4 ,at any 
rate1 it is certain that the problem is 
not to be settled by dogmatic           
pronouncement4 ,it is certain1 also1    
that the burden of proof rests on those 
who contend that there can be no such   
thing4 ,on the other hand1 it may be    
conceded that the cases recorded in the 

,new ,testament do not seem to be of an 
essentially devilish kind4 ,on the      
general subject of possession see ,f4   
,w4 ,h4 ,myers's work on ,human         
,personality and ,survival after ,death1
 ,vol4 ,i4 7,longmans1 ,green  ,co41    
,new ,york and ,london47 ,professor     
,william ,james half humorously remarks3
 ,the time-honored phenomenon of        
diabolical possession is on the point of
 being admitted by the scientist as a   
fact1 now that he has the name of       
hysterodemonopathy by which to          
apperceive it4 ,varieties of ,religious 
,experience1 p4 #eja1 note4  #h ,see    
,dictionary of ,psychology1 art4        
,psychical ,research4  #i ,dr4          
,peloubet1 ,teachers' ,commentary on the
 ,acts1 #aijb4  #aj ,dr4 ,lyman ,abbott 
in ,the ,outlook1 ,february #ad1 #aijc4 
,,ii     ,,ii      ,,synopsis4--,the    
present net results of the discussion of
 the     miraculous element in the      
,bible4--,evaporation of the former     
evidential value of miracles4--,further 

insistence on this value a     logical  
blunder4--,the transfer of miracles from
 the artillery to the     baggage of the
 ,church4--,probability of a further    
reduction of the     list of            
miracles4--,also of a further transfer  
of events reputed     miraculous to the 
domain of history4   ,the cultivation of
 scientific and historical studies      
during the last century1 especially in  
its latter half1 has deepened the       
conviction that      ,through the ages  
one increasing purpose runs2  has       
disposed a growing number of thoughtful 
minds to regard occasional signs and    
wonders1 reported from ancient times1 as
 far less evidential for the            
reasonableness of religious faith than  
the steady sustentation of the          
,providential order and the moral       
progress of the world4 ,fully convinced 
of this1 we should now estimate1 before 
proceeding further1 the present net     
results of the discussion1 so far as it 
has gone1 of what is called the         

miraculous element in the ,bible4       
,first1 its former evidential value in  
proof of divine ,revelation is gone for 
the men of to-day4 ,the believer in a   
divine ,revelation does not now1 if he  
is wise1 rest his case at all on the    
miracles connected with its original    
promulgation1 as was the fashion not    
very long since4 ,this for two reasons2 
chiefly this3 that the decisive         
criterion of any truth1 ethical or      
physical1 must be truth of the same     
kind4 ,ethical truth must be ethically  
attested4 ,the moral and religious      
character of the ,revelation presents   
its credentials of worth in its history 
of the moral and religious renovations  
it has wrought both in individuals and  
in society4 ,this is its proper and     
incontrovertible attestation1 in need of
 no corroboration from whatever         
wonderful physical occurrences may have 
accompanied its first utterance4 ,words 
of ,god are attested as such by the work
 of ,god which they effect4 ,it may well

 be believed that those wonderful       
occurrences--the ,biblical name for     
which is signs1 or powers1 terms not    
carrying1 like miracles1 the idea of    
something contra-natural#aa--;had an    
evidential value for those to whom the  
,revelation originally came4 ,in fact1  
they were appealed to by the bearers of 
the ,revelation as evidencing its divine
 origin by the mighty works of divine   
mercy which they wrought for sufferers  
from the evils of the world4 ,but       
whatever their evidential value to the  
eye-witnesses at that remote day1 it was
 of the inevitably volatile kind that   
exhales away like a perfume with lapse  
of time4 ,historic doubts attack remote 
events1 especially when of the          
extraordinary character which tempts the
 narrator to that magnifying of the     
marvellous which experience has found to
 be a constantly recurring human trait4 
,it is simply impossible that the       
original evidential value of the signs  
accompanying the ,revelation should     

continue permanently unimpaired4 ,to    
employ them now as evidences of         
,christianity1 when the ,revelation has 
won on ethical grounds recognition of   
its divine character and can summon     
history to bear witness of its divine   
effects in the moral uplift of the      
world1 is to imperil the ,christian     
argument by the preposterous logical    
blunder of attempting to prove the more 
certain by the less certain4  ,a second 
net result consequent on the preceding  
may be described as the transference of 
miracles from the ordnance department to
 the quartermaster's department of the  
,church4 ,until recently they were      
actively used as part of its armament1  
none of which could be dispensed with4  
,now they are carried as part of its    
baggage1 impedimenta1 from which        
everything superfluous must be removed4 
,it is clearly seen that to retain all  
is to imperil the whole4 ,that there are
 miracles and miracles is patent to     
minds that have learned to scan history 

more critically than when a scholar like
 ,john ,milton began his ,history of    
,england with the legend of the voyage  
of ,brute the ,trojan4 ,one may         
reasonably believe that ,jesus healed a 
case of violent insanity at ,gadara1 and
 reasonably disbelieve that the fire of 
heaven was twice obedient to ,elijah's  
call to consume the military companies  
sent to arrest him4 ,cultivated         
discernment does not now put all        
,biblical miracles on a common level of 
credibility1 any more than the          
historical work of ,herodotus and that  
of the late ,dr4 ,gardiner4 ,to defend  
them all is not to vindicate1 but to    
discredit all alike4 ,the elimination of
 the indefensible1 the setting aside of 
the legendary1 the transference of the  
supposedly miraculous to the order of   
natural powers and processes so far as  
vindicable ground for such critical     
treatment is discovered1 is the only way
 to answer the first of all questions   
concerning the ,bible3 ,how much of this

 is credible history8 ,thus it is not   
only thoroughly reasonable1 but is in   
the interest of a reasonable belief that
 divine agency is revealed rather by the
 upholding of the established order of  
,nature than by any alleged interference
 therewith4 ,with what ,god has         
established ,god never interferes4 ,to  
allege his interference with his        
established order is virtually to deny  
his constant immanence therein1 a       
failure to recognize the fundamental    
fact that ,nature is ,spirit1 as        
,principal ,fairbairn has said1 and all 
its processes and powers the various    
modes of the energizing of the divine   
,will4  ,a third net result now highly  
probable is a still further reduction of
 the list of reputed miracles4 ,the     
critical process of discriminating the  
historical from the legendary1 and the  
natural from the non-natural1 is still  
so comparatively recent that it can     
hardly be supposed to have reached its  
limit4 ,nor can it be stayed by any     

impeachment of it as hostile to         
,christianity1 whose grand argument     
appeals to its present ethical effects1 
not to ancient thaumaturgical           
accompaniments4 ,there is1 however1 a   
considerable class of cases in which the
 advancing critical process is likely   
even to gain credibility for the        
,biblical narrative in a point where it 
is now widely doubted--the              
resuscitations of the apparently dead4  
,among all the ,biblical miracles none  
have more probably a secure historical  
basis4   ,,footnotes3  #aa ,the         
,anglicized ,latin word1 miracle1       
indiscriminately used in the ,authorized
 ,version1 denotes the superficial      
character of the act or event it is     
applied to1 as producing wonder or      
amazement in the beholders4 ,the terms  
commonly employed in the ,new ,testament
 7semeion1 a sign2 dunamis1 power2 less 
frequently teras1 a portent7 are of     
deeper significance1 and connote the    
inner nature of the occurrence1 either  

as requiring to be pondered for its     
meaning1 or as the product of a new and 
peculiar energy4     ,,iii     ,,iii    
,,synopsis4--,arbitrary criticism of the
 ,biblical narratives of the     raising
 of the dead4--,facts which it          
ignores4--,the subject related     to   
the phenomena of trance1 and records of 
premature burial4--,the                 
resuscitation in ,elisha's tomb probably
 historical4--,jesus' raising     of the
 ruler's daughter plainly a case of this
 kind4--,his raising of     the widow's 
son probably such4--,the hypothesis that
 his raising of     ,lazarus may also   
have been such critically               
examined4--,the record     allows this  
supposition4--,further considerations   
favoring it3 #a4 ,the     real interests
 of ,christianity secure4--#b4 ,the     
miracle as a work of     mercy4--#c4    
,incompetency of the bystanders'        
opinion4--#d4 ,congruity     with the   
general conception of the healing works 
of ,jesus1 as     wrought by a peculiar 

psychical power4--,other cases4--,the   
resurrection of ,jesus an event in a    
wholly different order of               
things4--,the practical result of       
regarding these resuscitations as     in
 the order of nature4   ,of             
resuscitation from apparent death seven 
cases in all are recorded1--three in the
 ,old ,testament and four in the ,new4  
,some critics arbitrarily reject all but
 one of these as legendary4 ,thus ,oscar
 ,holzmann1 in his recent ,leben ,jesu1 
treats the raising of the widow's son1  
and of ,lazarus4 ,but he accepts the    
case of the ruler's daughter on the     
ground that ,jesus is reported as saying
 that it was not a case of real but only
 of apparent death1--the child is not   
dead1 but sleepeth4 ,but for the        
preservation of this saving declaration 
in the record1 this case also would have
 been classed with the others as        
unhistorical4 ,and yet the admission of 
one clear case of simulated death1 so   
like real death as to deceive all the   

onlookers but ,jesus1 might reasonably  
check the critic with the suggestion    
that it may not have been a solitary    
case4#ab ,the headlong assumption       
involved in the discrimination made     
between these two classes1 viz4 that in 
a case of apparent but unreal death the 
primitive tradition can be depended on  
to put the fact upon record1 is in the  
highest degree arbitrary and            
unwarrantable4  ,the scepticism which   
lightly contradicts the ,biblical       
narratives of the raising of the dead to
 life is seemingly ignorant of facts    
that go far to place these upon firm    
ground as historical occurrences4       
,catalepsy1 or the simulation of death  
by a trance1 in which the body is       
sometimes cold and rigid1 sensation     
gone1 the heart still1 is well known to 
medical men4#ac ,in early times such a  
condition would inevitably have been    
regarded and treated as actual death1   
without the least suspicion that it was 
not so4 ,even now1 the dreadful mistake 

of so regarding it sometimes occurs4 ,so
 cautious a journal as the ,london      
,spectator a few years ago expressed the
 belief that a distinct percentage of   
premature burials occurs every year in  
,england4  ,the proper line of critical 
approach to the study of the ,biblical  
narratives of the raising of the dead is
 through the well-known facts of the    
deathlike trance and premature burial4  
,where burial occurred1 as in the ,east1
 immediately after the apparent         
death1#ad resuscitation must have been  
rare4 ,yet cases of it were not unknown4
 ,pliny has a chapter on those who have 
revived on being carried forth for      
burial4 ,lord ,bacon states that of this
 there have been very many cases4 ,a    
,french writer of the eighteenth        
century1 ,bruhier1 in his ,dissertations
 sur l',incertitude de la ,mort et      
l',abus des ,enterrements1 records      
seventy-two cases of mistaken           
pronouncement of death1 fifty-three of  
revival in the coffin before burial1 and

 fifty-four of burial alive4 ,a locally 
famous and thoroughly attested case in  
this country is that of the ,rev4       
,william ,tennent1 pastor in ,freehold1 
,new ,jersey1 in the eighteenth century1
 who lay apparently dead for three days1
 reviving from trance just as his       
delayed funeral was about to proceed4   
,one who keeps a scrap-book could easily
 collect quite an assortment of such    
cases1 and of such others as have a     
tragic ending1 both from domestic and   
foreign journals4 ,a work published some
 years ago by ,dr4 ,f4 ,hartmann#ae     
exhibits one hundred and eight cases as 
typical among over seven hundred that   
have been authenticated4#af  ,facts like
 these have been strangely overlooked in
 the hasty judgment prompted by         
prejudice against whatever has obtained 
credence as miraculous4 ,some           
significant considerations must be      
seriously entertained4  ,it cannot be   
that no such facts occurred in the long 
periods covered by the ,biblical        

writers4 ,occurring1 it is extremely    
improbable that they should have        
altogether escaped embodiment in popular
 tradition and its record4 ,furthermore1
 while on one hand the custom of speedy 
burial rendered them much rarer than    
they are now under other conditions1 and
 so much the more extraordinary1 the    
universal ignorance of the causes       
involved would have accepted            
resuscitation as veritable restoration  
from actual death4 ,as such it would    
have passed into tradition4 ,in cases   
where it had come to pass in connection 
with the efforts of a recognized        
prophet1 or through any contact with    
him1 it would certainly have been       
regarded as a genuine miracle4  ,among  
the raisings of the dead recorded in the
 ,scriptures probably none has been so  
widely doubted by critical readers as   
the story in the thirteenth chapter of  
the second book of ,kings1 in which a   
corpse is restored to life by contact   
with the bones of ,elisha4 ,dean        

,stanley's remark upon the suspicious   
similarity between the miracles related 
of ,elisha and those found in ,roman    
,catholic legends of great saints here  
seems quite pertinent4 ,let the record  
speak for itself4      ,and ,elisha died
 and they buried him4 ,now the bands of 
the ,moabites     invaded the land at   
the coming in of the year4 ,and it came 
to pass1     as they were burying a man1
 that1 behold1 they spied a band2 and   
they cast the man into the sepulchre of 
,elisha2 and as soon as the     man     
touched the bones of ,elisha1 he        
revived1 and stood up on his     feet4  
,the bizarre character of such a story  
excusably predisposes many a critic to  
stamp it as fabricated to enhance the   
glory of the great prophet who had been 
a pillar of the throne4 ,yet nothing is 
more likely than that tradition has here
 preserved a bit of history1            
extraordinary1 but real4 ,there is not  
the least improbability in regarding the
 case as one of the many revivals from  

the deathlike trance that have been     
noted by writers ancient and modern4 ,it
 is entirely reasonable to suppose that 
the trance in which the seemingly dead  
man lay was broken either by the shock  
of his fall into the prophet's tomb1 or 
coincidently therewith2 and stranger    
coincidences have happened4 ,such a     
happening would be precisely the sort of
 thing to live in popular tradition1 and
 to be incorporated into the annals of  
the time4  ,here it may be rejoined that
 this is only a hypothesis4 ,only that1 
to be sure4 ,but so is the allegation   
that the story is a mere fantastic      
fabrication only a hypothesis4          
,demonstration of the actual fact past  
all controversy being out of the        
question1 all that can be offered for   
the attempt to rate the narrative at its
 proper value1 either as history or as  
fiction1 is hypothesis4 ,the choice lies
 for us between two hypotheses4 ,surely1
 that hypothesis is the more credible   
which is based on a solid body of       

objective facts1 and meets all the      
conditions of the case4  ,will it be    
replied to this that the critics can    
show for their hypothesis the admitted  
fact of the human proclivity to invent  
legends of miracle8 ,the decisive answer
 is that the burden of proof rests on   
him who contests any statement          
ostensibly historical4 ,if such a       
statement be found to square with       
admitted objective facts1 it must be    
accepted notwithstanding considerations 
drawn from the subjective tendency to   
invent extraordinary tales4  ,were      
raisings of the dead recorded in the    
,old ,testament alone1 objection would  
less often be offered to this           
transference of them1 along with other  
occurrences once deemed miraculous1 to a
 place in the natural order of things4  
,the statistics of premature burial and 
of the resuscitation of the apparently  
dead before burial are sufficiently     
strong to throw grave doubt on any      
contention that the resuscitations      

narrated of ,elijah#ag and ,elisha#ah do
 not belong in that historical series4  
,it has been frequently observed1       
however1 that there is much reluctance  
to apply to the ,new ,testament the     
methods and canons of criticism that are
 applied to the ,old4 ,it will be so in 
the present case1 through apprehension  
of somehow detracting from the          
distinctive glory of ,christ4 ,that fear
 will not disturb one who sees that     
glory not in his mighty works1 the like 
of which were wrought by the prophets1  
but in the spiritual majesty of his     
personality1 the divineness of his      
message to the world1 and of the life   
and death that illustrated it4  ,one    
case1 at least1 among ,jesus' raisings  
of the dead1 that of the young daughter 
of the ruler of the synagogue1#ai is    
admitted even by sceptical critics to   
have been a resuscitation from the      
trance that merely simulates death4 ,but
 the fact that there is a record of his 
saying in this case1 the child is not   

dead1 but sleepeth1 and no record of his
 saying the same at the bier of the     
widow's son1#bj is slight ground1 yet   
all the ground there is1 against the    
great probabilities to the contrary1 for
 regarding the latter case as so        
transcendently different from the former
 as the actual reembodiment of a        
departed spirit recalled from another   
world4 ,were these the only two cases of
 restoration to life in the ministry of 
,jesus1 it is most probable that they   
would be regarded as of the same kind4  
,the raising of ,lazarus#ba presents    
peculiar features1 in view of which it  
is generally regarded as of another     
kind1 and the greatest of miracles1 so  
stupendous that the ,rev4 ,w4 ,j4       
,dawson1 in his recent ,life of ,christ1
 written from an evangelical standpoint1
 says of it3 ,even the most devout mind 
may be forgiven occasional pangs of     
incredulity4 ,but the considerations    
already presented are certainly         
sufficient to justify a reexamination of

 the case4 ,and it is to be borne in    
mind that the question at issue is1 not 
what the eye-witnesses at that time     
believed1 not what the ,church from that
 time to this has believed1 not what we 
are willing to believe1 or would like to
 believe1 but what all the facts with   
any bearing on the case1 taken together1
 fully justify us in believing as to the
 real nature of it4  ,what ,jesus is    
recorded as saying of it is1 of course1 
of prime importance4 ,our friend        
,lazarus is fallen asleep1 but ,i go    
that ,i may awake him out of sleep4     
,were this all1 the case might easily   
have been classed as one of trance4 ,the
 disciples1 however1 understood ,jesus  
to speak of natural sleep4 ,then ,jesus 
therefore said unto them plainly1       
,lazarus is dead4 ,tradition puts the   
maximum meaning into this word dead4    
,but if this word here qualifies the    
preceding word1 fallen asleep1 so also  
is it qualified by that2 the two are    
mutually explanatory1 not contradictory4

 ,these alternatives are before us3 ,is 
the maximum or the minimum meaning to be
 assigned to the crucial word dead8 ,for
 the minimum1 one can say that a deathly
 trance1 already made virtual death by  
immediate interment1 would amply justify
 ,jesus in using the word dead in order 
to impress the disciples with the       
gravity of the case1 as not a natural   
but a deathly1 and1 in the existing     
situation1 a fatal sleep4 ,for the      
maximum1 no more can be advanced than   
the hazardous assertion that ,jesus must
 have used the word with technical      
precision in its customary sense2 an    
assertion of course protected from      
disproof by our ignorance of the actual 
fact4#bb ,but whatever support this view
 of the case derives from such ignorance
 is overbalanced by the support supplied
 to the other view by the long history  
of revivals from the deathly trance1 and
 by the probabilities which that history
 creates4  ,many1 to whom the view here 
proposed seems not only new1 but        

unwelcome1 and even revolutionary1 may  
reasonably prefer to suspend judgment   
for reflection2 but meanwhile some      
further considerations may be           
entertained4  #a4 ,aside from the       
unwillingness to abandon a              
long-cherished belief on any subject    
whatever1 which is both a natural1 and1 
when not pushed to an unreasonable      
length1 a desirable brake on all        
inconsiderate change1 no practical      
interest is threatened by the adoption  
of the view here suggested4 ,religious  
interest1 so far as it is also          
intelligent1 is certainly not           
threatened4 ,the evidences of ,jesus'   
divine character and mission resting1 as
 for modern men it rests1 not on remote 
wonders1 but on now acknowledged facts  
of an ethical and spiritual kind1 is    
altogether independent of our conclusion
 whether it was from actual or only     
apparent death that ,lazarus was raised4
 ,since all the mighty works wrought by 
,jesus1 and this among them1 were       

identical in type with those wrought by 
the ancient prophets1 with whom his     
countrymen classed him in his lifetime1 
their evidential significance could be1 
even for the eye-witnesses at that tomb1
 no greater for him than for an         
,elisha1--signs of a divine mission     
attesting itself by works of mercy4  #b4
 ,as works of mercy these raisings from 
the dead1 including that of ,lazarus1   
rank far higher in the view of them here
 proposed than in the traditional view4 
,this regards them as the recall of     
departed spirits from what is hoped to  
be a better world4 ,yet this1 while it  
turns sorrow for a time into joy1       
involves not only the recurrence of that
 sorrow in all its keenness1 but also a 
second tasting of the pains preliminary 
to the death-gate1 when the time comes  
to pass that gate again4 ,but in the    
other view1 a raising from the death    
that is only simulated is a merciful    
deliverance from a calamity greater than
 simple death1 if that be any calamity  

at all1--the fate of burial alive4 ,in  
the former view1 therefore1 the quality 
of mercy1 distinctive of the mighty     
works of ,jesus1 is imperfectly         
demonstrable4 ,in the present view1 as  
the rescue of the living from death in  
one of its most horrible forms1 it is   
abundantly conspicuous4  #c4 ,the       
onlookers by the tomb of ,lazarus       
doubtless regarded his awakening as     
revival from actual death4 ,their       
opinion1 however1 does not bind our     
judgment any more than it is bound by   
the opinion of other onlookers1 that    
,jesus' healing of the insane and       
epileptic was through the expulsion of  
demons that possessed them4 ,in each    
instance it was understood as a sign of 
control over beings belonging to another
 world4 ,but such an attestation of     
,jesus' divine mission1 having been     
superseded for us by proofs of higher   
character1 is now no more needful for us
 in the case of the dead than in the    
case of the demons4  #d4 ,the power of  

breaking the deathly trance1 of         
quickening the dormant life1            
reenergizing the collapsed nervous      
organism1 and ending its paralysis of   
sensation and motion1 may be reasonably 
regarded as power of the same psychical 
kind that ,jesus regularly exerted in   
healing the sufferers from nervous      
disorders who were reputed victims of   
demoniac possession4#bc ,in this view   
these resuscitations from apparent death
 appear in natural coherence with the   
many other works of mercy that ,jesus   
wrought as the ,great ,physician of his 
people1 and may be regarded as the crown
 and consummation of all his restorative
 ministries4 ,jesus' thanksgiving after 
the tomb had been opened--,father1 ,i   
thank thee that thou hast heard         
me--shows that he had girded himself for
 a supreme effort by concentrating the  
utmost energy of his spirit in prayer4  
,physically parallel with this was the  
intensity of voice put into his call to 
the occupant of the tomb4 ,this is      

better represented in the original than 
in our translation3 ,he shouted with a  
great voice1 ',lazarus1 come forth4'    
,the whole record indicates the utmost  
tension of all his energies1 and closely
 comports with the view that this stood 
to the sequel in the relation of cause  
to effect4#bd ,another circumstance not 
without bearing on the case is the      
energizing power of the intense sympathy
 with the bereaved family that stirred  
the soul of ,jesus to weep and groan    
with them4 ,and it is not without       
significance that this strong factor    
appears active in the larger number of  
the ,biblical cases1--three of them only
 children1 two of these the children of 
the pitiable class of widows4           
,peculiar1 then1 as was the case of     
,lazarus1 our examination of it reveals 
no substantial ground for insisting that
 it was essentially unlike the previous 
case of the ruler's daughter1 that it   
was the bringing back into a decaying   
body of a spirit that had entered into  

the world of departed souls4 ,the actual
 fact1 of course1 is indemonstrable4    
,our conclusion has to be formed wholly 
upon the probabilities of the case1 and 
must be formed in a reasonable choice   
between the greater probability and the 
less4  ,the restoration of ,dorcas to   
life by ,peter1 recorded in the book of 
,acts1#be needs no special discussion   
beyond the various considerations       
already adduced in this chapter4 ,the   
case of ,eutychus1 recorded in the same 
book1#bf requires mention only lest it  
should seem to have been forgotten1 as  
it is not in point at all4 ,the record  
makes it highly probable that the       
supposed death was nothing more than the
 loss of consciousness for a few hours  
in consequence of a fall from the       
window4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,if one should here suggest
 that no mention has yet been made of   
the resurrection of ,jesus himself1 it  
must be pointed out that this is a fact 
of a totally different kind from any of 

the foregoing cases4 ,to speak1 as many 
do1 of the resurrection of ,lazarus is a
 misuse of words4 ,resuscitation to life
 in this world1 and resurrection1 the   
rising up of the released spirit into   
the life of the world to come1 are as   
distinct as are the worlds to which they
 severally belong4 ,we here consider    
only the raisings which restored to the 
virtually dead their interrupted mortal 
life4 ,the rising from the mortal into  
the immortal state belongs to an        
entirely different field of study4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,apart1 then1 from traditional          
prepossessions1 examination of the      
,biblical narratives discloses nothing  
to invalidate the hypothesis which one  
who is acquainted with the copious      
record of apparent but unreal death must
 seriously and impartially consider4    
,the reputedly miraculous raisings of   
the dead related in both the ,old and   
the ,new ,testament may1 with entire    
reason1 and without detriment to        

religion1 be classed with such as are   
related outside of the ,scriptures1 in  
ancient times as well as modern1 and as 
phenomena wholly within the natural     
order1 however extraordinary4 ,the      
practical result of such a conclusion is
 likely to be a gain for the historicity
 of the ,scripture narratives in the    
estimate of a large class of thoughtful 
minds4   ,,footnotes3  #ab ,an objection
 to the historicity of the raising of   
,lazarus which is made on the ground    
that so great a work1 if historical1    
would have been related by more than one
 of the ,evangelists1 yields on         
reflection the possibility that ,jesus  
may have effected more than the three   
raisings recorded of him4 ,john is the  
sole narrator of the raising of         
,lazarus4 ,but he omits notice of the   
two raisings recorded by the other      
,evangelists1 while ,matthew and ,mark  
do not record the raising of the widow's
 son recorded by ,luke4 ,all this       
suggests that the record may have       

preserved for us specimens rather than a
 complete list of this class of         
miracles4 7,compare ,john xxi4 #be47    
#ac ,we have frequent cases of trance1  
444 where the parties seem to die1 but  
after a time the spirit returns1 and    
life goes on as before4 ,in all this    
there is no miracle4 ,why may not the   
resuscitations in ,christ's time        
possibly have been similar cases8 ,is   
not this less improbable than that the  
natural order of the universe should    
have been set aside8--,the ,problem of  
,final ,destiny1 by ,william ,b4 ,brown1
 ,d4,d41 #ahii4  #ad ,on account of the 
ceremonial uncleanness caused by the    
dead body4 ,see ,numbers v4 #b1 and many
 similar passages4  #ae ,buried ,alive  
7,universal ,truth ,publishing ,co41    
,chicago74 ,see also ,premature ,burial1
 by ,d4 ,walsh 7,william ,wood  ,co41   
,new ,york71 and ,premature ,burial1 by 
,w4 ,tebb and ,e4 ,p4 ,vollum 7,new     
,amsterdam ,book ,co41 ,new ,york74  #af
 ,other writers might be mentioned1 as  

,mme4 ,necker 7#agij71 ,dr4 ,vigne      
7#ahda74 ,yet on the other hand it is   
alleged1 that none of the numerous      
stories of this dreadful accident which 
have obtained credence from time to time
 seem to be authentic 7,american        
,cyclopedia1 art4 ,burial74 ,allowing a 
wide margin for exaggeration and        
credulity1 there is certainly a residuum
 of fact4 ,a correspondent of the       
7,london7 ,spectator a few years since  
testified to a distressing case in his  
own family4  #ag ,kings xvii4 #ag-bc4   
#ah ,kings iv4 #cb-cf4  #ai ,mark v4    
#ce-dc4  #bj ,luke vii4 #ab-af4  #ba    
,john xi4 #aa-dd4  #bb ,was ,jesus aware
 that ,lazarus was really not dead8 ,it 
is impossible to reach a positive       
conclusion4 ,in some directions his     
knowledge was certainly limited4 ,that  
he was not aware of the reality might be
 inferred from his seeming to have      
allowed his act to pass for what1 in the
 view of it here suggested1 it was      
not1--the recall to life of one actually

 dead4 ,this1 however1 assumes the      
completeness of a record whose silence  
on this point cannot be pressed as      
conclusive4 ,it is1 indeed1 unlikely    
that ,jesus knew all that medical men   
now know4 ,but awareness of any fact may
 be in varying degrees from serious     
suspicion up to positive certitude4     
,while far from positiveness1 awareness 
may exist in a degree that gives courage
 for resolute effort resulting in clear 
and full verification4 ,jesus may have  
been ignorant of the objective reality  
of ,lazarus's condition1 and yet have   
been very hopeful of being empowered by 
the divine aid he prayed for 7,john xi4 
#da7 to cope with it successfully4  #bc 
,see pages #bh1 #bi1 ,note4  #bd ,jesus'
 works of healing are explicitly        
attributed by the ,evangelists to a     
peculiar power that issued from him4 ,in
 ,mark v4 #cj1 ,luke vi4 #ai1 and viii4 
#df1 the original word dunamis1 which   
the ,authorized ,version translates     
virtue1 is more correctly rendered power

 in the ,revised ,version4 ,especially  
noticeable is the peculiar phraseology  
of ,mark v4 #cj3 ,jesus perceiving in   
himself that the power proceeding from  
him had gone forth 7,r4 ,v474 ,the      
peculiar circumstances of the case      
suggest that the going forth of this    
power might be motived sub-consciously1 
as well as by conscious volition4  #be  
,acts ix4 #cf-db4  #bf ,acts xx4 #i-ac4 
,,iv     ,,iv      ,,synopsis4--,a      
clearer conception of miracle           
approached4--,works of     ,jesus once  
reputed miraculous not so reputed now1  
since not now     transcending1 as once1
 the existing range of knowledge and    
power4--,this transfer of the miraculous
 to the natural likely to               
continue4--,no hard and fast line       
between the miraculous and the          
non-miraculous4--,miracle a provisional 
word1 its application     narrowing in  
the enlarging mastery of the secrets of 
nature and     life4   ,at this point it
 seems possible to approach a clearer   

understanding of the proper meaning to  
attach to the generally ill-defined and 
hazy term miracle4#bg ,matthew ,arnold's
 fantastic illustration of the idea of  
miracle by supposing a pen changed to a 
pen-wiper may fit some miracles1        
especially those of the ,catholic       
hagiology1 but1 if applied to those of  
,jesus1 would be a caricature4 ,in the  
,new ,testament a reputed miracle is not
 any sort of wonderful work upon any    
sort of occasion1 but an act of         
benevolent will exerted for an immediate
 benefit1#bh and transcending the then  
existing range of human intelligence to 
explain and power to achieve4 ,the      
historic reality of at least some such  
acts performed by ,jesus is acknowledged
 by critics as free from the faintest   
trace of orthodox bias as ,keim3 ,the   
picture of ,jesus1 the worker of        
miracles1 belongs to the first believers
 in ,christ1 and is no invention4  ,it  
has already been noted that a           
considerable number of the then reputed 

miracles of ,jesus1 particularly his    
works of healing1 do not now1 as then1  
transcend the existing range of         
knowledge and power1 and accordingly are
 no longer reputed miraculous4 ,and one 
cannot reasonably believe that a limit  
to the understanding and control of     
forces in ,nature and mind that now are 
more or less occult has been already    
reached4 ,it is1 therefore1 not         
incredible that some of the mighty works
 of ,jesus1 which still transcend the   
existing limits of knowledge and power1 
and so are still reputed miraculous1 and
 are suspected by many as unhistorical1 
may in some yet remote and riper stage  
of humanity be transferred1 as some have
 already been1 to the class of the      
non-miraculous and natural4  ,dr4       
,robbins1 ,dean of the ,general         
,theological ,seminary1 ,new ,york1     
after remarking that the word miracle   
has done more to introduce confusion    
into ,christian ,evidences than any     
other1 goes on to say3 ,to animals      

certain events to them inexplicable are 
signs of the presence of human          
intelligence and power4 ,to men these   
miracles of ,christ are signs of divine 
intelligence and power4 ,but how is     
miracle to be differentiated from other 
providential dealings of ,god8 ,not by  
removing him further from common events4
 ,abstruse speculations concerning the  
relation of miracles to other physical  
phenomena may be safely left to the     
adjustment of an age which shall have   
advanced to a more perfect synthesis of 
knowledge than the present can boast4#bi
  ,the truth to which such              
considerations conduct is1 that no hard 
and fast line can be drawn between the  
miraculous and the non-miraculous4 ,to  
the untutored mind1 like that of the    
savage who thought it miraculous that a 
chip with a message written on it had   
talked to the recipient1 the simplest   
thing that he cannot explain is         
miraculous3 omne ignotum pro mirifico1  
said ,tacitus4 ,as the range of         

knowledge and power widens1 the range of
 the miraculous narrows correspondingly4
 ,some twenty years since1 the          
,international ,sunday-school ,lessons  
employed as a proof of the divinity of  
,christ the reputedly miraculous        
knowledge which he evinced in his first 
interview with ,nathanael of a solitary 
hour in ,nathanael's experience4#cj     
,since then it has been demonstrated#ca 
by psychical research that the natural  
order of the world includes telepathy1  
and the range of the miraculous has been
 correspondingly reduced without        
detriment to the argument for the       
divinity of ,christ1 now rested on less 
precarious ground4  ,under such         
conditions as we have reviewed a miracle
 cannot always be one and the same      
thing4 ,miracle must therefore be       
defined as being what our whole course  
of thought has suggested that it is3 in 
general1 an elastic word2 in particular1
 a provisional word1--a word whose      
application narrows with the enlarging  

range of human knowledge#cb and power   
which for the time it transcends2 a word
 whose history1 in its record of ranges 
already transcended1 prompts expectation
 that ranges still beyond may be        
transcended in the illimitable progress 
of mankind4 ,professor ,le ,conte says  
that miracle is an occurrence or a      
phenomenon according to a law higher    
than any yet known4 ,thus it is a case  
of human ignorance1 not of divine       
interference4  ,on the other hand1 we   
must believe that the goal of progress  
is a flying goal2 that human attainment 
can never reach finality unless men     
cease to be4 ,and so all widening of    
human knowledge and power must ever     
disclose further limitations to be      
transcended4 ,there will always be a    
,beyond1 in which dwells the secret of  
laws still undiscovered1 that underlie  
mysteries unrevealed and marvels        
unexplained4 ,this will have to be      
admitted1 especially1 by those to whom  
the marvellous is synonymous with the   

incredible4 ,we have not been able to   
eviscerate even these prosaic and       
matter-of-fact modern times of marvels  
whose secret lies in the yet            
uncatalogued or indefinable powers of   
the mysterious agent that we name life3 
witness many well verified facts        
recorded by the ,society for ,psychical 
,research4#cc ,how1 then1 is it         
consistent to affirm that no such       
marvels in ancient records are          
historical realities8 ,nay1 may it not  
be true that the ancient days of seers  
and prophets1 the days of ,jesus1 days  
of the sublime strivings of great and   
lonely souls for closer converse with   
the ,infinite ,spirit behind his mask of
 ,nature1 offered better conditions for 
marvellous experiences and deeds than   
these days of scientific laboratories   
and factories1 and world-markets and    
world-politics8   ,,footnotes3  #bg     
,early and mediaeval theologians agree  
in conceiving the miraculous as being   
above1 not contrary to1 nature4 ,the    

question entered on a new phase when    
,hume defined a miracle as a violation  
of nature1 and asserted the             
impossibility of substantiating its     
actual occurrence4 ,the modern          
discussion has proceeded largely in view
 of ,hume's destructive criticism4      
,assuming the possibility of a miracle1 
the questions of fact and of definition 
remain4--,dictionary of ,psychology4    
,when we find the definition for which  
we are searching1 the miraculous will no
 longer be a problem4--,,professor ,w4  
,,sanday1 at the ,anglican ,church      
,congress1 #aijb4  #bh ,for exceptions  
see ,matthew xxi4 #ai2 ,acts xiii4 #aj1 
#aa4  #bi ,a ,christian ,apologetic1 p4 
#ig4  #cj ,john i4 #dg-ej4  #ca ,in the 
opinion of such psychologists as        
,professor ,william ,james1 of ,harvard1
 the late ,professor ,henry ,sidgwick1  
of ,cambridge1 ,england1 and others of  
like eminence4  #cb ,a hint of this was 
given by ,augustine3 ,portentum non fit 
contra naturam1 sed contra quam est nota

 natura4--,de ,civitate ,dei4  #cc      
,consult the late ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers's  
remarkable volumes on ,human            
,personality and ,survival after ,death 
7,longmans1 ,green  ,co474     ,v     ,v
      ,,synopsis4--,biblical miracles   
the effluence of extraordinary          
lives4--,life the world's magician and  
miracle worker2 its miracles     now    
termed prodigies4--,miracle the natural 
product of an     extraordinary         
endowment of life4--,life the ultimate  
reality4--,what     any man can achieve 
is conditioned by the psychical quality 
of his     life4--,nothing more natural1
 more supernatural1 than life4--,the    
derived life of the world filial to the 
self-existent life of ,god1             
begotten1 not made4--,miracle1 as the   
product of life1 the work of     ,god4  
,be it noted1 now1 that the marvellous  
phenomena of the ,biblical record1      
whatever else be thought of them1 are1  
even to a superficial view1 the         
extraordinary effluence of extraordinary

 lives4 ,here at length we gain a       
clearer conception of miracle4 ,life is 
the world's great magician1--life1 so   
familiar1 yet so mysterious2 so         
commonplace1 yet so transcendent4 ,no   
miracle is more marvellous than its     
doings witnessed in the biological      
laboratory1 or more inexplicable than   
its transformation of dead matter into  
living flesh1 its development of a      
,shakespeare from a microscopic bit of  
protoplasm4 ,but its mysterious         
processes are too common for general    
marvel2 we marvel only at the uncommon4 
,the boy ,zerah ,colburn in half a      
minute solved the problem1 ,how many    
seconds since the beginning of the      
,christian era8 ,we prefer to call this 
a prodigy rather than a miracle1--a     
distinction more verbal than real2 and  
we fancy we have explained it when we   
say that such arithmetical power was a  
peculiar endowment of his mental life4  
,now all of the inexplicable1 inimitable
 reality that at any time has to be left

 by the baffled intellect as an unsolved
 wonder under the name of miracle is    
just that1--the natural product of an   
extraordinary endowment of life4 ,more  
of its marvellous capability is latent  
in common men1 in the subconscious      
depths of being1 than has ever yet      
flashed forth in the career of uncommon 
men4 ,some scientists say that it       
depends on chemical and physical forces4
 ,it indeed uses these to build the     
various bodies it inhabits1 but again it
 leaves these to destroy those bodies   
when it quits them4 ,the most constant  
and ubiquitous phenomenon in the world1 
the ultimate reality in the universe1 is
 life1 revealing its presence in        
innumerable modes of activity1 from the 
dance of atoms in the rock to the       
philosophizing of the sage and the      
aspirations of the saint1--the creator  
of ,nature1 the administrator of the    
regular processes we call the laws of   
,nature1 the author of the wonders men  
call miraculous because they are        

uncommon and ill understood4  ,the works
 of which any man is naturally capable  
are conditioned by the psychical quality
 of his life1 and its power to use the  
forces of ,nature4 ,through differences 
of vital endowment some can use color1  
as wonderful painters1 and others employ
 sound1 as wonderful musicians1 in ways 
impossible to those otherwise endowed4  
,so a poet is born1 not made4 ,so       
persons of feeble frame1 stimulated by  
disease or frenzied by passion1 have put
 forth preternatural and prodigious     
muscular strength4 ,by what we call     
clairvoyant power life calls up in      
intelligent perception things going on  
far beyond ocular vision4 ,by what we   
call telepathic power life communicates 
intelligence with life separated by     
miles of space4 ,such are some of the   
powers that have been discovered1 and   
fully attested1 but not explained1 as   
belonging to the world's master         
magician1 ,life4 ,and when the poet     
asks1--                  ,ah1 what will 

our children be1     ,the men of a      
hundred thousand1 a million summers     
away8  we can only answer with the      
,apostle3 ,it doth not yet appear what  
we shall be4 ,but we cannot deem it     
likely that the powers of life1         
,deep seated in our mystic frame1  and  
giving forth such flashes of their      
inherent virtue1 have already reached   
their ultimate development4  ,we look   
with wonder and awe into the secret     
shrine of life1 where two scarcely      
visible cells unite to form the human   
being whose thought shall arrange the   
starry heavens in majestic order1 and   
harness the titanic energies of ,nature 
for the world's work4 ,there we behold  
the real supernatural4 ,nothing is more 
natural than life1 and nothing also more
 supernatural4 ,biology studies all the 
various forms that the world shows of   
it1 and affirms that life1 though       
multiform1 is one4 ,this embryology     
attests1 showing that the whole ascent  
of life through diverse forms from the  

lowest to the highest1 during the       
millions of years since life first      
manifested its presence on this globe1  
is recapitulated in the stages of growth
 through which the human being passes in
 the few months before its birth4 ,and  
philosophy1 which does not seek the     
living among the dead1 affirms1 omne    
vivum ex vivo4 ,the varied but unitary  
life of the world is the stream of an   
exhaustless spring4 ,it is filial to the
 life of ,god1 the ,father ,almighty4   
,what the ancient creed affirmed of the 
,christ as the ,son of ,god--whom his   
beloved disciple recognized as the      
eternal life which was with the ,father 
and was manifested unto us#cd--may be   
truly affirmed of the mysterious reality
 that is known as life3 ,begotten not   
made2 being of one substance with the   
,father2 through whom or which all      
things were made4 ,looking from the     
derived and finite life of the world1   
visible only in the signs of its        
presence1 but in its reality no more    

visible than him whom no man hath seen1 
nor can see1 up to the life underived1  
aboriginal1 infinite1 we recognize ,god 
and ,life as terms of identical         
significance4 ,how superficial the      
notion of miracles as the personal      
intervention of ,god into the chain of  
cause and effect1 in which he is the    
constant vital element4 ,if an event    
deemed miraculous is ever ascribed1 as  
of old1 to the finger of ,god1 the      
reality behind the phenomenon is simply 
a higher or a stronger power of life    
than is recognized in an event of a     
common type--life that is one with the  
infinite and universal ,life1           
,life that in me has rest1     ,as ,i1  
undying ,life1 have power in ,thee4     
,,footnotes3  #cd #a ,john i4 #b4       
,,vi     ,,vi      ,,synopsis4--,the    
question1 both old and new1 now         
confronting     theologians4--,their    
recent retreat upon the minimum of      
miracle4--,the     present conflict of  
opinion in the ,church4--,its           

turning-point     reached in the        
antipodal turn-about in the treatment of
 miracles     from the old to the new   
apologetics4--,revision of the          
traditional     idea of the supernatural
 required for theological readjustment4 
,the present line of thought has now    
reached the point where an important    
question confronts us1--a question not  
wholly new4 ,within the memory of living
 men theologians have been compelled to 
ask themselves3 ,what if the geologists 
should establish facts that contradict  
our ,biblically derived doctrine that   
the universe was made in a week8 ,again 
have they been constrained to put to    
themselves the question3 ,what if the   
evolutionists should supersede our      
doctrine that the creation is the       
immediate product of successive fiats of
 the ,creator by showing that it came   
gradually into existence through the    
progressive operation of forces immanent
 in the cosmos8 ,still again have they  
had to face the question3 ,what if      

modern criticism by the discovery of    
demonstrable errors in the ,sacred      
,writings should fault our doctrine     
that1 as the ,word of ,god1 the ,bible  
is free from all and every error8 ,in   
every instance the dreaded concession1  
when found at length to be enforced by  
modern learning1 has been found to      
bring1 not the loss that had been       
apprehended1 but clear gain to the      
intellectual interests of religion4 ,now
 it is this same sort of question which 
returns with the uncertainties and      
difficulties widely felt in the ,church 
to be gathering over its hitherto       
unvexed belief in miracles as signs of a
 divine activity more immediate than it 
has recognized in the regular processes 
of ,nature4  ,the majority of uneducated
 ,christians still hold1 as formerly in 
each of the points just mentioned1 to   
the traditional view4 ,miracle as a     
divine intervention in the natural      
order1 a more close and direct divine   
contact with the course of things than  

is the case in ordinary experience1 they
 regard as the inseparable and necessary
 concomitant and proof of a divine      
,revelation4 ,to deny miracles1 thus    
understood1 is censured as equivalent to
 denial of the reality of the           
,revelation4 ,but it is rather          
surprising1 because it is rare1 to find 
a man of such note in literature as ,dr4
 ,w4 ,robertson ,nicoll affirming#ce    
that one cannot be a ,christian without 
believing at least two miracles1 the    
virgin birth and the physical           
resurrection of the ,christ4 ,without   
comment on the significance of this     
retreat upon the minimum of miracle1 it 
must here be noted that a minority of   
the ,church1 not inferior to their      
brethren in learning and piety1 believe 
that there are no tides in ,god's       
presence in ,nature1 that his contact   
with it is always of the closest3--     
,closer is he than breathing1 and nearer
 than hands or feet4  ,all natural      
operations are to them divine           

operations4 ,nature1 said ,dr4          
,martineau1 is ,god's mask1 not his     
competitor4 ,while his agency in ,nature
 may be recognized at one time more than
 at another1 it exists at any time fully
 as much as at any other4 ,in the       
interest of this fundamental truth of   
religion they affirm that miracles in   
the traditional sense of the word1 and  
in their traditional limitation to the  
small measure of time and space covered 
by ,biblical narratives1 never occurred4
 ,events reputed miraculous have indeed 
occurred1 but simply as unusual1        
inexplicable phenomena in the natural   
order of things1 the natural products of
 exceptionally endowed life1 and1       
whether in ancient time or modern1 the  
same sort of thing the world over4 ,to  
the argument that this involves denial  
of a supernatural ,revelation they reply
 that it is mere reasoning in a circle4 
,for if one begs the question at the    
outset by defining supernatural         
,revelation as revelation necessarily   

evidenced by miraculous divine          
intervention1 then1 of course1 denial of
 this is denial of that1 and how is the 
argument advanced8 ,but1 besides this1  
the question-begging definition is a    
fallacious confusing of the contents of 
the ,revelation with its concomitants1  
and of its essentially spiritual        
character with phenomena in the sphere  
of the senses4  ,the turning-point in   
this argument between the two parties in
 the ,church has been reached in the    
antipodal change1 already referred to1  
from the old to the new apologetics1--a 
change whose inevitable consequences do 
not yet seem to be clearly discerned by 
either party in the discussion4 ,the    
contention that denial of miracles as   
traditionally understood carries denial 
of supernatural ,revelation has been    
virtually set aside1 with its           
question-begging definition and circular
 reasoning1 by the apologetics now      
current among believers in at least a   
minimum of miracle in the traditional   

sense of the word1--especially in the   
two chief miracles of the virgin birth  
and the physical resurrection of ,jesus4
 ,as an eminent representative of these 
the late ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,bruce may be     
cited4 ,these adduce the moral miracle1 
the sinlessness of ,jesus1 as evidential
 for the reality of the physical        
miracles as its congruous               
accompaniments4 ,if1 says ,dr4 ,bruce1  
we receive ,him as the great moral      
miracle1 we shall receive much more for 
,his sake4#cf ,but what a turn-about of 
the traditional argument on the         
evidences6 ,the older apologetes argued3
 ,this crown of miraculous power        
bespeaks the royal dignity of the       
wearer4 ,the modern apologete reasons3  
,this royal character must have a crown 
of miraculous power corresponding with  
his moral worth4 ,in this antipodal     
reverse of ,christian thought it is     
quite plain that for evidential purposes
 the miracle is stripped of its ancient 
value4 ,and it has already been observed

 that modern knowledge has now          
transferred many of the ,biblical       
miracles to the new rooms discovered for
 them in the natural order of things4   
,it is not premature1 therefore1 for    
leaders of ,christian thought to put    
once more to themselves the question1   
constantly recurring as learning        
advances3 ,what theological readjustment
 should we have to make1 if obliged to  
concede that the ancient belief in      
miracle is not inseparable from belief  
in a supernatural ,revelation1 not      
indispensable to belief therein8 ,what  
modified conception must we form1 if    
constrained to admit that the living    
,god1 ever immanent in ,nature1         
intervenes in ,nature no more at one    
time than another8 ,what1 indeed1 but a 
revised and true in place of a mistaken 
conception of the term ,supernatural8   
,,footnotes3  #ce ,the ,church asks1 and
 it is entitled to ask the critic3 ,do  
you believe in the ,incarnation and     
,resurrection of ,jesus ,christ8444 ,if 

he replies in the negative1 he has      
missed the way1 and has put himself     
outside of the ,church of ,christ4--,the
 ,church's ,one ,foundation1 p4 #d4     
,note that ,incarnation and             
,resurrection are terms which ,dr4      
,nicoll construes as denoting physical  
miracles4  ,what ,dr4 ,nicoll here means
 by outside of the ,church he indicates 
by saying elsewhere1 that philosophers  
who reckon goodness as everything1 and  
miracles as impossible1 are not         
,christians 7op4 cit41 p4 #aj74  ,this  
conditioning of ,christian character    
upon an intellectual judgment concerning
 the reality of remote occurrences is   
both unbiblical and unethical1 as well  
as absurd when practically applied4     
,some years since1 ,dr4 ,e4 ,a4 ,abbott1
 who admits no miracle in the life of   
,christ1 published a book1 ,the ,spirit 
on the ,waters1 in which he inculcated  
the worship of ,christ4 ,yet1 according 
to ,dr4 ,nicoll1 such a man is no       
,christian6  #cf ,the ,miraculous       

,element in the ,gospels1 p4 #cec4      
,,vii     ,,vii                         
,,synopsis4--,account to be made of the 
law of atrophy through     disuse4--,the
 virgin birth and the corporeal         
resurrection of ,jesus1     the two     
miracles now insisted on as the         
irreducible minimum1     affected by    
this law4--,the vital truths of the     
incarnation and     immortality         
independent of these miracles4--,these  
truths now placed     on higher ground  
in a truer conception of the            
supernatural4--,the     true            
supernatural is the spiritual1 not the  
miraculous4--,scepticism     bred from  
the contrary view4--,the miracle        
narratives1 while less     evidential   
for religion1 not unimportant for       
history4--,psychical     research a     
needful auxiliary for the scientific    
critic of these4   ,to the true         
conception of the supernatural we shall 
presently come4 ,but we cannot proceed  
without briefly reminding ourselves of  

the certain consequences of this now far
 advanced dropping of miracles by modern
 apologetics from their ancient use as  
evidences of a supernatural ,revelation4
 ,we are not ignorant of the law1 which 
holds throughout the material1 the      
mental1 and the moral realms1 that      
disuse tends to atrophy and extinction4 
,disused organs cease to exist1 as in   
the eyeless cave-fish4 ,for centuries   
the story of the miraculous birth of    
,jesus was serviceable for confirmation 
of his claim to be the ,son of ,god4 ,in
 the address of the angel of the        
annunciation to ,mary that claim is     
expressly rested on the miraculous      
conception of the holy thing4#cg ,but as
 ethical enlightenment grows1 the       
conviction grows that1 whether the      
physiological ground of that claim be   
tenable or not1 the ethical ground of it
 is essentially higher4 ,father and son 
even in human relationships are terms of
 more than physiological import4 ,it is 
matter of frequent experience that1     

where the ethical character of such     
relationship is lacking1 the            
physiological counts for nothing4       
,moreover1 the divine sonship of ,jesus 
in a purely ethical view rests on ground
 not only higher but incontestable4 ,and
 so in our time theologians prefer to   
rest it on foundations that cannot be   
shaken1 on his moral oneness with ,god1 
the divineness of his spirit1 the ideal 
perfectness of his life4 ,the strength  
of this position being realized1 the    
world begins to hear from ,christian    
thinkers the innovating affirmation that
 belief of the miraculous birth can no  
longer be deemed essential to           
,christianity2 else it would not have   
been left unmentioned in two of the four
 ,gospels1 and in every extant          
,apostolic letter4 ,and now we hear     
theologians saying3 ,i accept it1 but ,i
 place it no more among the evidences of
 ,christianity4 ,i defend it1 but cannot
 employ it in the defence of            
supernatural ,revelation4 ,such a stage 

of thought is only transitional4 ,an    
antiquated argument does not long       
survive in the world of thought4#ch     
,military weapons that have become      
unserviceable soon find their way either
 to the museum or the foundry4 ,it is   
shortsighted not to foresee the         
inevitable effect on our theological    
material of the law of atrophy through  
disuse4 ,the case of the miracle is the 
case of a pillar originally put in for  
the support of an ancient roof4 ,when   
the roof has a modern truss put beneath 
it springing from wall to wall1 the     
pillar becomes an obstacle1 and is      
removed4  ,but as in such a case the    
roof1 otherwise supported1 does not fall
 in when the pillar is removed1 so      
neither is the central ,christian truth 
of the incarnation imperilled by any    
weakening or vanishing of belief in the 
doctrine of the virgin birth4 ,in a     
discussion of the subject in            
,convocation at ,york1 ,england1 while  
these pages were being written1 the     

,dean of ,ripon 7,dr4 ,boyd ,carpenter7 
urged that it must be borne in mind that
 the incarnation and the virgin birth   
were two different things1 and that some
 who found difficulty in the latter     
fully accepted the former4 ,in a recent 
sermon ,dr4 ,briggs insists likewise    
upon this3 ,the virgin birth is only one
 of many statements of the mode of      
incarnation4444 ,the doctrine of the    
incarnation does not depend upon the    
virgin birth4444 ,it is only a minor    
matter connected with the incarnation1  
and should have a subordinate place in  
the doctrine4444 ,at the same time the  
virgin birth is a ,new ,testament       
doctrine1 and we must give it its proper
 place and importance4444 ,the favorite 
idea of the incarnation among the people
 has ever been the simpler one of the   
virgin birth1 as in the ,ave ,maria4    
,the theologians have ever preferred the
 more profound doctrine of the ,hymn of 
the ,logos ,john i4 #a-ah4ci ,nay1 it   
may even be found that the weakening of 

belief in the incarnation as an isolated
 and miraculous event may tend to       
promote a profounder conception of it1  
that brings the divine and the human    
into touch and union at all points      
instead of in one point4#dj  ,a similar 
change of thought1 less remarked than   
its significance deserves1 is concerned 
with that other great miracle1 the      
corporeal resurrection of ,jesus1 which 
such writers as ,dr4 ,nicoll couple with
 that of his virgin birth as the        
irreducible minimum of miracle1 belief  
in which is essential to ,christian     
discipleship4#da ,for many centuries the
 resurrection story in the ,gospels has 
served as the conclusive proof both of  
the divine sonship of ,jesus1#db and of 
our own resurrection to immortality4#dc 
,in the churches it is still popularly  
regarded as the supreme1 sufficient1 and
 indispensable fact required for the    
basis of faith4 ,but in many a          
,christian mind the thought has dawned1 
that a single fact cannot give adequate 

ground for the general inference of a   
universal principle2 that a remote      
historical fact1 however strongly       
attested1 can evince only what has taken
 place in a given case1 not what will or
 must occur in other cases2 while it is 
also inevitably more or less pursued by 
critical doubt of the attestations      
supporting it4  ,this rising tide of    
reflection has compelled resort to      
higher ground1 to the inward evidences  
in the nature of mind that are more     
secure from the doubt to which all that 
is merely external and historical is    
exposed4 ,a clear distinction has been  
discerned between the real resurrection 
of ,jesus--his rising from the mortal   
state into the immortal1 and his        
phenomenal resurrection--the            
manifestations of his change that are   
related as having been objectively      
witnessed4 ,what took place in the      
invisible world--his real               
resurrection--is now more emphasized by 
,christian thinkers than the phenomenal 

resurrection in the visible world4 ,so  
conservatively orthodox a writer as ,dr4
 ,g4 ,d4 ,boardman goes so far as to    
say3 ,after all1 the real question in   
the matter of his resurrection is not1  
',did ,christ's body rise8' ,that is but
 a subordinate1 incidental issue4 ,the  
real question1 as ,dr4 ,boardman admits1
 is1 ,whether ,jesus ,christ himself is 
risen1 and is alive to-day4#dd ,the main
 stress of ,christian thought to-day is 
not laid1 as formerly1 on the phenomena 
recorded in the story of the            
resurrection1 but on the psychological1 
moral1 and rational evidences of a      
resurrection to immortality that until  
recent times were comparatively         
disregarded4#de ,meanwhile the          
vindication of the reality of the       
phenomena related of the risen ,jesus1  
including his bodily ascension1 though  
not a matter of indifference to many of 
those who have found the higher grounds 
of faith1 has become to them of         
subordinate importance4  ,it is well for

 ,christian faith that its supersensuous
 and impregnable grounds have been      
occupied4 ,it is certain that ancient   
records of external phenomena cannot in 
future constitute1 as heretofore1 the   
stronghold of faith4 ,but it is by no   
means yet certain that they have lost   
serviceableness as1 at least1 outworks  
of the stronghold4 ,while the doctrine  
of the virgin birth seems to be         
threatened by atrophy1 the doctrine of  
the bodily resurrection1 though retired 
from primary to secondary rank1 seems to
 be waiting rather for clarification by 
further knowledge4  ,something of an    
objective nature certainly lies at its  
basis2 something of an external sort1   
not the product of mere imagination1    
took place4 ,to the fact thus           
indefinitely stated1 that hallowing of  
,sunday as a day of sacred and joyful   
observance which is coeval with the     
earliest traditions1 and antedates all  
records1 is an attestation as           
significant as any monumental marble4   

,no hallucination theory1 no gradual    
rise and growth of hope in the minds of 
a reflective few1 can account for that  
solid primeval monument4 ,but what      
occurred1 the reality in distinctness   
from any legendary accretions1 we shall 
be better able to conclude1 when the    
truth shall have been threshed out      
concerning the reality1 at present      
strongly attested1 and as strongly      
controverted1 of certain extraordinary  
but occult psychical powers4#df  ,a     
point of high significance for those who
 would cultivate a religious faith not  
liable to be affected by changes of     
intellectual outlook or insight is1 that
 this lower valuation of miracle        
observable among ,christian thinkers has
 not been reached through breaches made 
by sceptical doubts of the reality of a 
supernatural ,revelation4 ,they have1 of
 course1 felt the reasonableness of the 
difficulties with which traditional     
opinions have been encumbered by the    
advance of knowledge4 ,but so far from  

giving way thereupon to doubts of the   
reality of divine ,revelation1 they have
 sought and found less assailable       
defences for their faith in it than     
those that sufficed their fathers4 ,and 
their satisfaction therewith stands in  
no sympathy with those who hold it a    
mark of enlightenment to assume with    
,matthew ,arnold1 that miracles do not  
happen4 ,it has resulted rather from    
reaching the higher grounds of religious
 thought1 on which supernatural         
,revelation is recognized in its        
essential character as distinctively    
moral and spiritual4  ,the true         
supernatural is the spiritual1 not the  
miraculous1 a higher order of ,nature1  
not a contradiction of ,nature4 ,the    
,revelation of ,jesus was altogether    
spiritual4 ,it consisted in the ideas of
 ,god which he communicated by his      
ministry and teaching1 by his character 
and life4 ,but this1 the real           
supernatural1 was not obvious as such to
 his contemporaries4 ,they looked for it

 in the lower region of physical        
effects4 ,and here the ,church also in  
its embryonic spiritual life1 in its    
proneness to externalize religion in    
forms of rite1 and creed1 and           
organization1 has thought to find it4   
,jesus' reproof1 ,except ye see signs   
and wonders ye will not believe1 is     
still pertinent to those who will not   
have it that the supernatural           
,revelation--spiritual though it be--can
 be recognized or believed in apart from
 an acknowledgment of attendant         
miracles1 wrought in physical nature by 
an intervention of ,god4 ,such a        
contention1 however1 is as futile and   
desperate as was ,john ,wesley's        
declaration1 ,the giving up of          
witchcraft is in effect the giving up of
 the ,bible4 ,such mischievous fallacies
 succeed only in blinding many a mind to
 the real issue which the moral and     
spiritual ,revelation of ,jesus makes   
with men of the twentieth century4 ,it  
is these fallacies1 and not their       

critics1 that create the most of        
scepticism4#dg  ,but while the question 
whether miracles are credible has ceased
 to be of vital importance1 it has by no
 means lost all importance4 ,on the     
contrary1 so long as the path of        
progress is guided by the lamp of       
experience1 so long will it be of       
consequence that the historical record  
of experience be found trustworthy4 ,it 
may suit the overweening pride which    
defies both the past and the present to 
say with ,bonaparte1 that history is    
only a fable that men have agreed to    
believe4 ,but it is a human interest1   
and a satisfaction of normal minds to   
establish1 so far as reason permits1 the
 credibility of every record ostensibly 
historic4 ,to discover that ancient     
experiences1 once supposed to be        
miraculous raisings from real death1 may
 reasonably be classed with well        
attested experiences of to-day1 better  
understood as resuscitations from a     
deathlike trance1 should be welcomed by 

unprejudiced historical critics1 as     
redeeming portions of the ancient record
 from mistaken disparagement as         
legendary4 ,that further study may      
accredit as facts1 or at least as       
founded on facts1 some other marvels in 
that record cannot1 except by arrant    
dogmatism1 be pronounced improbable4    
,nevertheless1 it cannot be expected    
that the legendary element1 which both  
the ,old and the ,new ,testament in     
greater and less degree exhibit1 can    
ever be eliminated4 ,such stories as    
that of the origin of languages at      
,babel1 and that of the resurrection of 
ancient saints at ,jesus' resurrection  
are indubitable cases of it4 ,but the   
legendary element1 though permanent1 is 
at present undefined4 ,to define it is  
the problem of the critical student1 a  
problem most difficult to him whose     
judgment is least subjective2 and he    
will welcome every contribution that    
advancing knowledge can supply4         
,regarding miracle as the natural       

product of exceptionally endowed life1  
there is no source from which more light
 can be shed on its ,biblical record    
than in those studies of the exceptional
 phenomena and occult powers of life    
which are prosecuted by the ,society for
 ,psychical ,research1 whose results are
 recorded in its published ,proceedings4
 ,for those familiar with this record   
the legendary element in the ,bible     
tends to shrink into smaller compass    
than many critics assign it4 ,in the    
interest both of the ,bible and of      
science it is regrettable that the      
results of these researches1 though     
conducted by men of high eminence in the
 scientific world1 still encounter the  
same hostile scepticism even from some  
,christian believers that ,hume directed
 against the ,biblical miracles4 ,mr4   
,gladstone has put himself on record    
against this philistinism1 saying that  
psychical research is by far the most   
important work that is being done in the
 world4 ,were one disposed to prophesy1 

very reasonable grounds could be        
produced for the prediction that1 great 
as was the advance of the nineteenth    
century in physical knowledge1 the      
twentieth century will witness an       
advance in psychical knowledge equally  
great4 ,in this advance one may not     
unreasonably anticipate that some1 at   
least1 of the ,biblical miracles may be 
relieved from the scepticism that now   
widely discredits them4   ,,footnotes3  
#cg ,luke i4 #ce4  #ch ,to what extent  
the law of atrophy has begun to work    
upon the doctrine of the virgin birth   
appears in the recent utterance of so   
eminent an evangelical scholar as ,dr4  
,r4 ,f4 ,horton1 of ,london4 ,the       
following report of his remarks in a    
,christmas sermon in #aija is taken from
 the ,christian ,world1 ,london4 ,we    
could not imagine ,paul1 ,peter1 and    
,john all ignoring something essential  
to the ,gospel they preached4 ,strictly 
speaking1 this narrative in ,matthew and
 ,luke was one of the latest touches in 

the ,gospel1 belonging to a period forty
 or fifty years after the ,lord had     
passed away1 when men had begun to      
realize what he was--the ,son of        
,god--and tried to express their        
conviction in this form or that4 ,the   
implication here is unmistakable1 that1 
in ,dr4 ,horton's view1 subjective      
considerations in the minds of pious    
believers1 rather than objective fact1  
form the basis of the story4  #ci ,see  
the ,sermon on ,born of a ,virgin1 in   
the volume on ,the ,incarnation of ,our 
,lord4  #dj ,christian thought has not  
erred by asserting too much concerning  
the incarnation of ,god1 but1 on the    
contrary1 too little4444 ,if ever       
overblown by blasts of denial1 it is for
 wanting breadth of base4444 ,men have  
disbelieved the incarnation1 because    
told that all there was of it was in    
,christ2 and they reject what is        
presented as exceptional to the general 
way of ,god4 ,they must be told to      
believe more2 that the age-long way of  

,god is in a perpetually increasing     
incarnation of life1 whose climax and   
crown is the divine fulness of life in  
,christ4--,from a discourse by the      
present writer on ,life and its         
,incarnations1 in the volume1 ,new      
,points to ,old ,texts4 7,james ,clarke 
,co41 ,london4 ,thomas ,whittaker1 ,new 
,york1 #ahhi47  #da ,see page #ig and   
,note4  #db ,romans i4 #d4  #dc #a      
,corinthians xv4 #af-bc4  #dd ,our      
,risen ,king's ,forty ,days1 #aijb4  #de
 ,in strong contrast with this are the  
reactionary protests of ,dr4 ,w4 ,r4    
,nicoll3 ,to talk of the resurrection of
 the spirit is preposterous4 ,the spirit
 does not die1 and therefore cannot     
rise4444 ,the one resurrection of which 
the ,new ,testament knows1 the one      
resurrection which allows to language   
any meaning1 is the resurrection of the 
body1 the resurrection which leaves the 
grave empty 7op4 cit4 p4 #acd74  ,it    
should be noted here that ,jesus'       
argument with the ,sadducees on the     

resurrection 7,luke xx4 #cg1 #ch7       
logically proceeds on the assumption    
that living after death and rising after
 death are convertible terms4 ,also1    
that the contrast involved in the idea  
of the resurrection 7the anastasis1 or  
rising up7 is a contrast not between the
 grave and the sky1 but between the     
lower life of mortals and the higher    
life immortal4  ,for an extended        
exhibition of this line of evidence see 
,the ,assurance of ,immortality1 and    
,the ,present ,pledge of ,life to ,come 
7in two volumes of discourses by the    
present writer71 ,london1 ,james ,clarke
  ,co4 ,new ,york1 ,thomas ,whittaker1  
#ahhh and #ahhi4  #df ,could it have    
been only an apparition8 ,the census of 
hallucinations conducted some ten years 
since by the ,society for ,psychical    
,research evinced the reality of        
veridical apparitions of deceased       
persons at or near the time of their    
death1 showing the number of verified   
cases to be so large as to exclude the  

supposition of chance hallucination 7see
 ,proceedings1 ,august1 #ahid74 ,or     
could it have been a material body      
suddenly becoming visible in a closed   
room1 as narrated by ,luke and ,john8   
,first-class evidence1 if there can be  
any such for such occurrences1 has been 
exhibited for such phenomena as the     
passage of solid substances through     
intervening doors and walls--easy       
enough1 say mathematicians1 for a being 
familiar with the fourth dimension--and 
of the levitation of heavy bodies       
without physical support4 7,see         
,proceedings1 ,january1 #ahid1 and      
,march1 #ahie47 ,as to such things      
scepticism is doubtless in order1 but   
dogmatic contradiction is not4 ,sub     
judice lis est4  #dg ,professor ,borden 
,p4 ,bowne has thus exhibited this great
 mistake and its grievous consequence3--
  ,in popular thought1 religious and    
irreligious alike1 the natural is       
supposed to be something that runs      
itself without any internal guidance or 

external interference4 ,the             
supernatural1 on the other hand1 if     
there be any such thing1 is not supposed
 to manifest itself through the natural1
 but by means of portents1 prodigies1   
interpositions1 departures from1 or     
infractions of1 natural law in general4 
,the realm of law belongs to the        
natural1 and the natural runs itself4   
,hence1 if we are to find anything      
supernatural1 we must look for it in the
 abnormal1 the chaotic1 the lawless1 or 
that which defies all reduction to order
 that may be depended on4 ,this notion  
underlies the traditional debate between
 naturalism and supernaturalism4444     
,this unhappy misconception of the      
relation of the natural to the          
supernatural has practically led the    
great body of uncritical thinkers into  
the grotesque inversion of all          
reason--the more law and order1 the less
 ,god4--,zion's ,herald1 ,august #bb1   
#aijj4     ,,viii     ,,viii            
,,synopsis4--,the cardinal point in the 

present discussion1 the reality     not 
of miracles but of the                  
supernatural4--,fallacy of pointing to  
physical events as essential            
characteristics of supernatural         
,revelation4--,the character of a       
revelation determined not by its        
circumstances1 but by its               
contents4--,moral nature supernatural to
     physical4--,nature a hierarchy of  
natures4--,supernatural ,religion       
historically attested by the moral      
development it     generates4--,transfer
 of its distinctive note from moral     
ideals to     physical marvels a costly 
error4--,jesus' miracles a revelation1  
of     a type common with others before 
and since4--,the unique ,revelation     
of ,jesus was in the higher realm of    
divine ideas and ideals4--,these1       
while unrealized in human life1 still   
exhibit the fact of a     supernatural  
,revelation4--,the distinction of       
natural and     supernatural belongs to 
the period of moral progress up to the  

spiritual maturity of man in the image  
of ,god4 ,the divine     possibilities  
of humanity1 imaged in ,jesus1 revealed 
as our     inheritance and our prize4   
,it remains finally to emphasize the    
point of cardinal importance in the     
considerations that have been presented4
 ,this is not the reality of miracles1  
but the reality of the supernatural1    
what it really is1 as distinct from what
 it has been thought to be4 ,the advance
 of science and philosophy has brought  
to the front this question3 ,have those 
who reject the claims of supernatural   
,religion been misinformed as to what it
 is8 ,is it1 as they have been told1    
dependent for its attestation on signs  
and wonders occurring in the sphere of  
the senses8 ,does it require acceptance 
of these1 as well as of its teachings8  
,or is its characteristic appeal wholly 
to the higher nature of man1 relying for
 its attestation on the witness borne to
 it by this1 rather than by             
extraordinary phenomena presented to the

 senses8 ,there is at present no        
intellectual interest of ,christianity  
more urgent than this3 to present to    
minds imbued with modern learning the   
true conception of the supernatural and 
of supernatural ,religion4  ,miracles1  
legitimately viewed as the natural      
product of extraordinary psychical      
power1 or1 to phrase it otherwise1 of an
 exceptional vital endowment1 belong not
 to the ,hebrew race alone1 nor did they
 cease when the last survivor of the    
,jewish apostles of ,christianity passed
 away at the end of the first century4  
,this traditional opinion ought by this 
time to have been entombed together with
 its long defunct relative1 which       
represented this globe as the fixed     
centre of the revolving heavens4        
,miracles have the same universality as 
human life4 ,nor will their record be   
closed till the evolution of life is    
complete4 ,animal life1 advancing       
through geologic aeons to the advent of 
man1 in him reached its climax4         

,spiritual life1 appearing in him as a  
new bud on an old stock1 is evidently   
far from its climax still4 ,to believe  
in miracles1 as rightly understood1 is  
to believe in spirit and life1 and in   
further unfoldings of their still latent
 powers4  ,this1 however1 is just now of
 subordinate importance4 ,the present   
interest of chief moment is a riddance  
of the hoary fallacy that vitiates the  
current idea of a supernatural          
,revelation by looking for its specific 
characteristics to the physical world4  
,by this deplorable fallacy ,christian  
theology has blinded the minds of many  
scientific men to the essential claims  
of ,christianity1 with immense damage in
 the arrested development of their      
religious nature through the scepticism 
inevitably but needlessly provoked by   
this great mistake4 ,when ,elijah       
proclaims to idolaters that their deity 
is no ,god1 and1 as we read1            
corroborates his words by calling down  
fire from heaven to consume his         

sacrifice1 it is reckoned as            
supernatural ,revelation4 ,but it is not
 so reckoned when the sage in the book  
of ,proverbs proclaims to a nation of   
religious formalists the moral character
 of ,god3 ,to do righteousness and      
justice is more acceptable to the ,,lord
 than sacrifice4 ,this is accounted as  
ethical teaching1 somewhat in advance of
 the times4 ,a pagan rather than a      
,christian way of thinking is           
discoverable here4 ,in each of the cases
 cited the specific character of        
supernatural ,revelation is equally     
evident1--the disclosure of spiritual   
truth above the natural thought of the  
natural men to whom it came4 ,the       
character of any revelation is          
determined by the character of the truth
 made known1 not by the drapery of      
circumstances connected with the making 
known4 ,clothes do not make the man1    
though coarse or careless people may    
think so4 ,what belongs to the moral and
 spiritual order is supernatural to what

 belongs to the material and physical   
order4  ,this way of thinking will be   
forced on common minds by thoughtful    
observation of common things4 ,animate  
nature of the lowest rank1 as in the    
grass1 is of a higher natural order than
 inanimate nature in the soil the grass 
springs from4 ,sentient nature1 as in   
the ox1 is of a higher order than the   
non-sentient in the grass4              
,self-conscious and reflective nature in
 the man is of a higher order than the  
selfless and non-reflective nature in   
his beast of burden4 ,in the composite  
being of man all these orders of nature 
coexist1 and each higher is supernatural
 to the nature below it4 ,nature1 the   
comprehensive term for all that comes   
into being1 is a hierarchy of natures1  
rising rank above rank from the lowest  
to the highest4 ,the highest nature     
known to us1 supernatural to all below  
it1 can only be the moral nature1 whose 
full satisfaction is necessary to the   
highest satisfaction of a man1 and in   

whose complete development only can be  
realized in permanency his perfected    
welfare as a social being4  ,now it is  
precisely in the progress of moral      
development that supernatural ,religion 
manifests itself as a reality4          
,religion1 indeed1 is as natural to man 
as ,art4 ,but there is religion and     
,religion1 as there is art and ,art--the
 sexual religion of the primitive       
,semites1 the animistic religion of     
,china1 the spiritual ,religion that    
flowered on the ,mount of the           
,beatitudes1 embryonic religion and     
,religion adult2 all1 indeed1 natural1  
yet of lower and of higher grade4       
,doubtless1 ,religion of whatever grade 
outranks all other human activities by  
its distinctive aspiration to transcend 
the bounds of space and time and sense1 
and to link the individual to the       
universal2 and so all ,religion sounds1 
feebly or distinctly1 the note of the   
supernatural4 ,but this is the resonant 
note of the spiritual ,religion which   

unfolds in the moral progress of the    
world4 ,as moral nature is supernatural 
to the psychical and the physical1 so is
 its consummate bloom of spiritual      
,religion to be ranked as such1         
relatively to the religions which more  
or less dimly and blindly are yearning  
and groping toward the light that never 
was on sea or land4 ,thus defining the  
word according to the nature of the     
thing1 supernatural ,religion1 with its 
corollary of supernatural ,revelation   
not as an apparition from without1 but  
as an unfolding from within1 is both a  
fact and a factor in the development of 
spiritual man4  ,the term supernatural  
,religion has been rightly applied to   
that system of religious conceptions1   
ideals1 and motives1 whose effective    
culture of the moral nature is attested 
historically by a moral development     
superior to the product of any other    
known religion4 ,whether the greatest   
saints of ,christianity are all of them 
whiter souls than any that can be found 

among the disciples of any other        
religion1 may be matter for argument4   
,there can be no gainsaying the fact    
that1 of great and lowly together1 no   
other religion shows so many saints1 or 
has so advanced the general moral       
development in lands where it is widely 
followed4 ,but its essential character  
has been obscured1 its appeal to man's  
highest nature foiled1 and its power    
lamed by the wretched fallacy that has  
transferred its distinctive note of the 
supernatural from its divine ideals to  
the physical marvels embedded in the    
record of its original promulgation1    
even conditioning its validity and      
authority upon their reality4 ,such is  
the false issue which1 to the discredit 
of ,christianity1 theology has presented
 to science4 ,such is the confusion of  
ideas that in the light of modern       
knowledge inevitably blocks the way to a
 reasonable religious faith in          
multitudes of minds thereby offended4   
,from this costly error ,christian      

theology at length shows signs that it  
is about to extricate itself4#dh  ,as to
 the ,christian miracles1 there can be  
no reasonable doubt that mighty works1  
deemed by many of his contemporaries    
superhuman1 were wrought by ,jesus4     
,these1 whatever they were1 must be     
regarded as the natural effluence of a  
transcendently endowed life4 ,taking    
place in the sphere of the senses1 they 
were a revelation of the type seen      
before and since in the lives of        
wonder-workers ancient and modern1 in   
whom the power of mind over matter1     
however astonishing and mysterious1 is  
recognized as belonging to the natural  
order of things no less than the        
unexplored ,antarctic belongs to the    
globe4 ,but the ,revelation which he    
gave to human thought as a new thing1 a 
heavenly vision unprecedented1 was in   
the higher realm of the moral and       
spiritual life4 ,this was the true      
supernatural1 whose reality and power   
are separable from all its environment  

of circumstances1 and wholly independent
 thereof4 ,the characteristic ideals of 
,jesus1 his profound consciousness of   
,god1 his filial thought of ,god1 his   
saturation with the conviction of his   
moral oneness with ,god1#di his         
realization of brotherhood with the     
meanest human being1 still transcend the
 common level of natural humanity even  
among his disciples4 ,as thus           
transcendent they are supernatural      
still4 ,till reached and realized1 they 
manifest the fact of a supernatural     
,revelation in that peerless life as    
plainly as the sun is manifest in the   
splendor of a cloudless day4  ,in the   
coming but distant age1 when man's      
spiritual nature1 now so embryonic1     
shall have become adult1 it will        
doubtless so pervade and rule the       
physical and psychical natures which it 
inhabits that the distinction between   
natural and supernatural1 so important  
in the period of its development1 will  
become foreign alike to thought and     

speech4 ,but until the making of man in 
the image of ,god is complete1 when the 
spiritual element in our composite      
being1 now struggling for development1  
shall be manifest in its ultimate       
maturity and ascendency as the          
distinctive and proper nature of        
humanity1 it is of supreme importance   
for the ,christian teacher1 who would   
point and urge to the heights of being1 
to free men's minds of error as to what 
the real supernatural is4 ,not the      
fancied disturber of the world's ordered
 harmonies1 but that highest ,nature    
which is the moulder1 the glory1 and the
 crown of all the lower4  ,imaged to us 
in the human perfectness of ,jesus1 the 
ideal ,son of man1 it is revealed as the
 distinctive inheritance and prize of   
the humanity that essays to think the   
thoughts and walk the ways of ,god4 ,to 
each of us is it given in germ by our   
human birth1 to be fostered and         
nourished in converse with the ,infinite
 ,presence that inhabits all things1    

till its divine possibilities appear in 
the ultimate revealing of the sons of   
,god1#ej full grown according to the    
measure of the stature of the fulness of
 ,christ4#ea   ,,footnotes3  #dh ,upon  
the conception of the supernatural as   
the personal1 says ,professor ,nash1    
apologetics must found the claims of    
,christianity4--,ethics and ,revelation4
  #di ,the words in which ,jesus        
expresses this are much more            
extraordinary and profoundly significant
 than any of those mighty works of his1 
the like of which are recorded of the   
ancient prophets4 ,jesus was conscious  
of ,god as living in him1 and of himself
 as living in ,god1 in the unity of the 
one eternal life4 ,not merely as a man  
of ,god1 but as a man in ,god1 as no    
other man has consciously been1 does    
,jesus utter such sayings as1 ,i am the 
light of the world1 ,i and my ,father   
are one4 7,see ,jesus the ,ideal ,man1  
by the present writer4 ,the ,new ,world1
 ,june1 #ahig47  #ej ,romans viii4 #ai4 

#ea ,ephesians iv4 #ac4                 
,new ,testament ,handbooks              
,,edited ,,by                           
,,shailer ,,mathews          ,professor 
of ,new ,testament ,history and         
,interpretation1                        
,university of ,chicago                 
,arrangements are made for the following
 volumes1 and the publishers     will1  
on request1 send notice of the issue of 
each volume as it     appears and each  
descriptive circular sent out later2    
such requests     for information should
 state whether address is permanent or  
not3--   ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,the     
,,textual ,,criticism ,,of ,,the ,,new  
,,testament    ,prof4 ,,marvin ,r4      
,,vincent1 ,professor of ,new ,testament
 ,exegesis1 ,union   ,theological       
,seminary4                              
,now ready4      ,professor ,vincent's  
contributions to the study of the ,new  
,testament     rank him among the first 
,american exegetes4 ,his most recent    
publication is ,a ,critical and         

,exegetical ,commentary on the ,epistles
     to the ,philippians and to         
,philemon 7,international ,critical     
,commentary71 which was preceded by a   
,students' ,new ,testament              
,handbook1 ,word ,studies in the ,new   
,testament1 and others4   ,,the         
,,history ,,of ,,the ,,higher           
,,criticism ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament
    ,prof4 ,,henry ,s4 ,,nash1          
,professor of ,new ,testament           
,interpretation1   ,cambridge ,divinity 
,school4                                
,now ready4      ,of ,professor ,nash's 
,genesis of the ,social ,conscience1    
,the     ,outlook said3 ,the results of 
,professor ,nash's ripe thought are     
presented in a luminous1 compact1 and   
often epigrammatic style4 ,the          
treatment is at once masterful and      
helpful1 and the book ought to be     a 
quickening influence of the highest     
kind2 it surely will establish     the  
fame of its author as a profound        
thinker1 one from whom we have     a    

right to expect future inspiration of a 
kindred sort4   ,,introduction ,,to     
,,the ,,books ,,of ,,the ,,new          
,,testament    ,prof4 ,b4 ,,wisner      
,,bacon1 ,professor of ,new ,testament  
,interpretation1 ,yale   ,university4   
,now ready4      ,professor ,bacon's    
works in the field of ,old ,testament   
criticism     include ,the ,triple      
,tradition of ,exodus1 and ,the ,genesis
 of     ,genesis1 a study of the        
documentary sources of the books of     
,moses4     ,in the field of ,new       
,testament study he has published a     
number of     brilliant papers1 the most
 recent of which is ,the ,autobiography 
of     ,jesus1 in the ,american ,journal
 of ,theology4   ,,the ,,history ,,of   
,,new ,,testament ,,times ,,in          
,,palestine    ,prof4 ,,shailer         
,,mathews1 ,professor of ,new ,testament
 ,history and   ,interpretation1 ,the   
,university of ,chicago4                
,now ready4      ,the ,congregationalist
 says of ,prof4 ,shailer ,mathews's     

recent work1     ,the ,social ,teaching 
of ,jesus3 ,re-reading deepens the      
impression     that the author is       
scholarly1 devout1 awake to all modern  
thought1     and yet conservative and   
pre-eminently sane4 ,if1 after reading  
the     chapters dealing with ,jesus'   
attitude toward man1 society1 the       
family1 the state1 and wealth1 the      
reader will not agree with us in        
this opinion1 we greatly err as         
prophets4   ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,paul    
,prof4 ,,rush ,,rhees1 ,president of the
 ,university of ,rochester4             
,professor ,rhees is well known from his
 series of ,inductive ,lessons          
contributed to the ,sunday ,school      
,times4 ,his ,outline of the ,life      
of ,paul1 privately printed1 has had a  
flattering reception from ,new          
,testament scholars4   ,,the ,,history  
,,of ,,the ,,apostolic ,,age    ,dr4 ,c4
 ,w4 ,,votaw1 ,instructor in ,new       
,testament ,literature1 ,the            
,university of ,chicago4      ,of ,dr4  

,votaw's ,inductive ,study of the       
,founding of the ,christian     ,church1
 ,modern ,church1 ,edinburgh1 says3 ,no 
fuller analysis of     the later books  
of the ,new ,testament could be desired1
 and no better     programme could be   
offered for their study1 than that      
afforded in     the scheme of fifty     
lessons on the ,founding of the         
,christian     ,church1 by ,clyde ,w4   
,votaw4 ,it is well adapted alike for   
practical     and more scholarly        
students of the ,bible4   ,,the         
,,teaching ,,of ,,jesus    ,prof4       
,,george ,b4 ,,stevens1 ,professor of   
,systematic ,theology1 ,yale            
,university4                            
,now ready4      ,professor ,stevens's  
volumes upon ,the ,johannine ,theology1 
,the     ,pauline ,theology1 as well as 
his recent volume on ,the ,theology of  
the ,new ,testament1 have made him      
probably the most prominent writer      
on biblical theology in ,america4 ,his  
new volume will be among the     most   

important of his works4   ,,the         
,,biblical ,,theology ,,of ,,the ,,new  
,,testament    ,prof4 ,e4 ,p4 ,,gould1  
,professor of ,new ,testament           
,interpretation1   ,protestant          
,episcopal ,divinity ,school1           
,philadelphia4      ,now ready4         
,professor ,gould's ,commentaries on the
 ,gospel of ,mark 7in the               
,international ,critical ,commentary7   
and the ,epistles to the                
,corinthians 7in the ,american          
,commentary7 are critical and           
exegetical attempts to supply those     
elements which are lacking in           
existing works of the same general aim  
and scope4   ,,the ,,history ,,of       
,,christian ,,literature ,,until        
,,eusebius    ,prof4 ,j4 ,w4 ,,platner1 
,professor of ,early ,church ,history1  
,harvard   ,university4      ,professor 
,platner's work will not only treat the 
writings of the     early ,christian    
writers1 but will also treat of the     
history of the     ,new ,testament      

,canon4   ,,others ,,to ,,follow        
,an excellent series of scholarly1 yet  
concise and inexpensive ,new            
,testament handbooks4--,christian       
,advocate1 ,new ,york4      ,these books
 are remarkably well suited in language1
 style1 and     price1 to all students  
of the ,new ,testament4--,the           
,congregationalist1 ,boston4            
99       99       99       99       99  
,,the ,,macmillan ,,company             
#ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york      
,transcriber's ,note 7,significant      
,amendments73      p4 #bh1              
',saltpetriere' amended to ,salpetriere4