st? To answer
this we must inquire what kind of proof is necessary. An extraordinary
story should be supported by extraordinary evidence. It requires the
concurrent and overwhelming testimony of eye-witnesses. We must be
persuaded that there is no collusion between them, that none of them
has anything to gain by deception, that they had no previous tendency
to expect such a thing, and that it was practically impossible that they
could be deluded. Now let any man or any Christian seriously ask himself
whether the evidence for Jesus Christ's miracle is of this character.
Four evangelists write his life, and only one mentions the occurrence.
Even he was certainly not an eye-witness, nor does he pretend to be, and
the weight of evidence is against his gospel having been written till
long after the first disciples of Jesus were dead. But even if the
writer distinctly declared himself an eye-witness, and if it were
undeniable that he lived on the spot at the time, his single unsupported
testimony would be absurdly inadequate to establish the truth of the
miracle. Every reader will at once see that the established rules of
evidence are not conformed to, and whoever accepts the miracle must eke
out reason with faith.

So much for the evidence of miracles. Their intellectual or moral value
is simply nil. The greatest miracle could not really convince a man of
what his reason condemned; and if a prophet could turn water into wine,
it would not necessarily follow that all he said was true. In fact,
truth does not require the support of miracles; it flourishes better
without their assistance. Universal history shows that miracles
have always been employed to support falsehood and fraud, to promote
superstition, and to enhance the profit and power of priests.

A REAL MIRACLE. *

* May, 1891.

It is a common belief among Protestants, though not among Catholics,
that the age of miracles is past. For a long time it has been very
difficult to find a real case of special providence. There are stories
afloat of wonderful faith-cures, and the followers of John Wesley,
as well as the followers of William Booth, often shake their heads
mysteriously, and affect to trace the hand of God in certain episodes of
their experience. But such cases are too personal, and too subjective,
to challenge criticism or inquiry. Investigating them is like exploring
a cloud. There is nothing tangible for the mind to seize, nothing to
stand by a