rightened by the violence of the waves,
Christ who was standing on the shore, put out his hand and caught him.
The boat put to land and they both got in!

Such was the common method of explaining miracles. The Rationalists were
so opposed to the idea of the supernatural, that each was accounted for
in some other than the Scriptural way. Many volumes were written on this
subject alone, until the people became thoroughly imbued with the
opinion that the Scriptures are nothing more than a well-intended and
exhaustive Jewish mythology. It became a mark of superstition to credit
a miraculous event, and the few who still adhered to this pillar of the
Christian faith found themselves pitied by the learned and derided by
their equals.

PROPHECY. The adventurous men who could deal thus with miracles would
not be supposed to be more lenient to the prophecies of the Scriptures.
We, therefore, observe the same skeptical rejection of the prophets. We
have not dwelt at length upon the particular books which received their
thrusts, for this would be quite too lengthy a task for the present
volume. It is probable, however, that there is not a book of Scripture,
or even a chapter, which these men would have remain just as we find it
in the canon. "Something must be done with it," they argued, "no matter
what it is. It is older or later than we have been accustomed to think.
It was, of course, written by some one else than the accredited author."

A large share of these criticisms centered on the works of the prophets,
for it was one of the most persistent efforts of Rationalism to destroy
popular faith in them. Ammon discoursed boldly against them and
attempted to convert every prophetic expression into a natural remark.
He held that Christ himself directly renounced the power to prophesy,
Mat. xxiv. 36; Acts i. 7; and that there are no prophecies of his in the
New Testament. Prophecies are recorded in the Bible as uttered by men of
doubtful character. Many of them are obscure, and were never fulfilled.
Others were made after the events, and all were reckoned imperfect by
the Apostles. These accusations apply to all the prophecies of the Old
and New Testaments. The argument for them needs whatever excuse it can
find, in the delirium of the prophets who were transported out of their
sobriety, in the double sense in which they are quoted in the New
Testament, or in the remarkable variety of interpretation. In fact,
there is a moral obje