Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker Discourse volume 1.djvu/224

Rh argue from the miracles alone, assume two things; first, that miracles prove the divinity of a doctrine; secondly, that they were wrought in connection with the Christian doctrine. If one ask proof of these significant premises, it is not easy to come by. This subject of miracles demands a careful attention. Here are two questions to be asked. First, Are miracles possible? Second, Did they actually occur in the case of Christianity?

The answer depends on the definition of the term. The point we are to reason from is the idea of God, who must be the cause of the miracle. Now a miracle is one of three things:

1. It is a transgression of all law which God has made; or,

2. A transgression of all known laws, but obedience to a law which we may yet discover; or,

3. A transgression of all law known or knowable by man, but yet in conformity with some law out of our reach.

1. To take the first definition. A miracle is not possible, as it involves a contradiction. The infinite God must have made the most perfect laws possible in the nature of things; it is absurd and self-contradictory to suppose the reverse. But if his laws are perfect and the nature of things unchangeable, why should he alter these laws? The change can only be for the worse. To suppose he does this is to accuse God of caprice. If he be the ultimate cause of the phenomena and laws of the universe, to suppose in a given case he changes these phenomena and laws, is either to make God fickle and therefore not worthy to be relied on; or else inferior to Nature, of which he is yet the cause.

2. To take the second definition. It is no miracle at all, but simply an act, which at first we cannot understand and refer to the process of its causation. The most common events, such as growth, vitality, sensation, affection, thought, are miracles. Besides, the miracle is of a most fluctuating character. The miracle-worker of to-day is a matter-of-fact juggler to-morrow. The explosion of gun-