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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
March 1926
M iracles ! Are They Possible? Dr. Arthur T. Pierson
The conclusion of this article, “ Miracles: Are They Probable?” ^ i l l be given in the April number. Tills theme is taken from Dr. Pierson's book, “ Many Infallible Proofs," which should be in every home library. Though written some years ago it is the much needed help for these corrupt church days. There have been but few writers in the last fifty years comparable to Dr. Pierson. He had a matchless method and power in the accumulation of facts that are irresistible to the open-minded reader. More than four years of close affiliation with him as associate pastor won my love and loyalty. He was the only Bible teacher I ever had, and anything I have been able to accomplish in Christian work is due, under God, to this great and good man.
derful to show that God’s hand is in it, and its end is accomplished. So must it be wonderful, as out of the com mon course, that it may arrest attention. A miracle must combine both these elements. It may be that you either mark a wonder which is not a sign, or a sign which is not a won der; but neither is a mir acle, because it does not meet both conditions. For e x a m p l e , sunshine is a wonder, and no familiarity with the daily mystery of the morning and the even ing can take away the ele ment of the marvelous. A vast globe, fifteen hundred thousand t i m e s the vol ume of the earth, gives to it life and heat and motion, at a distance of more than ninety millions of miles. If that bush in the desert of Horeb was wonderful, which burned with fire and was not consumed, what shall we say of a sphere of fire which six thousand years of unceasing com bustion has not even re duced in size! Tet we do not call the sun a miracle, for God does not appeal to it as a special sign to con firm His word or show His power in connection with human agency. The rain bow is a sign, to w h i c h God appeals, as a token of His covenant with man that the flood of waters shall not again deluge the earth. Yet,we do not call that a miracle, for it is not out of the common course of nature, and does not arrest the attention of men as showing a power above nature. Let us then fix firmly in mind that when any occurrence is sufficiently out of the natural or usual order to indicate a sure interposition of a power above nature and above man; and when God points us to such an occurrence as a sign that He is speaking by man, we have both conditions necessary to a miracle. It must be above the power both of nature and of man. Nature represents blind, mechan ical force, acting without intelligence. All nature’s opera tions are marvelous, but not miraculous, for they move in the line of fixed laws. Man represents intelligent, intellect ual force; all man’s operations are marvelous, but not mir aculous, for they move in the line of fixed laws— laws of
“ Jesus o f Nazareth, a man approved o f God among you by m iracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst o f you, as ye yourselves also know .”— A cts 2:22. E jflHAT is a miracle? Definitions lie at the basis of I all discussions, for they define or limit the ground I which argument is to cover; they
set bounds within which we both keep ourselves and hold our opponents. This is of as much consequence in debate as it would be in a contest between athletes to settle the rules of hon orable. championship. M u c h importance at taches to a definition. Carelessly to accept a false premise may compel us to admit a false conclusion. A whole building is made unsafe by a treacherous foundation. If we begin with a wrong or faulty definition, we unsettle our whole argument. If a miracle be defined as a “ natural impossibil ity,” how shall we meet those who, like Hume and Strauss, first assume mir acles to be impossible, and t h e n ask triumphantly whether any testimony can establish an Impossibility? It is very plausible to start by assuming a miracle to be a violation of natural laws; next, assert the uni formity of those laws as a fact and a necessity to the very stability of the sys tem of n a t u r e ; next to
Dr. Arthur T. Plersoa Reproduced from an engraving In “The Christian” (London) dated May 5, 1887, in connection w ith a brief biographical sketch o f Dr. Pierson’s life and labors.
argue the absurdity and impossibility of voluntary violations of those laws by the very Creator who fixed them as ruling forces; and so conclude that no testimony can establish a miracle. A miracle, in a Scripture sense, is simply this: A wonder and a sign. Its.sole use is this, that God appeals to it as a sign of His power. This is the reason why it must also be a wonder. Were there nothing in it that strikes the mind as out of the common course of nature, or beyond the power of man, it could not be used by God to produce the impres sion and conviction of His presence and power. It need not be on the grandest scale; it need not call God’s power into its fullest exercise; that might be a waste. All that is neces sary is that the act or occurrence shall be sufficiently won
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