"MIRACLES, FALSE AND TRUE."

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 68, 10 February 1883, Page 3

"MIRACLES, FALSE AND TRUE."

The following is a resume of the lecture •on *• Miracles," delivered by <ho Rc*r H, M. Murray on Sunday last. Text-: Heb. 11., 4:Miracles hold an important and prominent place in tbe early 'history of Chistianity, and yet their cenneetion with •Christianity itself .is not«lose-or*ii-.timate. '1 hey were designed chiefly to serve the temporary purpose of ushering in the new dispensation, and proving the genuineness of the claims of Jesus as the Son of God, and of the Apostles as sent by | Oh-rist. When Jesus wrought a miracle, I He took means to make the miracle either teach something spiritual, or draw out -some spiritual affection, from the persoa benefitted. S« far from delighting in the fame of a miracle worker, he sought to •avoid it as -calculated to lead away men's minds from the true end of His mission, the salvation of their souls. He sometimes reproved the people for their fondness for miraculous displays—-" unless ye ace signs and wonders ye will not beJieve," "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign," and Ho said to the people who had followed him after the feeding ofthe 5000 " ye seek Me not ye saw the Miracle, but because ye ate of the loaves and wore filled," i.e., Ye now seek Me out not because the -miracle htfs coavinced you of my divine character, but because of the material -benefit whioh it brought te yon. As -Prostestant- believe that .he-grand design •of miracles was to usher in the new dis--pensation, they 'believe -consequently thttt they ceased when that -end was accomplished. The belief of the -lonian Catholic -oh this point .is quite -different, it bedioves that miraculous -power still belongs to the Church and -will continue in iit to the .end. All the -saintsiin the calendar down to the modern ■St. Francis Ligaori were miracle work- ( •or*. -, indeed this is one oftlhe indispeß-sa^ -"ble -cocdetiocs before they can receive af Tpateat <£ saintship. But not orily dol -tbey th_i*k that miraculous power holong*-' ■to the saints, 'but al«o -to frbeir dead ; bodies, to- every .part of them, the smallest, _f ragman t di their bones, hair, &c, as well -as to everything that belonged to them— j *their garments, >&«. -Nest this rpower ; Jhas -been extended to images, and lastly ito places whieli have been rendered, -sacred-by-the residence of saints. Holy <wells and springs are numerous in mes: Roman Catholic countries and are fre--queilted by multitudes -seeking cures of rvari-'us diseases. There are other sects ■which 'claim to possess nnd exercise die power of working miracles. The modern -sect'of Trvingit-s, or, as fliey are , >to call.t hemselves, the Catholic andi J_postdlic Church, claim tbi_ pewer as'well as -prophecy and -speaking with) .tongues. The late historian Buckle, -when ttdad of .15 years was present -when' Hrving himself attempted .to restore a .dead child to .life, and "it was the failure, •of thifi-attemptat a miracle -which is saidi -to -have sowed in Buckle's mind the -first ( seeds of" that ' antagonism to [Religion., •which -was so .mai&ed -a feature of his j mature years. The Mormons areanother :.sect which claims miraculous power., •Considering .the. exacts, -it will -not seem (hazardous to say not orily -that 'there are; 'false miracles, but .further that false . ouiracles are much more numerous than . -true. 'Can we dbtain any -criterion to •distinguish true miracles .from false. If* *we can determine the characteristics ofi •Scnpture -miracles we have in them such n criterion because all are agreed that' tthoy aye trite. B?he "first characteristic •of Scripture miracles we shall mention k ■di-nrity and sobriety. A multitude of j modern miracles -are coadenmed by this: •test. How petty and paltry the alleged uniracle of the liquefaction of .a saint's ; Wood which takes place every year at ! JS; aples. How wild aud extravagant the i -.transportation of the virgin's house by [ tangels in one riight 'from Xazareth to I iLoretto in Italy. Another characteristic • .dfitihe -miracles of Christ and His Apos-' t£les -(va- that they wore verefiable. They • •were performed in public^and in presence; •of competent and *kc_Tily .observant wit- j aiesses. Bring to thi« test the most res- ( pectable of .modern (miracles. We shall j -choose one which was believed in by the anost pious Eonrnn Catholics df France,! :and -which is still •vacnfted among them ;as an -undoubted auiracle, vie., the alleged; •cure of Madamoiselle Perrier by a touch ! ■of a holy 'thorn. How does it stand the ' .above test of -flerefiability. It was performed, not in public, but in tbe depth of t a Convent; not in tbe presence *of com- j petent witnesses, but of nuns, who are j not free agents. The subject of the! -miracle was a child of eleven, an inmate of the Convent; the disease, a lachry mal, fistula, is quite curable in a natural way. 'The nun who applied the thorn, and, in . -fact, conducted the whole affair, after- ' wards became so troublesome for lies and ; that she -was -expelled from the " .Convent. The last characteristic of; Scripture .miracles which we will mention i is -r-randeur of object. The miracles of; IVloses had for their object the deliver- i ance of God's people and to teach them; to trust and fear God as a nation. The, ■miracles -el -Christ had for their grand; •obiect the establishment of -the Kingdom j •of God upon tbe earth. We never read . in Scripture of men who made it their I .business to oure men's bodies by miracle. ; To this test we would bring the most Modern miracles of all those viz., said to be performed in these last days in the Sf " of Wellington fy *. Mr Milner Stephens: According to the account he

gives he prayed to God that he might do •sotze great ihing, and in answer to this prayer he suddenly found himself endowed wiMi tlwr* power of relieving bodily ailments by his touch. In their object the so-calb-d miracles of this gentleman do not answer to the (est we have last mentioned. His -fth'-j. rt is mno way associated with lrulh, <>r holiness, or righteousness. To fudge by what we have seen or heard of this gentleman's proceedings, in proportion to the number of his cases his successes have been few and but partial. We believe hira to be possessed of the power of acting* beneficially on the nervous system by touching and stroking the affecte i part, and so benefiting a certain class of •sufferers*. This power is by no means con£ned to Mr Stevens. It has been and is possessed by many persons although it is a power very mysteri ous and only d srovercdm modern times. Tliat it is in any true sense miraculous tnere is no reason whatever to believe.