Miracles and Doctrines
By J. A. L. Derby
MANY distinguished persons, as, for example, Matthew Arnold, think that the possibility of miracles ought to be rejected, because so many people of all shades of religion, from fetishism to Roman Catholicism, from Roman Catholicism to Methodism and Episcopalianism, quote the miracles of their religion as evidence of the truth of their doctrines. Perhaps the best modern illustration of this tendency is the follower of Mrs. Eddy. But Mr. Arnold's proposal is as bad as the practise of the sects. There are miracles all the way from Hindu fakir levitations to the healing of the sick by the prayer of faith. No informed person can deny the miracles. But they prove nothing concerning the moral character of a religion. The fact is, the doctrine is evidence for the miracle, not the miracle for the doctrine. A mighty demon could work a miracle as truly as could an angel. To accept every religion supported by miracle, would be a sign of nothing so surely as lunacy. Yet there are some miracles which only God can do.