[[410]] Aug. de curâ gerend. pro Mort. c. xxvii. p. 529.
[[411]] Vita Daniel Stylit. xi. Decemb.
[[412]] Gregor. lib. ii. Dialog. c. xxii.
[[413]] Vita Sancti Euthym. pp. 86, 87.
[[414]] Le Brun, Traité des Superstit. tom. i. pp. 281, 282, et seq.
CHAPTER XLVI.
ARGUMENTS CONCERNING APPARITIONS.
After having spoken at some length upon apparitions, and after having established the truth of them, as far as it has been possible for us to do so, from the authority of the Scripture, from examples, and by arguments, we must now exercise our judgment on the causes, means, and reasons for these apparitions, and reply to the objections which may be made to destroy the reality of them, or at least to raise doubts on the subject.
We have supposed that apparitions were the work of angels, demons, or souls of the defunct; we do not talk of the appearance of God himself; his will, his operations, his power, are above our reach; we acknowledge that he can do all that he wills to do, that his will is all-powerful, and that he places himself, when he chooses, above the laws which he has made. As to the apparitions of the living to others also living, they are of a different nature from what we propose to examine in this place; we shall not fail to speak of them hereafter.