This position involves an evident fallacy. It is also one which underlies one or two of the statements of Mr. Mill, whose philosophical theory of necessity was one almost certain to involve him in it. The statement is, that it is impossible to know either the attributes or the actions of such a being, except from our experience of his productions in the course of nature. What is the course of nature here intended? does it include mind as well as matter? If the former is included, and we attain our knowledge of God from that source—and every theist maintains that our chief knowledge of God is derived from it—then the experience we have of man leads us to infer the presence of certain moral attributes in God; and there is nothing in that experience which renders the performance of a miracle inconceivable or impossible—but as far as that experience is concerned, it is rendered antecedently probable. What is included, I again ask, in nature? Are we, the percipient beings ourselves? Whether we are regarded as included or excluded from nature, it is evident that a considerable portion of our knowledge of the divine character is derived from the contemplation of our own being. God is more manifested in our rationality, “personality,” freedom, and conscience, than in the material forces and laws of nature. To perform a miracle therefore is consistent with what we know of His character.
These observations will render it unnecessary for me to examine in detail the writer's observations on Paley's arguments against Hume. Even if his arguments are not perfectly conclusive, their failure does not establish [pg 179] the truth of Hume's positions, or invalidate the refutation of them by others. As the object of this author is to re-establish the validity of Hume's argument, he ought not to have confined himself to Paley, whose mind was little adapted to the investigation of purely logical or metaphysical questions, but to have noticed the argument of the numerous subsequent writers who have more fully handled the subject.
Chapter VIII. The Objection That The Defenders Of Christianity Assume Certain Facts The Truth Of Which Can Only Be Known By Revelation, And Then Reason From Those Facts To The Truth Of The Bible, Considered.
It has been objected that the very idea of such a revelation as that of Christianity implies a defect on the part of the Creator in the original construction of the Universe, and that He has been under the necessity of interposing for the purpose of correcting this defect. It is affirmed that divines endeavour to prove that a revelation was probable by first assuming a number of the most irrational propositions, which, if true, can only be proved to be so by the authority of the Bible, and then arguing back again that it is highly probable that God would interfere to remedy the defects of his creative work by a supernatural revelation; in other words, that they assume a state of things which reason would pronounce to be incredible, unless their truth was asserted in the Bible, and then argue on the principles of that reason whose validity they deny, that it is probable that the Creator would interfere to remedy a state of things the existence of which reason pronounces to be incredible.
The author of “Supernatural Religion” has strongly urged this argument, and placed the difficulty clearly before us. Although the entire passage is too long for [pg 181] quotation, yet as it is important that we should have the question which he raises before us in his own words, I will cite a portion of it.
“Here again the argument is based on an assumption. The supposition of a divine design in a revelation is the result of a foregone conclusion in its favour, and not suggested by antecedent probability. Divines assume that a communication of this nature is in accordance with reason, and was necessary for the salvation of the human race simply because they believe that it took place, and no evidence worthy of the name is ever offered in support of the assumption. A revelation having, it is supposed, been made, that revelation is consequently supposed to have been contemplated, and to have justified any suspension of the order of nature. The proposition for which evidence is demanded is necessarily employed as evidence for itself. The considerations involved in the assumption of the necessity and reasonableness of such a revelation, however, are antecedently incredible and contrary to reason. We are asked to believe that God made man in His own image, pure and sinless, and intended him to continue so; but scarcely had His noblest work left the hand of his Creator, than man was tempted into sin by Satan, the all-powerful and persistent enemy of God, whose existence and antagonism to a being in whose eyes sin is an abomination, are not accounted for and are incredible. Adam's fall brought a curse upon the earth, and incurred the penalty of death for himself and for the whole of his posterity. The human race thus created perfect and without sin, thus disappointed the expectations of the Creator, and became daily more wicked, the evil spirit having succeeded in frustrating the designs of the Almighty, so that God repented that he had made man, and at length he [pg 182] destroyed by a deluge all the inhabitants of the earth, with the exception of eight persons who feared him. This sweeping purification, however, was as futile as the original design, and the race of man soon became more wicked than ever.” Here follows a statement of what may be regarded as a plan of salvation as held by some modern Churches, and the apparent contradiction of the whole to the divine character and perfections is elaborately pointed out. He then concludes as follows: “We are asked to believe in the frustration of the divine design of creation, and in the fall of man into a state of wickedness hateful to God, requiring and justifying the divine design of a revelation, and such a revelation as this, as a preliminary to the further proposition that on the supposition of such a design miracles would not be contrary to reason.” To this follows an elaborate piece of reasoning, by which the author attempts to prove that every proposition in this so-called plan of salvation is thoroughly contrary to reason.
The general positions laid down in this passage (omitting points of detail) are as follows: Certain incredible occurrences in the past history of man are assumed by divines to be facts on the authority of the Bible. These include the complete breaking down of the divine plan in the creation of man through the agency of a being who has frustrated the purposes of the Almighty. Next it is asserted on the same authority that another series of events has taken place which are in the highest degree contrary to reason, for the purpose of remedying this failure of the original plan. Then it is alleged that the probability of a divine interference, in order to remedy a state of things which reason pronounces to be incredible, is argued on the authority of reason for the purpose of proving the [pg 183] occurrence of another state of things equally repugnant to reason. Such a line of argument is affirmed to begin in irrational assumptions, and to terminate in a vicious circle.
I have before observed that the work from which the above passage is taken, although entitled “Supernatural Religion, or an inquiry into the reality of Divine Revelation,” is really an attack on the central position of the New Testament, the historical value of the Gospels. In taking this course the author raises an intelligible issue instead of spreading the argument over an endless mass of controversial matter. If the historical character of the Gospels cannot be maintained, the whole controversy as to whether Christianity is a divine revelation is ended. This forms the key of the Christian position, to which the other parts of the controversy stand in the relation of mere outworks. If the events recorded in the Gospels are historical, Christianity must be a divine revelation, notwithstanding the difficulties connected with certain statements of the Old Testament. The real point at issue between those who believe and those who deny that God has made a supernatural revelation of Himself, is confined to the following question: Are the contents of the Gospels historically credible? Is the character of Jesus Christ as depicted in them the delineation of an ideal conception or of an historical reality? The author discerns clearly that this is the turning point of the controversy, and has accordingly addressed himself to prove that the Gospels are valueless as historical documents. This line of argument is candid, and one which, if adhered to, will save an immense expenditure of reasoning power.