I reply that the Christian revelation was not addressed to such a condition of the human mind. On the contrary, it was made after a long course of [pg 322] preparation for its introduction. After the whole course of previous history, under the controlling providence of God, had prepared the way for His Advent, Jesus Christ appeared. The Gospel was not preached to men in the lowest state of barbarism, but to civilized man. What may have been the ideas of degraded savages, at some early period of the history of our race, it will be needless to inquire. With mankind in such a condition we have nothing to do in the present controversy, but with the state of thought in the Roman Empire during the first century of our era. This was no period of mental darkness or of boundless credulity. In the early ages, when every phenomenon of nature was viewed as due to the action of some capricious god, the belief in an order of nature must have been in a high degree vague and uncertain. But such a state of things, whatever it might once have been, had long since passed away. The period of history now under consideration was one of widespread intelligence, varying greatly in different parts of the empire, but still one of intelligence and civilization.
It is impossible for men to attain a degree of progress necessary for the existence of civilization, and still to remain ignorant that a large class of natural occurrences follow an order which does not admit of deviation. Civilization would be impossible unless this were generally recognized. It is in fact founded on its recognition. At the same time, there is a class of phenomena which are not recognized by the ordinary mind as following a definite order. It is within this alone that the beliefs of current supernaturalism exert their activity. But the supernatural occurrences narrated in the New Testament do not belong to this ambiguous order of events, and are therefore unaffected by them.
There is a large class of events which civilized man cannot help recognizing as belonging to a definite order and sequence, and where the belief in the marvellous exerts little or no influence. The violation of this order he views as impossible. Thus he cannot fail to recognize the fact that men cannot walk on the water without support; that thousands of persons cannot be fed by a few loaves and fishes; that diseases never leave us instantaneously by no other agency than that of a touch or a word; and that men who have been actually dead have never returned to life. No amount of the love of the marvellous has ever induced men to consider such occurrences possible. Whatever may have been the current supernaturalism of the ancient world, it did not embody beliefs of this description. This is proved by the entire course of ancient history. Its supernaturalism is of a wholly different order. The love of the marvellous, therefore, has never so confounded the distinction between the natural and the supernatural among civilized men, as to have deprived a miracle of its significance.
Such an assertion respecting any part of the Roman Empire, during the century which preceded and that which followed the Advent, would be contrary to fact. On the contrary, certain classes of events which were reported to have happened, were invariably believed to have been really supernatural. They were so far from being considered as devoid of meaning, that persons supposed to be skilled in the art of interpreting them were habitually consulted as to what they were intended to denote. The only exceptions to this were those occurrences which were supposed to have been brought about by the art of magic. These seem to have been viewed as in some measure due to the existence of occult powers in nature, the results of which [pg 324] the professors of the art had succeeded in mastering. It may be safely affirmed that at no portion of this period was the love of the marvellous so prevalent in any portion of the Roman Empire as to have deprived a real miracle of its signification.
It follows therefore that it is impossible to lay down any abstract rule which will save us the trouble of investigating the evidence of miracles, because mankind has in all ages been greatly influenced by the love of the marvellous, and under its influence has invented a number of occurrences which reason pronounces incredible. The action of this principle is far from being confined to subjects connected with religion, but extends over the whole range of literature. While it is quite true that, under the influence of various principles of this description, numbers of fictions have been reported by ancient historians, this forms a valid reason only for rejecting those which rest on no adequate attestation. The adoption of the other principle would render all knowledge of the past impossible. All the faculties of our minds admit of a legitimate and an illegitimate use. To reject the results of the right use of our faculties, because they are capable of a wrong one, is absurd.
But an opposite view may be taken of the entire question, and one which is dictated by the principles of reason.
Several principles in man directly point to the existence of the supernatural. Among these veneration and conscience occupy a conspicuous place. These acting in conjunction with reason constitute man a religious being. Man alone of all living beings is capable of religion. The principle of reverence finds its only adequate gratification in the contemplation of moral perfection. Moral perfection is inconceivable [pg 325] where personality and volition are not. This principle therefore forms the counterpart in man which is directly correlated to the being and the perfections of a personal God. It follows that instead of these principles invalidating the existence of the supernatural, they establish it. The conception of immensity is the adequate subject-matter on which our faculty of wonder works. The highest conception of greatness is realized in God. In Him therefore this faculty receives its most perfect realization. Reverence points to greatness united with supreme moral goodness. The imperfection of man will not satisfy it. It therefore impels man to bow down before the throne of One who transcends the imperfections of the created universe. If there be a personal God, supremely good, who is the Creator and moral Governor of the universe, nothing is more in conformity with our highest reason than that He should make a further manifestation of Himself to man, in addition to that which He has made in the material universe.