The Supernatural in the New Testament, Possible, Credible, and Historical / Or, An Examination of the Validity of Some Recent Objections Against Christianity as a Divine Revelation

by C. A. Row

There can be no doubt that there is an enormous mass of supernatural beliefs which we feel at once justified in rejecting without troubling ourselves to inquire into the evidence on which they rest. Others also we reject because on investigation we find them altogether destitute of evidence. Others again which rest on evidence which would be sufficient to establish an ordinary fact, we reject notwithstanding this attestation, on the ground of their inherent improbability. It has been objected that our summary rejection of the great mass of current supernaturalism puts the case of miracles out of court, and renders them so improbable, that it is unnecessary minutely to examine the evidence which can be adduced in support of them. I propose therefore in this chapter to consider the reasons for our summary rejection of the great mass of current supernaturalism, and its bearing on the credibility of the miracles in the New Testament.

First: I observe that the stories of current supernaturalism are not the only ones which we reject in a summary manner. We treat in the same way a great number of other stories which offend against the principles of common sense. It is clear that in these latter [pg 327] cases, we do not reject them merely because they are supernatural, but because they are generally incredible. The fact therefore that we thus reject a number of absurd narratives without inquiry into the evidence on which they rest, cannot be urged as a reason for rejecting other occurrences which are not involved in any such absurdity. If the principle is valid against miracles, it must be equally so against other extensive classes of facts. To assert that miracles are thus absurd or ridiculous is to assume the point which ought to be proved.

Secondly: We reject the great mass of current supernaturalism because it is unable to assign any adequate reason for its existence. When it is alleged that a miracle has been performed as an attestation of a revelation, if it forms a necessary portion of such attestation, this is an adequate reason for the miracle. But the great mass of current supernaturalism is utterly unable to assign any reason for its existence; or if reasons have been given, they are quite inadequate. Of this the case of magic is an example. If it were a reality, it would not only interfere with the order of nature, but no reason could be given for this interference. If, on the other hand, its phenomena were alleged to be due to secret forces in nature, then they would belong to an order of grotesque and monstrous phenomena, which we are justified at once in refusing to believe to be due to the action of intelligence or goodness; and on the supposition that there is a moral Governor of the universe, it is utterly incredible that they would occur either by his agency or with his permission.

Perhaps the best attested occurrences of current supernaturalism are the phenomena of spiritualism. It will tend to the illustration of this subject, if we [pg 328] consider the grounds on which we reject a large portion of its reported phenomena quite irrespectively of the evidence produced in favour of their reality, and ascribe the belief in them to the effect of an excited imagination, and in some cases to imposture. In considering this subject, it is not necessary to examine whether the phenomena alleged by spiritualists, if true, would be really supernatural, or belong to an order of nature hitherto unknown.

Many of the manifestations of spiritualism possess a grotesqueness which we see in no other class of natural phenomena. If they are alleged to be the results of the action of natural forces previously unknown, then they must belong to a class of forces which contrast in a most remarkable degree with all known ones; that is to say, the known and the unknown forces of nature must be utterly out of harmony with one another. I am now speaking on the supposition that such forces are merely natural ones, not under the guidance of intelligence. In that case they must have been always in existence, only latent; yet they now for the first time manifest themselves under very special circumstances and conditions, such as are highly favourable to the existence of delusion. The abnormal character of these phenomena, so entirely at variance with the known order of nature, forms the strongest ground for the conviction that they cannot be the results of the action of unknown natural forces. It would require an overwhelming amount of evidence to convince us that these two sets of natural forces, distinguishable by the strongest possible contrasts, (viz. those which produce the visible phenomena of nature, and those which produce another class, intermittent in their action, of which grotesqueness and monstrosity are the most striking characteristics, and which [pg 329] only manifest their existence under circumstances calculated to throw a suspicion on their reality), can be the results of the action of forces which have been present in nature during all past time.

But further: these phenomena, if natural, must belong to an order of nature which is not only unlike the visible order, but would throw its action into confusion. I am here reasoning on the supposition that the moral order of the universe is due to the action of nothing but physical forces. If this be so, it must form a portion of the existing order of nature. But the forces which, on the supposition of the truth of spiritualism, must be capable of being brought into activity, would interrupt that moral order of which we are actually conscious. Their action, if real, would interrupt the entire course of the moral world. No man would be safe from their intrusion. Even in our deepest retirement we should never be free from the invasion of their prying curiosity. Such a power would be incompatible with the moral order of society. It follows, therefore, that an unknown order of nature, presenting the most violent contrast to the visible one, whose phenomena do not follow an invariable but an intermittent law, and are only alleged to manifest themselves under conditions favourable to imposture, possesses such a degree of inherent improbability as to justify its rejection, even by those who recognise the action of none but material forces in the universe.

But to those who recognise the present order of nature as due to the action of a wise and intelligent Creator, it becomes absolutely incredible that forces such as the phenomena of spiritualism require for their production, can form a portion of that order which He [pg 330] has created, as they contradict every conception which we can rationally form of his character.

But if these phenomena are viewed as due to the action of supernatural agency, the reality of their occurrence becomes still more inconceivable. If such agency is capable of being exerted, we can only conceive that its exertion is permitted for the realization of some known end. Yet the phenomena of spiritualism serve no purpose whatever. Spiritualists have been holding their séances for many years; but no one practical result has yet been realized by them. The spirits of the departed have been invoked, but they have never yet given a single useful response. Surely if there be a spirit world, its occupations cannot be the production of the abnormal, the mean and the grotesque. Its employments must possess some pretensions to be esteemed dignified. It has been alleged that such manifestations help to convince the incredulous of the reality of the immortality of man. On the contrary, the idea that spirits can be guilty of such phantastic tricks can only help to throw discredit on the doctrine. It follows, therefore, that if the phenomena of spiritualism are viewed as due to supernatural causes, it is utterly incredible either that the Governor of the Universe would permit such a course of action, or that the spirits themselves, unless deprived of reason, would exhibit themselves in such a variety of phantastic forms, and for no other apparent purpose than to effect a number of capricious interferences with the visible order of nature. This incredibility is so great as to entitle us summarily to reject the idea that the reputed phenomena can be actual occurrences. In addition to this, the alleged manifestations are made under circumstances pre-eminently suited to excite suspicion.

The phenomena of modern spiritualism are a fair illustration of the general character of the current supernaturalism of the ancient world. It was for the most part equally senseless and absurd. The attestation to its actual occurrence was of a very inferior character to that which can be urged in favour of the alleged facts of spiritualism. I have merely taken notice of these latter as an illustration of the general aspect of the phenomena of current supernaturalism, and as placing before us the reasons which fully justify us in rejecting a large portion of it without minutely inquiring into its evidence.

I will now proceed to contrast the entire mass of current supernaturalism with the miracles of the New Testament for the purpose of still further illustrating the grounds on which we reject it, while we claim for the latter that their reality must be tested by the evidence which can be adduced in favour of their actual occurrence.