We need not examine the other miracles in detail, since the argument is much the same in every case. They are all said to have occurred on important and critical occasions when, if we admit miracles at all, they would be most suitable. They are all said to have been public miracles, either actually worked before crowds of persons, or else so affecting public men that their truth or otherwise must have been well-known at the time. And they were all of such a kind that any mistake or fraud as to their occurrence was out of the question. It is, then, on the face of it, most unlikely that miracles, such as these, should have been recorded unless they were true. Indeed, if the Old Testament books were written by contemporaries, or even within a century of the events they relate, it is very difficult to deny their occurrence. We decide, therefore, that the history of the Jewish Religion was confirmed by miracles.
CHAPTER XI.
THAT ITS HISTORY WAS CONFIRMED BY PROPHECIES.
(A.) General Prophecies.
Three examples considered:
(1.) The desolation of Assyria and Babylonia.
(2.) The degradation of Egypt.
(3.) The dispersion of the Jews, including the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
(B.) Special Prophecies.