MIRA.CLES^ SCIENCE, AND PRAYER. 285 



tliat time and sparse are not realities at all, but mere symbols to 

 oar mind of realities of quite a different order. I do not think 

 this helps in the explanation of miracles, or is true in it.- elf. 

 These are primary facts, of which time and space are examples, 

 beyond which, because of their simplicity, we cannot grasp and 

 which admit of no explanation, not because too mysterious but 

 because too elementary — incapable of further resolution. There- 

 fore I do not think the sentence beginning " I might also 

 draw an argument " (page 276) bears on the subject of the 

 paper. 



The paper, as a whole, appears to me ia the highest degree satis- 

 factory and useful. 



Mr. David Howard, D.L., F.C.S., writes : — 



The paper provides an admirable remedy for the, too common, 

 habit of mind, which would, in nervous dread, throw ovei-board 

 every difficult passage at the first breath of criticism. 



We can afford to w.iit in full confidence that what is really 

 revealed of the supernatural will certainly stand the test of 

 biblical and scientific criticism alike. 



The Rev. C. V. Hull writes :— 



To my mind the miracles of the Old Testament bear the stamp 

 of reality as plainly as those of the New, and no doubt fulfilled 

 their part in God's great plan, so beautifully explained by Mr. 

 Lias, quite as fully. 



The Rev. J. W. Reynolds, D.D., writes : — 



It is with much regret that I cannot be present at the discussion 

 to-night. I have read the proof of the paper by the Rev. J. J. 

 Lias with great interest. It unites two merits — it is comprehensive 

 and accurate. 



Mr. Lias states — " We are encompassed on all sides by forces 

 which do not belong, strictly speaking, to the natural order, and 

 yet which are constantly profoundly modifying that order." 



I quite agree with the meaning of this sentence. It is time 

 that we cease to be merely defensive, and advance with a challenge 

 to our enemies — " To prove that any, even the commonest thing or 

 event, is not a miracle." They say "a miracle is impossible." 



