THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENCE TOWARDS MIRACLES. eh 
Miracles. It has embraced* (1) the nature of the phenomenon ; 
(2) the conditions under which it is alleged to have occurred ; 
(3) the character of the testimony to its occurrence. To the 
inquiry—Were the Bible miracles probable ? science answers in 
the atfirmative. To the further inquiry—Did they actually 
occur ? the answer of science is again, and very emphatically, in 
the affirmative. If we liken them to gold, she has made her 
assay and says the gold is pure. Or the Bible miracles may be 
compared to a string of pearls. If science seeks to know 
whether the pearls are genuine, she may apply chemical and 
other tests to the examination of their character; she may 
search into the conditions and circumstances in which the alleged 
pearls were found. Were they first found in an oyster, or in 
some manufacturing laboratory ? And she may investigate the 
testimony of experts. Should the result of any one of these 
examinations affirm the genuineness of the pearls, science will 
be slow to believe that they are “paste”; if all the results 
declare their genuineness, science will not hesitate to say that 
they are true pearls. This, as we have seen, is the case of 
the Bible miracles. Science, therefore, affirms their actual 
occurrence. 
With regard to other “miracles,” science is ready to 
investigate them and apply her tests. She welcomes every 
new fact, bidding her disciples not to neglect it, not to permit 
prejudice to block the way of truth. Her exhortation, to-day 
not less than in the past, is "Epyeoe cal ”[dere. 
APPENDIX. 
On Miraculous Occurrences and “ Miracles” other than those 
Recorded in Holy Writ. 
From time to time events have taken place in human history 
which have been called “miracles,” but when scientifically 
investigated have been discovered to be no miracles at all. Of 
such were the supposed marvels in connection with the Punic 
War related by Livy, the prodigies described by Virgil,f the 
“miracles” wrought in the ages most appropriately termed 
“dark,” “miracles” by Apollonius, and those performed at the 
tomb ot the Abbé Paris, etc.—the ete. including various modern 
* See p. 99. To the actual witnesses the class of evidence (3) would be 
even stronger than it is to us. But on the other hand, the class of 
evidence (1) is stronger to us than to them. 
t Georgics, Line 461 in Book i. 
