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LCD^lG VOX GEEDTELL, OX 



belief that miracles have been wrought by God for the sustenance 

 and deliverance of His people, or by Christ the Son of God for 

 confirming the divine origin of His nature and His message ? 



The Rev. C. L. Drawbridge said that success in man's scien- 

 tific achievements was in exact proportion to the extent to which he 

 acted in harmony with, and not contrary to, God's orderly govern- 

 ment of the cosmos, and asked, "Did Jesus Christ act in accordance 

 vrith. God's normal government of the cosmos, or did He deliberately 

 cut right across it 1 " and added : — AVe should also ask by which of the 

 two modes of action would He be most clearly displaying His oneness 

 ^vith the Creator and Governor of the universe 1 Let us leave for a 

 moment the various ancient and modern schools of theological 

 opinion on the subject and get back to what the Master Himself 

 said about His achievements. Our blessed Lord studiously avoided 

 acquiring a reputation as a wonder worker. The records of His 

 sapngs and doings have come down to us in Greek, and tbe one 

 word which comes nearest to, although it is by no means identical 

 with, our word miracle, is re/oara (ferafa), which means marvels. 

 (The other words which are translated " miracle " in the Authorized 

 Version, o-T^/xeia (semeia), Swdfiei^ (dunameis), and cpycx, {erga), certainly 

 do not mean miracle.) Well, Jesus Christ did not employ the 

 Avord rkpc/.rx (ferafa) when speaking of His own works, but only 

 when referring to false Christs who would arise. And He implored 

 His followers not to attach undue importance to such marvels. 

 Marvellousness implies no abnormal divine action, but human 

 surprise due to ignorance on the part of those who marvel. 

 Savages marvel at balloons. The Authorized Version arbitrarily 

 introduces the word miracle very frequently, because the Authorized 

 Version was translated at a time when men looked for the evidence 

 of Providence almost solely in exceptions to uniformity. The word 

 miracle was largeh" left out of the Revised Version, partly 

 because it does not occur in the Greek text, and partly because 

 men had very wisely come to perceive God's action in normal 

 occurrences, as well as in what appear — at the present stage of our 

 knowledge — to be abnormal phenomena of the universe. 



Personally I ascribe the Gospel phenomena to the great divine 

 power possessed by Christ, working in accordance with the Creator's 

 usual habits of action, but in such a wonderful manner as to 

 transcend — in many instances — our very finite and imperfect 



