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An Essay on the Miracles Recorded in the Ecclesiastical History of the Early Ages
An Essay on the Miracles Recorded in the Ecclesiastical History of the Early Ages Author:John Henry Newman General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1843 Original Publisher: J.H. Parker Subjects: Miracles History / General Religion / General Religion / Inspirational Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General ... more »Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: SECTION III. ON THE INTERNAL CHARACTER OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL MIRACLES. The miracles wrought in times subsequent to the Apostles are of a very different character, viewed as a whole, from those of Scripture viewed as a whole; so much so, that some writers have not scrupled to say that, if they really took place, they must be considered as forming another dispensation1 and at least they are in some sense supplementary to the Apostolic. This will be evident both on a survey of some of them, and by referring to the language used by the Fathers of the Church concerning them. The Scripture miracles are for the most part evidence of a Divine revelation, and that for the sake of those who have not yet been instructed in it, and in order to the instruction of multitudes : but the miracles which follow have sometimes no discoverable or direct object, or but a slight object; they happen for the sake of individuals, and of those who are already Christians, or for purposes already effected, as far as we can judge, by the miracles of Scripture. The Scripture miracles are wrought by persons consciously exercising under Divine guidance a power committed to them for definite ends, professing to be immediate messengers from heaven, and to be evidencing their mission by their miracles: M'hereas Ecclesiastical miracles are not so much wrought as displayed, being effected by Divine power without any visible media of operation at all, or by inanimate or material media, as relics and shrines, or by instrumen...« less