Concerning Miracles

An extract from

AN ESSAY ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD

BY ROBERT HINDMARSH (1833)

Author of various Works in Defense of the New Jerusalem

To perform a miracle, is not, as many imagine, to do a thing in defiance of all law and order, spiritual or natural; but it is to bring down a certain order of the spiritual world into the natural, and to exhibit the same in some act or effect, which could not be produced by the ordinary laws of nature. These laws, on the nearer approach, or more direct action, than usual, of spiritual agents on matter, are partially controlled or suspended, so as to admit of the superior laws of the spiritual world to have their full, free, and instantaneous effect, either on the bodies of men, or on the matters and substances of the natural world. Hence, by the more immediate presence of supernatural agency, diseases of the body were healed, new arrangements of its injured or decayed vessels, forms, and substances, were made; a healthy state of feeling was infused into them; and miraculous cures were performed, first at the good-will and pleasure of the Lord himself, and afterwards at the word or prayer of his Apostles. Hence also, by an extraordinary descent of spiritual influx into nature, at the time of the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, the veil of the temple was literally rent, the earth or ground was literally shaken, and the neighbouring rocks were literally cleft asunder. Yet in none of these cases does there appear to have been a direct breach of divine order, but rather a manifestation of that superior order, which prevails in the spiritual world, and which, when permitted to enter into the natural world, supersedes or extinguishes for the moment, and within the space allotted for its action, the common order of nature, just as a vivid concentrated sun-beam, or a flash of lightning from heaven, supersedes and extinguishes all minor earthly flames. 

From a deep consideration of the whole subject, it may appear to an enlightened mind, that one great purpose, for which miracles were permitted in ancient times, was to restore the equilibrium or ratio, then disturbed or broken, which ought to subsist, and which in general does subsist, between the order established in the spiritual world, and that which prevails in the natural world. When through the hardness of men's hearts, and the infidelity necessarily attending it, that equilibrium was destroyed, so that the rational faculty could not be freely exercised, but the minds and even bodies of men began to be invaded by malignant spirits, then miracles were permitted to take place in nature, until, the equilibrium being again restored, by the removal of those spirits, and by the cure of diseases occasioned by their presence, all supernatural interposition ceased, and the human mind was placed in a position favourable to the reception of divine influx. For this reason a dispensation of miracles distinguished the rise and progress of the Jewish or Israelitish Church, and also of the Primitive Christian Church, both of which had the seeds of dissolution within them from their very beginning. But now, in consequence of the accomplishment of the last judgment in the spiritual world, and the removal of those who obstructed, perverted, and choked the influx of divine truth in its descent from heaven, the fetters of that spiritual bondage which universally prevailed in the fallen Christian Church have been broken, the equilibrium which constitutes true liberty of thought and affection has been restored, and the New Jerusalem, with all its promises and glory upon its head, descends upon earth as the last, the greatest, and an ever-permanent blessing to mankind. 

In this Church no miracle is given or required, because the very occasion for such an overwhelming display of power has ceased to exist. (*) Divine order is re-established in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural and the free descent of divine truth from the one into the other can no longer be obstructed or resisted, as formerly. The internal sense of the Word revealed; and together with it innumerable wonders relating to the Person of the Lord, to heaven and hell, the state of Man after death, and the inhabitants of myriads of earths or planetary bodies in the universe.  In consequence of all these things, men have now a capacity and liberty of seeing and rationally comprehending truths, which were not before known in the Church, and which even if they had been revealed sooner, could not, nor would not have been understood, acknowledged, and received.  This new revelation is far superior to all miracles, because it reaches the understanding, and affects the heart, which none of the ancient miracles ever did or could: for instead of enlightening the former, they rather paralyzed and stupefied it; and instead of warming, and cheering the latter, they for the most part, filled it with terror, dismay; and useless astonishment. 

If, however, the natural man must have a miracle, here is one for his contemplation, though perhaps above his skill to comprehend. What the Lord formerly did to the body, and in nature, He now does to the spirit of a man, and in His Church.  By virtue of the Word now opened, He casts out devils, gives sight to the blind; hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, feet to the lame, soundness to the maimed, strength to the weak, food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, health to the sick, and life to the dead. And further, by virtue of the same Word, He removes mountains in man, and casts them into the sea; He dries up old fig-trees that bear nothing but leaves, and plants in their stead new fig-trees, vines, and olives, that produce abundance of fruit; He turns water into wine; and causes signs to follow those who believe in Him, so that in His name they cast out devils, they speak with new tongues, they take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it hurts them not; they also lay hands on the sick, and they instantly recover. In short, the most astonishing miracles are performed at this day, not indeed such as the mere natural man calls for, which would do him more injury than good, but such as reverse the order, or rather the disorder, of degenerate nature, changing wolves into sheep, lions into lambs, sinners into saints, and men into angels.