BY MIRACLES are understood the admira­ble or wonderful Works of God. But because Men following their own natural Reason, are wont to doubt, whether what is by a Prophet deliver'd for the Command of God, be truely the Com­mand of God, or not; Miracles in the sacred Scriptures are call'd Signs, as signifying the Will of God: as also in Ethnick Writers, for the same Reason, they are call'd Ostenta and Portenta, as shewing or portending the di­vine Will concerning Things to come. That we may therefore understand, what a Miracle is, we must ob­serve, what Works those are, which men generally ad­mire or wonder at. The Things then that cause men to admire any Work or remarkable Effect, are only two. One is, if that Work be rare, the like whereof they have seldom or never seen done before: The other, if after thè Work is done, they cannot conceive it to have been done by natural Causes, but only by the immediate operation of God himself. For if we understand the natural Causes of the Fact, however rare it be; or if we have often seen the like done before, though we do not conceive the na­tural Cause thereof; we no longer admire it, nor call it a Miracle. Quae usu quotidiano novimus & frequenti ex­perientia, ea ne (que) admiramur, ne (que) ad eorum causas investi­gandas [Page 2] multum excitari solemus, quanquam saepe occultiores sint inventu (que) difficiliores aliis, quae ob raritatem, hominum studia & animos maximè occupant.

Thus, for example, if we should hear an Ox or Horse speak, we should call it a Miracle, because rare, and of which we are not able to imagine a natural Cause. Thus also in the generation of Animals, every unusual Error or deviation of Nature, might be held for a Miracle. But if a Man or any other Animal generate his like in specie, though we are equally ignorant how this and that is per­form'd, we do not take it for a Miracle. Also if a Man should be transform'd into a Stone, 'twould be a Miracle, because rare: but if Wood should be converted into a Stone, because such conversion is often seen, 'tis no Mira­cle: and yet notwithstanding we are as ignorant how God effects that conversion in Wood, as how he effects it in a Man. The Rain-bow that first appear'd in the Sky, was a Miracle; because the first, that is, the like had never been seen before; and because it was shewn by God for a Sign, to signifie that the World should never again be de­stroy'd by a Deluge. But at this day, because Rain-bows are often seen, no man looks upon them as Miracles. Again, many wonderful Works are produced by humane Art; yet because after they are effected, we come to un­derstand how and by what means, we therefore not ac­count them for Miracles. For,

Admiration depends for the most part upon men's Knowledge and Experience, so that what seems to be a Miracle to one man, seems not to be so to another. And unskilful and superstitious men are wont to take for great Miracles those things, which the Learned and well expe­rienced do not at all admire. Eclipses of the Sun and Moon have in times past been mistaken for supernatural [Page 3] Effects and Prodigies by the Vulgar; while learned Astro­nomers understanding the natural Causes of them, have certainly predicted them. Also cunning men confederate among themselves, closely enquiring into and discovering some secret actions of an unwary and simple man, and af­terward relating them to him, have been held in great admiration, as if they had come to the knowledge of those Secrets by supernatural means, by divine Revelation at least: when the same Confederates have not been able so easily to impose upon wary and prudent persons. Ad­miration then (we see) is generally greater or less, ac­cording to the various degrees of Science and observation among men; the most ignorant being most prone to wonder: and the Causes of Admiration, which many times makes a Miracle of what is purely natural, we have found to be Rarity and Ignorance.

II. If this Disquisition be yet a little farther pursued, it will soon appear, that Superstition also contributes largely to the belief of Miracles. For the Minds of men being na­turally prone to be agitated betwixt Fear and Hope of the future (the two grand Passions that govern humane life) thence it comes to pass, that they very often fancy a certain extraordinary divine power in all Contingents which are unusual, and the natural Causes of which they do not comprehend, as if those Contingents certainly proceeded, not from the order of Nature, but from an immediate operation of God transcending or changing that order; and that they presignified some good or evil Fortune to themselves. For the Vulgar thinks, that the Power and Providence of God is then most apparent, when they observe any Event unusual in Nature, and con­trary to the opinion they have from custom conceiv'd of Nature; chiefly if the Event seem to promise any thing [Page 4] of Commodity or Advantage to themselves: imagining that the Existence of a supream Being can be by no way better prov'd, than by the inversion of the course of Na­ture, which they suppose to happen in all unusual Events. Whence it is, that common Heads always accuse those Philosophers of Atheism and design to extirpate the belief of God, at least of his Providence, who endeavour to ex­plicate what they call Miracles by natural Causes, and study to understand the Reasons of them: erroneously conceiving, that God (forsooth) remains idle while Na­ture acts in her usual Order, and on the contrary, that the power of Nature is suspended, and the action of all natural Causes arrested or frustrated, while God acts. Thus they form in their Brains confused Notions of two distinct Powers, one of God, t'other of Nature, which yet they allow to be determined by God: but what to understand by either of these Powers, and wherein the difference they suppose, consists; they know not. Only this they will tell you, that the unusual Works of Nature are Miracles or the Works of God; and partly out of blind Devotion, i. e. Superstition, partly from an itch of opposing wise men that study Natures Laws and Constitu­tions, they please themselves in their Ignorance, and think they please God too with their affected Admiration: not considering how much they derogate from his infi­nite Wisdom, while they conceive the Laws of Nature by him made and establish'd, insufficient to effect all things he hath decreed to produce for the ends in order to which he ordain'd them, without variation.

III. This popular Error seems to derive its Original from the primitive Jews, who that they might convince the Ethnicks of their time, who adored visible Gods, the Sun, Moon, Earth, Water, Air, &c. and shew them that [Page 5] those Gods were weak and inconstant, or mutable, and under the Command of the invisible God whom them­selves worshipped; recounted to them the Miracles he had wrought for their sakes, as cogent Arguments that all Nature was by his Superintendency and Command di­rected only to their Commodity and Advantage, other Nations the while having not an equal share of his Provi­dence. A perswasion so agreeable and grateful to men, that to this day they have not ceas'd to feign Miracles in favour of themselves, that others might believe them to be more beloved by God, and dearer in the eye of his Providence, than the rest of Mankind; yea more, the fi­nal Cause for which he at first created, and continually directs all things. What doth not the folly of the Vulgar arrogate to it self; having not so much as one sound con­ception or thought concerning either God or Nature, confounding the eternal Decrees of God with the mutable Placits of men, and feigning Nature to be so narrow and limited, as that man is the chiefest part of the whole Creation?

IV. Having from this brief Enquiry learned, what is generally understood by the word Miracle, what are the Opinions and Prejudices of the Vulgar concerning Mira­cles, and whence those Opinions and Prejudices have pro­ceeded: urged as well by zeal for the Glory of God, (which is never propagated by erroneous conceptions of his Nature, Power, Wisdom and Providence) as by Cha­rity for the unlearned part of Mankind (which is always by Ignorance seduced into Superstition) I resolve to en­deavour by a few plain Reasons to shew the unsoundness, yea the absurdity of their Doctrine, who teach, that in every Miracle God acts by a power distinct from, and supe­rior to that of Nature, which is the universal Law by him [Page 6] ordain'd and fixt for government of his Creatures.

V. To effect this, I perswade my self, I need do no more but convince the judicious Reader of the verity of these four things. (1.) That nothing in the World happens or comes to pass contrary to Nature, but that Nature keeps an eternal, fixt, and immutable Order: (2.) That from Mi­racles we cannot come to understand and certainly know ei­ther the Essence, or Existence, or Providence of God; but that all these may far better be collected from the fixt and im­mutable Order of Nature: (3.) That the holy Scripture it self, by the Decrees and Volitions, and consequently the Pro­vidence of God, understands nothing else but the very same Order of Nature, which necessarily follows from his eternal Laws: (4.) That most men have erred in the manner of interpreting the Miracles recorded in the holy Scriptures. For, these things being well prov'd, I see not what can remain to frustrate my present Design.

VI. As for the FIRST therefore, viz. that all Events happen according to the eternal Order of Nature; this may easily be inferr'd even from hence, that whatsoever God wills or determines, involves eternal necessity and truth. For, since the Intellect of God is not distinguish'd from his Will, and therefore to say that God wills any thing, is all one with saying that he understands that very thing; by the same necessity which follows from the divine Na­ture and Perfection, it is a genuine and inevitable conse­quence, that for God to understand any thing, as it is, is for him to will or decree the same, as it is. But since no­thing is necessarily true, but only from the divine Decree; hence it most clearly follows, that the universal Laws of Nature are the meer Decrees of God, which follow from the necessity and perfection of the divine Nature. If therefore any thing should be contingent in Nature, that [Page 7] should be repugnant to her eternal Laws; the same would be repugnant also to the divine Decree, Intellect, and Nature: or if any man should affirm, that God does any thing contrary to the Laws of Nature, he would be com­pell'd to grant also, that God acts contrary to his own Nature, than which nothing can be more absurd. The same may be farther proved also by this, that the power of Nature is no other but the power and vertue of God; and the power of God no other but the very Essence of God, and certainly that must be eternally the same or im­mutable. Nothing therefore can be contingent in Nature, that is repugnant to her universal Laws; nay that is not convenient or agreeable to them, or follows not from them. For whatsoever is done, is done by the Will and eternal Decree of God, i. e. is done according to the Laws and Rules, which involve eternal necessity and truth, and which though they be not all known to us, are perpetually without the least omission or deviation strictly observ'd by Nature. Nor does any sound Reason urge us to ascribe a limited power and vertue to her, or to think that her Laws are fit only for some certain Events, and not for all. For, since the vertue and power of Na­ture is the same with the vertue and power of God; and her Laws and Rules, his Decrees (as was just now prov'd:) we are obliged to believe, that the power of Nature is in­finite, and her Laws so made, as to extend their force to all things conceiv'd by the divine Understanding. Other­wise we could not avoid running into that dangerous Er­ror of the Multitude, that God hath created Nature so impotent, and given her Laws and Rules so barren, as that he is compell'd sometimes to help her by new Ordi­nances and supplies of Vertue, in order to her Support and Conservation, and that things may succeed according [Page 8] to his Intention and Design. An Error than which no­thing is more alien from Reason, nothing more unwor­thy the Majesty of the divine Nature.

Now from these Positions, that in Nature nothing can happen or come to pass, which does not follow from her Laws; and that her Laws extend themselves to all things conceiv'd by the divine Understanding; and in fine that Nature keeps a fixt and immutable Order: from these undeniable Truths, I say, it most clearly follows, that the name of a Miracle cannot be otherwise understood, than respectively to the opinions of men, and that a Miracle signifies nothing else but a Work, the natural Cause of which we are not able to explicate by the example of another usually observ'd by us; at least he is not able to explicate, who writes or relates the Miracle. I might say, that a Miracle is that, of which we are not able, by the light of Nature, to explain the Cause from the Principles we understand of natural things: but, because Miracles have been wrought, Ad captum Vulgi, to convince the Vulgar, which was wholly ignorant of the Principles of natural things; certain it is, the Ancients took that for a Mira­cle, which they could not explain in the same manner, by which the Vulgar is wont to explain natural things, namely by recurring to Memory, so as to recal to mind another like thing, which they are wont to imagine with­out admiration. For the Vulgar always think they then sufficiently understand any thing, when they do not ad­mire it. Nor doth it appear that either the Ancients in their Times, or any of their Successors since even down to ours, have had any other Criterion or Rule whereby to discern Miracles from other Contingents, i. e. insolite or rare Events from usual, besides this here mention'd, viz: that these seem'd capable of Explication from the [Page 9] known Principles of natural things, but those not, accor­ding to the judgement of the Vulgar. And therefore we are not forbidden to think, that in the sacred Writings themselves many things are related as Miracles, of which sufficient Causes may be given from the known Principles of natural Philosophy; and that too without any the least derogation from either the Glory of God, or the Au­thority of the Writers, or from the scope or end for which the things were done and written; as I design to prove when I shall have conducted the Reader to the 4 th. and last Head of this brief Discourse, which concerns the In­terpretation of Miracles. For now the Clew of my Method brings us to the

VII. SECOND Position, viz. That from Miracles, neither the Essence, nor the Existence, nor the Providence of God can be understood by us; but on the contrary, that all these may be better perceiv'd from the fixt and invariable Order of Nature, which to demonstrate I thus proceed. Forasmuch as the Existence of God is not per se known to us, it ought to be necessarily concluded from Notions, whose verity is so evident, firm and impregnable, that no power can be given or conceiv'd, by which they can be changed; to us at least, from the time wherein we con­clude upon the Existence of God from them, they ought to appear such, if we will secure our Conclusion from all possible Doubts: for if we could conceive that those No­tions might be changed by any Power, whatsoever it be; then should we doubt of their verity, and consequently of that of our Conclusion also, namely of God's Existence, nor could we ever be certain of any other thing whatever. Besides this, we know not this or that thing to be accor­ding to Nature, or repugnant to it, unless we can evince the same to be convenient, or repugnant to those funda­mental [Page 10] Notions or Principles. Wherefore if we could conceive any thing in Nature possible to be done by any Power whatever, that is repugnant to Nature; that thing would be repugnant to those first Notions, and so ought to be rejected as absurd; or else (as was just now intimated) we must doubt of the truth of those first No­tions, and by consequence also of the Being of God, and of all other things what ever and howsoever perceiv'd. Mi­racles then, if understood to be Works repugnant to the fixt Order of Nature, are so far from evincing the Exi­stence of God, that on the contrary they would make us doubt of it, when without them we might be absolutely certain of the same, knowing that all things in Nature follow a fixt and immutable Order. But let it be suppos'd, that what cannot be explicated by natural Causes, is a Miracle; which may be understood two ways, either as that which hath indeed natural Causes, but such as cannot be investigated by humane Understanding; or as that which hath no Cause but only the Will of God. Now because all things that are done by natural Causes, are done also by the sole Power and Will of God; we are un­der a plain necessity of coming to this Conclusion, That a Miracle, whether it be effected by natural Causes, or not, is a Work that transcends humane Understanding: but from a Work that transcends humane Understanding, we can know nothing: for whatever we clearly and di­stinctly understand, must come to be understood by us, either by it self, or by some other thing which we clearly and distinctly understand; therefore from a Miracle or Work that transcends our Capacity, we can understand neither the Essence of God, nor his Existence, nor his Pro­vidence, nor any thing else concerning him, or his Mini­ster Nature. But on the contrary, since we certainly [Page 11] know, that all things are determined and decreed by God, that the Operations of Nature follow from the Es­sence of God, and that the Laws of Nature are the eter­nal Decrees and Volitions of God; we are obliged abso­lutely to conclude, that we so much the better know God and his Will, by how much the better we know na­tural things, and more clearly understand how they de­pend upon their first Cause, and how they operate accor­ding to the eternal Laws of Nature. Wherefore by rea­son of our Understanding, those Works that we clearly and distinctly understand, are with much more right to be call'd the Works of God, and to be referr'd to his Will, than those we do not at all understand, although they strongly exercise the Imagination, and ravish men into admiration of them: forasmuch as only those Works of Nature, which we clearly and distinctly understand, ren­der the knowledge of God more sublime, and most clear­ly shew his Will and Decrees. They therefore that when they do not understand a thing, have recourse to the Will of God, talk impertinently, shew more of Bigotry than Wit, and ridiculously profess their Ignorance.

VIII. Moreover, could we conclude any thing from Miracles, yet we could never thence conclude of the Ex­istence of God. For since a Miracle is a Work limited, and never implies any but a certain and limited Power: most certain and evident it is, that from such an Effect we can­not rightly infer the Existence of a Cause whose Power is infinite, but at most of a Cause whose Power is greater. I say, at most; because from many Causes concurring there may follow some Work, whose Force and Power is indeed less than the Power of all its Causes put together, but far greater than the Power of any one of them taken singularly. But because the Laws of Nature (as I have [Page 12] already shewn) extend themselves to infinite things, and are conceiv'd by us under a certain semblance of Eternity, and Nature according to them proceeds in a certain and immutable Order; those very Laws do in some measure indicate to us the Infinity, Eternity, and Immutability of God. I conclude therefore, that by Miracles we cannot know God, and his Existence, and his Providence; but that these may be far better concluded from the fixt and immutable Order of Nature. In this Conclusion I speak of a Miracle as understood to be nothing else but a Work that transcends humane Understanding, or is believ'd to do so. For, if it were supposed to destroy the Order of Na­ture, or to interrupt it, or to be repugnant to it; then certainly it could not only give us no knowledge of God, but on the contrary would take from us all the knowledge we naturally have, and make us doubt of God, and of all other things.

Nor do I here acknowledge any difference betwixt a Work contrary to Nature, and a Work above Nature; that is (as some are pleas'd to speak) a Work not in truth repugnant to Nature, but which cannot be produ­ced or effected by her Power alone. For since a Miracle is done, Non extra naturam, sed in ipsa natura; though it be held to be supra naturam, yet still must it interrupt the Order of Nature, which we conceive to be, from the Decrees of God, fixt and immutable. If therefore any thing should be done in Nature, that should not follow from her Laws; it would necessarily be repugnant to the Order which God hath by the universal Laws of Nature establish'd in the Universe; and consequently the belief of it would make us doubt of all things else, and lead us into Atheism. And thus, if I be not grosly mistaken in the force of the Reasons here alledged, I have sufficiently [Page 13] demonstrated what in the second place I intended: and from the same Reasons I take liberty to conclude de novo, that a Miracle against Nature, or above Nature, is a meer absurdity; and therefore that by a Miracle in holy Scripture nothing else can rightly be understood, but such a Work of Nature, which either really transcends humane Understanding, or is believ'd to do so.

IX. Nevertheless, for more assurance of the truth of this new Doctrine, I think my self concern'd to confirm that part of it which affirms, that from Miracles we cannot know God. This I humbly conceive may be done by ha­ving recourse to the Authority of the holy Scriptures them­selves. For, though they no where ex professo and plainly teach that Position, viz. that God is not made known to us by Miracles: yet notwithstanding there are found in them many places, from which rightly understood, the same may be concluded easily and genuinely. Among these, chiefly from that of Deuteronomy 13. where Moses commands the people of Israel to put to death a false and seducing Prophet, though he should work Miracles. The words of the Text are these in our most correct Translati­on. If there arise among you a Prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a Sign or a Wonder,—And the Sign or Wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, say­ing, Let us go after other Gods (which thou hast not known) and let us serve them;—Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.—And that Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, &c. From which it clearly follows, that Mi­racles may be wrought even by false Prophets, and that men, unless they be well guarded by the true knowledge [Page 14] and cordial Love of God, may as easily be induced by Miracles to embrace and serve false Gods, as to acknow­ledge and worship the true God. For he adds, because the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love him, &c.

Secondly, The Israelites could not from so many Mira­cles form in their minds any sound Conception or Notion of God or his Providence; as Experience it self testifies. For, when they had perswaded themselves that Moses was gone from them, presently they importune Aaron to fur­nish them with visible Deities, and (to the indelible shame of their Nation) embrace the Image of a Calf for an Idea or Representation of their God, which they at length from so many Miracles form'd to themselves. Asaph also, though he had often heard of, and believ'd all the Miracles done among his Ancestors, yet doubted of God's Providence, and had deflected from the right way of absolute depen­dance thereupon, had he not at last understood true Hap­piness to consist only therein, and Religion in Justice and Charity: as we read in Psalm 73. Nor was Solomon him­self, though excellent in Wisdom, and King of the Jews too, even when the Affairs of that Nation were at the highest point of Prosperity; able to form to himself any competent Notion of God, after all he had read concern­ing the Miracles recorded in the Books of Moses. For he more than once (Eccles. 3. v. 19, 20, 21. and Chap. 9. v. 2, 3, &c.) confesseth, he suspected all things to happen by Chance: so far seems he to have been from concluding a divine Providence from belief of those Miracles. And as for the Prophets; it may be without much labour col­lected from their Writings, that few or none of them well understood, how the Order of Nature and the Events of men could be brought to consist with the Conception or [Page 15] Notion they had form'd in their Mind of the Providence of God: which yet hath been always very clear to Phi­losophers, who endeavour from clear Conceptions rightly to understand things as they are; those I mean, who con­stitute true Felicity in nothing but Vertue and Tranquil­lity of Mind, not studying to bring Nature to obey them, but on the contrary to bring themselves to obey Nature: as certainly knowing, that God directs Nature, as the uni­versal Laws thereof, not as the particular Laws of humane Nature require; and so that he takes care not only of Mankind, but of the whole Universe. Constant it is therefore, and that too even from sacred Writ, that Mira­cles do not give a true knowledge of God, nor clearly teach his Providence; which is what I designed to prove. And as for what is found in some places of the Scripture, that to some unattentive Readers may seem perhaps irre­concileable to this my Doctrine; as (in Exod. 10. v. 2.) that God hardned the heart of Pharaoh and the hearts of his servants, and shewed wonderful Signs before them, that the Israelites might know him to be God: it doth not follow from thence, that Miracles do in truth teach us to know and acknowledge God, but only that the Jews had such Opinions, as that they might be easily convinced by those Miracles. For evident it is, that the Prophetick Reasons mentioned in Scripture, or such as are form'd from Reve­lation, are drawn, not from universal and common Noti­ons, but from the granted (however absurd) Opinions of those to whom the things are reveal'd, or whom the holy Spirit intends to convince. Which might here, if I had not firmly resolv'd not to prolong this Discourse by Digressions, be prov'd from many Examples, and also by the testimony of St. Paul, who with the Greeks made him­self a Greek, and with the Jews a Jew; that is, conform'd [Page 16] his Doctrine sometimes to the common Opinions of the Grecians, sometimes to those of the Jews. But though the Miracles done in the sight of the Egyptians might con­vince them, and the Jews also, from their common Opi­nions: yet could they not give a true Idea and knowledge of God, but only bring both Nations to concede, that there was a divine Numen more powerful than all things known to them, and that this divine Numen took more care of the Hebrews, all whose Affairs at that time suc­ceeded most happily even above their hope, than of the Egyptians or any other People whatever; but not that God takes equal care of all men, which Philosophy alone can teach. And therefore the Jews, and all other men who have not, unless from the disparile state of humane Af­fairs and the unequal Fortune of men, known the Provi­dence of God, have perswaded themselves that the Jews Nation was more beloved by God than the rest of Man­kind, though the Jews exceeded not the rest in the Perfe­ctions of humane Nature, or in their Inclinations to Ver­tue and Piety; as may be soon collected from their Histo­ry. I conclude therefore, that Miracles teach not men the true knowledge of God and of his Providence: and find my self at liberty to proceed to my

X. THIRD Position, which you may remember to be this; That according to the true sence of the holy Scrip­tures themselves, by the Decrees and Commands of God, and consequently by the Providence of God, nothing else is signified but the sixt and immutable Order of Nature: that is, that when the Scripture saith, that such or such a thing was done by God or by the Will of God, it doth really mean no other but this, that the Fact was perform'd ac­cording to the Laws and Order of Nature; not as the Vulgar thinks, that Nature ceas'd to proceed in her due [Page 17] course whilst the thing was in doing, or that her Order was for some time interrupted. The Scripture indeed doth not directly teach such things which belong not to the Doctrine thereof; because it designs not to shew the Natural Causes of things, nor to teach things meerly spe­culative: and therefore what I here propose to my self to prove, must be by consequence deduced from some Hi­stories of the Scripture, which are casually related prolixly and with many Circumstances. Of which I will produce a few, as Examples of the rest.

In the first Book of Samuel, chap. 9. and vers. 15, & 16. it is related, that God reveal'd to Samuel, that he would send Saul to him; and yet God sent him not expresly, as men are wont to send Messengers on purpose to others, but this Mission of Saul by God was nothing but the very Order of Nature. For Saul was in quest of Asses which he had lost (as is related in the same Chapter) and now de­liberating to return home without them, by the counsel of his Servant he diverts his Journey to the Prophet Sa­muel, to know from him where he might find his Asses, nor can it be collected from the whole Narration, that he had any other Mandate from God, besides this Series of natu­ral Causes or Order of Nature, to address himself to Samuel.

In Psalm 105. v. 24. 'tis said, that God changed the mind of the Egyptians, so that they hated the Children of Israel; and yet that this mutation also was wholly natu­ral, appears from Exod. chap. 1. where an account is gi­ven of the Reason, and that no light one neither, why the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to Servitude, viz. lest the Israelites being grown too numerous and mighty, should in case of War joyn with their Enemies and over­power them.

[Page 18] In Genes. 9. v. 13. God saith to Noah, that he would give the Rainbow in the Clouds for a Sign: which action of God was no other but a certain refraction and reflexi­on of the Rays of the Sun, which they suffer'd in the small drops of Water whereof the Cloud consisted. So that the Phenomenon it self was then (as now) a natural Meteor, only the Signality was new.

In Psalm 147. v. 18. the natural action and warmth of the Wind, by which the Hoar-frost and Snow are thawed and melted, is call'd the Word of God; and so are the Wind and Cold also in vers. 15. In like manner Wind and Fire are call'd in Psal. 104. vers. 4. God's Angels and Ministers. All which places, with many other of the like importance frequently occurring in sacred Writ, most clear­ly shew, that the Decree, Command, Saying, and Word of God, signifie nothing else but the Action and Order of Na­ture: and therefore it is not to be doubted, but that all the Miracles recounted in the Scripture, came to pass na­turally; and yet notwithstanding are duely referr'd to God, because his Power and the Power of Nature are one and the same; and because it is not the design of the Scripture to explain Events by their natural Causes, but only to relate those, which surprize the Imagination; and that also in such a method and style, which serves more familiarly and easily to excite Admiration, and consequent­ly Devotion in the Minds of the Vulgar. If therefore in the Scripture there be found some Things or Facts, whose Causes we understand not, and which seem to have been done besides or contrary to the Order of Nature; they ought not to amuse us, nor to hinder us from believing, that what hath really hapned, hapned naturally. Which is yet farther confirmed by this, that in Miracles were found many Circumstances, though not always noted in [Page 19] the Narrations, chiefly when they are described in a Poe­tick style: the Circumstances, I say, of Miracles shew clearly, that they require natural Causes. For instance, to infest the Egyptians with Scabs, it was requisite Moses should sprinkle Ashes of the Furnace upward into the Air, ( Exod. 9. v. 8.) Locusts also at the natural Command of God, namely by an East-wind blowing strongly a whole day and a night, came up and cover'd the Land of Egypt: and left it again, being carried away by as mighty a West-wind (Exod. 10. v. 14, 19.) By the same Command of God, namely an East-wind, that blew most strongly the whole night, the Red Sea gave way to the Israelites (Ex­od. 14. v. 21.) The same may be inferr'd also from the manner of the Prophet Elisha's raising up the Shunamites Son, that perhaps only seem'd to be dead. For Elisha thought it necessary to lay his Body upon the Childs Bo­dy, to put his Mouth upon his Mouth, his Eyes upon his Eyes, his Hands upon his Hands, and to stretch himself often in that posture; and all this to excite Heat and Mo­tion in the vital Parts of the Child, and Sternutation in his Brain, until the Child open'd his Eyes first, and then neez'd seven times: More Examples of this kind might easily be brought hither out of the Books of the Old Te­stament, were not these already alledged sufficient to evince, that various Circumstances and natural Actions are requir'd to the production of Miracles, and consequently that they are all effected by God according to the Order of Nature, not by interrupting or perverting it. I see not therefore, why it may not be lawful for us to believe, that though the Circumstances of Miracles be not always deliver'd in the Narrations of them, nor their natural Causes assign'd; yet they were not effected without them. The same is constant also from Exod. 14. v. 27. where 'tis [Page 20] only related in short, that at the bare beck of Moses, and the stretching forth of his Hand, the Sea flowed back up­on the Egyptian Host, without the least mention of any Wind that might impel the Waters: and yet in the Can­ticle, or Song of Moses, (chap. 15. v. 10.) 'tis said ex­presly, this Miracle was perform'd by God's blowing with a most violent Wind upon the Sea.

XI. Here some perhaps will object, that we find in the Scripture very many things, which seem absolutely inca­pable of Solution by any natural Causes whatsoever; as that the Sins of men could cause Famine, and their Pray­ers bring down Rain and cause Fertility of the Earth, and that Faith could restore Sight to the Blind, and others equally strange. But this Objection I have (I think) prevented, where I asserted, that it is not the design or scope of the Scripture to teach the knowledge of things by their next Causes, but only to relate them in that Or­der or Method, and in those Phrases, by which it may most efficaciously move men, and chiefly the Vulgar, to Devotion and Reverence toward God; for which Reason it many times speaks of natural things, yea even of God himself very improperly; as aiming to affect and occupy the Imagination of men, not to convince their Reason. For should the Scripture relate the Fall and Devastation of any Empire, Kingdom, or Commonwealth, as politick Historians are wont to do, assigning all the remote, con­current, and proxime Causes thereof: the Narration would not at all affect and commove the common People: who yet are apt to be strongly surpriz'd, and as it were charm'd into Admiration and Devotion, when the whole Revolution is described in Strains and Figures of Poesie, and referr'd only to the immediate Power and Decree of God. When therefore the Scripture relates, that the [Page 21] Earth became barren for the Sins of men, or that the Blind recover'd Sight by Faith; we have no more reason to be moved to admiration, than when it tells us, that God is angry, sorrowful, penitent of his Promises or Facts, mindful of his Promise upon sight of the Sign pre-ordain'd, and many other like things, which are either deliver'd Poetically, or related according to the pre-conceiv'd Opinions and Prejudices of the Writer. Wherefore we here absolutely conclude, that all the Events that are true­ly related in the Scripture to have come to pass, proceeded necessarily (as all other Contingents do) according to the immutable Laws of Nature; and that if any thing be found, which can be apodictically demonstrated to be re­pugnant to those Laws, or not to have followed from them: we may safely and piously believe the same not to have been dictated by divine Inspiration, but impiously added to the sacred Volumes by sacrilegious men: for whatever is against Nature, is against Reason; and what­ever is against Reason, is absurd, and therefore also to be rejected and refuted.

XII. But lest any man should, by misinterpreting any Miracle, suspect that he has found in the Scripture some­thing that is repugnant to the Light of Nature or right Reason; it concerns me now to come to the FOURTH and last Part of my present Subject, viz. the Interpretati­on of Miracles. Of this therefore I will deliver [...] of many Thoughts, and by an Example or two endeavour to illustrate them.

It very rarely happens, that men relate any Action sim­ply, and as it was really done, without mixing with it somewhat of their own Judgement. Nay when they see or hear any thing new and surprizing, unless they circum­spectly defend themselves from their own pre-conceiv'd [Page 22] Opinions, they are for the most part prone to be so blinded and pre-possess'd by them, that they apprehend in their Brain quite another thing than what they see or hear to have come to pass; chiefly if the thing done exceed the Capacity of either the Reporter, or the Hearer, and when the same is likely to bring some considerable Advantage or Emolument to the Reporter, if it be believ'd to have come to pass in such or such a manner. Hence doubtless it comes, that men in their Chronicles and Histories rather relate their own Conjectures and Opinions, than things as they were really done; and that one and the same Case or Event is by two men, of different Opinions and Judg­ments, so diversly related, that they seem to speak, not of one Case, but two; and in fine, that it is not very dif­ficult to a man that reads with attention, to investigate the Opinions of the Chronographer or Historian meerly from his Narrations. To confirm this, I might bring hi­ther many Examples, as well of Philosophers, who have written Natural Histories, as of Chronographers; if I did not think it superfluous so to do. I will therefore content my self with one pertinent and remarkable Example taken out of holy Scripture, and then leave the Reader from thence to judge of the rest.

In the time of Joshua, the Hebrews (perhaps with all other Nations) believing the Sun to be carried round the [...] in its diurnal Motion, and the Earth to stand still perpetually; accommodated to this their pre-con­ceiv'd Opinion, the Miracle that happen'd to them, when they were fighting against those five Kings of the Amo­rites. For they have not simply related, that that day was longer than any other day; but that the Sun and Moon then stood still, or ceas'd from their Motions. And this could not but serve mightily to their advantage, at [Page 23] that time, to convince their Ethnick Enemies, who ado­red the Sun and Moon, and to prove by Experience it self, that those celestial Luminaries were under the Com­mand of another God, at whose beck they were forced to stop their Course, and change their natural Order. Wherefore they conceiv'd, partly from Religion, partly from their pre-conceiv'd Opinions, the thing to have come to pass far otherwise than it might really have hap­pen'd; and related the same accordingly. To interpret therefore Scripture -Miracles, and to understand from the Narrations of them, how they really happen'd; 'tis ne­cessary to know the Opinions of those who first reported them, and who transmitted them down to after-Ages by their Writings; and to distinguish the Narrations from that which their Authors Senses might represent to their surpriz'd Imaginations: otherwise we shall confound their Opinions and Judgements with the Miracle it self, as it really came to pass; nay more, we shall confound also things which have really happen'd, with things purely imaginary, and which were only Prophetick Representati­ons. For in Scripture many things are related as real, and which were also believ'd to be real even by the Relators themselves; that notwithstanding were only Representa­tions form'd in the Brain, and meerly imaginary: as that God, the supream Being, descended from Heaven (Ex­od. 19. v. 28. and Deuteron. 5. v. 28.) upon Mount Sinai, and that the Mountain therefore smoak'd, because God came down upon it surrounded with Fire; that Elias ascended to Heaven in a fiery Chariot drawn by fiery Horses: which were only Representations accommoda­ted to their Opinions, who deliver'd them down to us, as they had been represented to them, viz. as things actu­ally done. For all men of Understanding above the Rab­ble, [Page 24] know, that God hath no right nor left Hand, that he is neither moved nor quiet, uncircumscrib'd by Place, but absolutely infinite, and that in him are comprehend­ed all Perfections. All these Proprieties of his, I say, are known to those considering men, which judge things from the Perceptions of a pure Intellect, and not as the Imagi­nation is affected by the outward Senses; as the Vulgar is wont, which therefore imagines God to be Corporeal, and like an Emperor sitting in a Throne above the Stars in the Convexity of Heaven, the distance of which they believe not to be very great from the Earth. From these gross Imaginations and Opinions of common Heads it is, that the Writers of holy Scripture, accommodating their Nar­rations many times to vulgar Capacities, describe many Events in Expressions familiar and suitable to those pre-conceiv'd Opinions; which therefore ought not to be re­ceiv'd by Philosophers as real. Besides, to understand how Miracles really happen'd, 'tis requisite to be well vers'd in all the Idioms, Phrases and Tropes of the ancient He­brews: for he that doth not understand and attend to all these, will be apt to feign and add to the Scripture ma­ny Miracles, which the Writers of it never thought of; and consequently remain ignorant, not only how the Mi­racles that have been written, came to pass, but even of the true Sence and Mind of the Writers. For Example, the Prophet Zacharias (chap. 14. v. 7.) speaking of War to come, saith; And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark—But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night; but at evening time it shall be light, &c. Now by these words he seems to predict a mighty Miracle; and yet to a man conversant in the Language, Phrases, and Style of the Prophets, it will soon appear, that nothing is signified [Page 25] by him but this, That the Battel shall be siercely fought by both sides, the event of it all the day known only to God, but in the evening the Jews shall obtain the victory: for in such Allegories and Phrases, the Prophets were wont to sore­tel and write the Victories and Calamities of Nations, sig­nifying those by light and day, these by darkness and night. Thus we find Esaia (chap. 13.) describing the Ruine and Devastation of Babylon in these words; The Stars of Heaven, and the Constellations thereof, shall not give their light; the Sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the Moon shall not emit the splendor of her light: which Prodi­gies no man of Understanding believes to have happen'd at the Destruction of that mighty City; as neither those the same Prophet adds in the subsequent Verse; I will shake the Heavens, and the Earth shall remove out of her place. Thus again in chap. 48. vers. ult. to signifie to the Jews, that they should return from Babylon to Jerusalem securely, and suffer no thirst in the Journey, he saith; And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. By which words, I say, Esaia intended only this, that the Jews shall find Fountains in the Deserts (as Travellers commonly do) with which they shall mitigate their thirst. For, when by the consent of Cyrus they went to Jerusa­lem, 'tis evident even from the History of their return thi­ther, that no such Miracles happen'd to them. After this manner of speaking, in the holy Scripture occur very ma­ny things, which were only old modes of expression among the Jews, and therefore ought not to be interpre­ted according to the Letter, chiefly where Miracles are rashly supposed to be intimated. To recite all these, is (after what I have here said) unnecessary; and all I would have remark'd in the general, is only this, that the [Page 26] Hebrews were accustomed in these and the like phrases to speak, not only ornately, but also, and chiefly devotely. For which very Reason in the 1 st. of Kings, chap. 21. and Jeb 2. v. 9. is found, to bless God, for, to curse: and for the same, they referr'd all things immediately to God, and therefore the Scripture seems to relate nothing almost but Miracles; and that too when it speaks of things most plainly natural, of which I have already alledged some Examples. When therefore the Scripture tells us, that God hardned the heart of Pharaoh; we are not bound to believe, that it signifies any thing, but this, that Pha­raoh was contumacious or obstinate. And where 'tis said, that God opened the Windows of Heaven, we may safely interpret the words to contain no other sence but this, that Rain fell down from the Clouds in great abundance; & sic de aliis. If our Reader then, laying aside all super­stitious Prejudices, shall be pleas'd to consider and remark these Instances, and withal know, that in the Scripture many things are related briefly, without any Circumstan­ces, and imperfectly; I am fully perswaded, he will there­in find nothing that can be apodictically demonstrated to be repugnant to the Light of Nature or right Reason, but on the contrary many things, which how obscure soever they may seem at first, he will be able, upon a little Exa­men and Meditation, to understand and interpret accor­ding to the genuine sence and meaning of the Writer. And thus, I think, I have with sufficient clearness proved what I intended.

XIII. But yet, before I put an end to this Discourse, there is one thing more, of which it concerns me to ad­vertise the Reader, and 'tis this; That the Method here proposed for Interpretation of Miracles, ought not to be accommodated to the prejudice of Prophesies occurring [Page 27] frequently in the Scripture. For of these nothing ought to be affirm'd, but what may be concluded from Funda­mentals reveal'd in Scripture; whereas the Conclusions precedent in this Discourse, have been inferr'd only from Principles known by the Light of Nature. Prophesie is a thing which transcends the limited Capacity of humane Understanding, nor can any man comprehend wherein chiefly it consisteth, unless from Fundaments reveal'd, which are purely Theological. But as for Miracles; be­cause what I here principally enquire (viz. whether we may safely admit, that in Nature any thing can possibly happen, that is repugnant to the eternal Laws of Nature, or that may not follow from them) is a Question Philoso­phical: I have therefore thought it, as more proper, so also more advised, to investigate the same from Funda­ments or Principles known by the Light of Nature. I say, more advised; because I could have solved this Que­stion from only Positions and Fundaments of the Scripture it self; to manifest which, I will now briefly shew the possibility thereof.

The Scripture in some places affirms of Nature in gene­ral, that she perpetually observes a fixt and immutable Order; as in Psal. 148. v. 6. He hath established them [the Heavens and all the Celestial Host, &c.] for ever: he hath made a Decree which shall not pass: and Jerem. 31. v. 35, 36. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the Sun for a light by day, and the Ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night, which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar.—If those Ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then, &c. And the Philosopher in his Ec­clesiast. 1. v. 9. saith expresly, that nothing new happens in Nature: and in vers. 11, 12. illustrating that Assertion, adds, that though a thing may come to pass, which seems [Page 28] new, yet really 'tis not new, but the like hath happen'd in Ages so long since past, that no memory of them has reached down to us: There is, saith he, no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after. Again in chap. 3. v. 2. he saith, That God hath appointed a season to every thing, and a time to every purpose under the Sun: And at vers. 14. he saith farther, I know that what­soever God doth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it, &c. All which Texts most clearly teach, that Nature always keeps her fixt and im­mutable Order, that God hath been the same in all Ages, as well unknown as known to us, and that the Laws of Nature are so perfect and fertil, that nothing can be ad­ded unto, nothing detracted from them, and in fine, that Miracles are not lookt upon as new things, unless by rea­son of mens Ignorance. These remarkable Truths there­fore are (you see) expresly taught in the sacred Books: but in them it is no where taught, that any thing can hap­pen in Nature, which is repugnant to her eternal Laws, or which is impossible to follow from them; and therefore I think it unreasonable, to impute such Doctrine to the Scripture. To these Arguments be pleas'd to subjoyn some of our precedent Reasons, viz. that Miracles require Cau­ses and Circumstances, that they necessarily proceed from the divine Decree, that is (as we have shewn even from the Scripture) from the Laws of Nature and her establisht Order, and in fine, that Miracles may be wrought also by Seducers and Impostors, as is plain from Deut. 13. and Mat. 24. v. 24. and then, I presume, you will perceive it to be genuinely consequent from all these Premisses, that Miracles have been natural things, and ought so to be ex­plicated, as to seem neither new (that I may use Solo­mon's [Page 29] word) nor repugnant to Nature. And that you may the more easily so explicate them, I have set down some certain Rules taken from the Scripture it self. But though I say, that the Scripture teaches these things, yet I do not mean that it teaches them as Precepts or Documents necessary to Salvation, but only that the Prophets embra­ced them as we do: and therefore it is free for every man to think of them, according as he shall judge it most con­ducive to his devoting himself to the Worship of God, and the Exercise of Religion, with his whole mind. Which agrees exactly with the Sentiment of that wise and grave Author Josephus, exprest in the conclusion of his 2 d. Book of Antiquities, in these words. Nullus verò discredat ver­bo miraculi, si antiquis hominibus, & malitia privatis via salut is liquet per mare fact a, sive voluntate Dei, sive sponte revelata: dum & eis, qui cum Alexandro Rege Macedo­niae fuerunt olim, & antiquit us à resistentibus Pamphilicum mare divisum sit, & cum aliud iter non esset, transitum prae­buit iis, volente Deo per eum Persarum destruere imperium; & hoc confitentur omnes, qui act us Alexandri scripserunt. De his ita (que) sicut placuerit unicui (que) existimet. In which Josephus modestly declares his Judgement of Miracles. I add also that of Valesius, a pious man and profound Phi­losopher, who (in sacrae Philosophiae cap. 57. in Psal. 77.) having asserted that the Manna wherewith God fed the Israelites in the Desart, though different in some qualities from other sorts of Manna described by Physicians, was yet produced secundum leges naturae; wisely subjoyns this Defence of himself. Ne (que) enim elevo Dei concu [...]sum, cum naturales rerum causas investigo; sed laudo insinitam ej us sapientiam, qui it a omnia disponit, ut etiam quae portento­sissima sunt, vide antur bona ex parte secundum naturalem rerum ordinem evenisse.