The writer, now cited, further main tains, that miracles are neither the effects of natural causes, nor of superior created intelligences, acting from themselves alone : but that they are always tobe as cribed to a divine interposition ; i. e. that they are never wrought, but either im mediately by God himself, or by such other beings as he commissions and em powers to perform them. In proof of this proposition, he alleges that the same arguments, which prove the existence of superior created intelligences, do much more strongly conclude against their act ing out of their proper sphere. Further, the supposition of the power of any cre ated agents to work miracles of them selves, in this lower world, is contradict ed by the observation and experience ntil all ages ; there being, in evidence of the truth of any m s, but such as may be fitly ascribed to the Del. ty. Moreover, the laws of nature being ordained by God, and essential to the or der and happiness of the world, it is im possible God should delegate to any of his creatures a power of working mira cles, by which those divine establi4unents may be superseded and controlled. Be sides, the ascribing to any superior be. ings, God excepted, and those immediate ly commissioned by him, the power of working miracles, subverts the founda tion of natural piety, and is a fruitful source of idolatry and superstition.
It is further urged, that if miracles were performed in favour of false doctrines, mankind would be exposed to frequent and unavoidable delusion : and if they may he performed without a divine per mission, and in support of falsehood, they cannot be credentials of a divine mission, and criterions of truth. So that, upon the whole, if superior beings really pos sess the miraculous powers which some writers have ascribed to them, the exer cise of those powers, by good and evil agents, would either expose mankind to necessary and invincible error, or entire ly destroy the credit and use of miracles, under the idea of criterions of truth and authentic credentials of a divine mission. If we appeal to the evidence of revelation on this subject, we shall find, that the view which the Scripture gives us of good angels, of the devil and his angels, as also of the souls of departed men, is inconsistent with their liberty of working miracles; and the view which the sacred writers give us of the gods of paganism, is also absolutely inconsistent with their possessing a power of working miracles. Nevertheless, it has been much disputed, how far it may be in the power of the de vil to work miracles? or wherein the spe cific difference lies between the miracles of Moses, and those of Pharaoh's magi cians? those of Jesus Christ and the apos tles, and those of Simon Magus and Apol Ionius Tyaneus ? Whether the latter were any more than mere delusions of the senses; or whether any supernatural and diabolical power concurred with them. The author already referred to has con sidered the subject in all its bearings, and has shown that the magicians, diviners, and sorcerers of antiquity, who pretend ed, by the assistance of the heathen dei-. ties, &c. to foretell future events, or to work miracles, are branded in scripture as mere impostors, incapable of support ing their pretensions by any works or predictions beyond human power or skill.
The Scripture likewise reproaches the pretences to inspiration and miracles, made by false prophets, in support of er ror and idolatry, as the sole effects of hu. man craft and imposture. And, there fore, since angels, whether good or evil, the spirits of departed men, the heathen deities, magicians, andfalse prophets, are the only agents who have ever been con ceived as capable of working miracles, either in opposition to God, or without an immediate commission from him ; and the Scripture denies to all these the pow er of performing any miracles; it does in effect deny, that any single miracle has ever been performed without the imme.
diate interposition of God. It is likewise alleged, that the Scriptures represent the one true God as the sole Creator and So vereign of the world, which he governs by fixed and invariable laws ; that to him they appropriate all miracles, and that they urge them as demonstrations of his divinity and sole dominion over nature, in opposition to the claims of all other su perior beings. The Scriptures also uni formly represent all miracles as being, in themselves, an absolute demonstration of the mission and doctrine of the prophets, at whose instance they are performed; and never direct us to regard their doc trines as a test of the miracles being the effect of divine interposition. Accord ingly, the miracles of Christ, in particular, were a demonstration (not a partial and conditional, but a complete and absolute demonstration) of his mission from God : and they were further designed to evince his peculiar character as the Messiah, or anointed ; i. e. his regal commission and power, or his right by divine designation to dominion and judicature over mankind. And it may be observed, with respect to all the miracles of the New Testament, that their divinity, considered in them selves, is always either expressly asserted, or manifestly implied : and they are ac cordingly urged as a decisive and absolute proof of the divinity of the doctrine and testimony of their performers, without ever taking into consideration the nature of the doctrine, or of the testimony to be confirmed. It is also shown, that the Scriptures have not recorded any in stances of real miracles performed by the devil ; in answer to the objections drawn from the case of the magicians in Egypt, k from the appearance of Samuel, after his decease, to Saul, which was either the work of human imposture or a divine mi. racle, and from our Saviour's temptation in the wilderness, which the writer, to whom we now refer, considers as a di vine vision.
Miracles, considered as the peculiar works of God, afford a divine testimony to the person on whose account they are wrought, and to that doctrine or message which he delivers in the name of God. And this proof, from miracles, of the di vine commission and doctrine of a pro phet, is in itself decisive and absolute. It is also the most natural and agreeable to the common sense of mankind in all ages. It is the most easy and compendi ous proof of a new revelation. Miracles are further a very powerful method of conviction, making a strong impression upon the heart, at the same time that they carry light to the understanding. Nor is the necessity of miracles less evi dent than their propriety and advantage, in attesting a divine commission and pro pagating a new revelation. They also serve to revive and confirm the princi ples of natural religion, and to recover men from those two opposite extremes of atheism and idolatry. Finally, the evi dence of miracles, whether of power or knowledge, is the fittest to accompany a standing revelation ; because it is not con fined to one age or nation, but may be extended over the whole globe, and con veyed to the moat distant generations.