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Augustine that they are merely exceptions to nature as we know it, implying that, if we had a
fuller knowledge of nature, we would be able to account for them in a perfectly natural way.
But this is an untenable position, since it assumes two orders of nature, which are contrary to
each other. According to the one the oil in the cruse would decrease, but according to the other
it did not diminish; according to the one the loaves would gradually be consumed, but
according to the other they multiplied. It must further suppose that the one system is superior
to the other, for if it were not, there would merely be a collision and nothing would result; but
if it were, it would seem that the inferior order would gradually be overcome and disappear.
Moreover, it robs the miracle of its exceptional character, while yet miracles stand out as
exceptional events on the pages of Scripture.
There is undoubtedly a certain uniformity in nature; there are laws controlling the operation of
second causes in the physical world. But let us remember that these merely represent God’s
usual method of working in nature. It is His good pleasure to work in an orderly way and
through secondary causes. But this does not mean that He cannot depart from the established
order, and cannot produce an extraordinary effect, which does not result from natural causes,
by a single volition, if He deems it desirable for the end in view. When God works miracles, He
produces extraordinary effects in a supernatural way. This means that miracles are above
nature. Shall we also say that they are contrary to nature? Older Reformed theologians did not
hesitate to speak of them as a breach or a violation of the laws of nature. Sometimes they said
that in the case of a miracle the order of nature was temporarily suspended. Dr. Bruin
maintains that this view is correct in his Het Christelijk Geloof en de Beoefening der Natuur-
wetenschap, and takes exception to the views of Woltjer, Dennert, and Bavinck. But the
correctness of that older terminology may well be doubted. When a miracle is performed the
laws of nature are not violated, but superseded at a particular point by a higher manifestation
of the will of God. The forces of nature are not annihilated or suspended, but are only
counteracted at a particular point by a force superior to the powers of nature.
3. THE PURPOSE OF THE MIRACLES OF SCRIPTURE.
It may be assumed that the miracles of
Scripture were not performed arbitrarily, but with a definite purpose. They are not mere
wonders, exhibitions of power, destined to excite amazement, but have revelational
significance. The entrance of sin into the world makes the supernatural intervention of God in
the course of events necessary for the destruction of sin and for the renewal of creation. It was
by a miracle that God gave us both, His special verbal revelation in Scripture, and His supreme
factual revelation in Jesus Christ. The miracles are connected with the economy of redemption,
a redemption which they often prefigure and symbolize. They do not aim at a violation, but
rather at a restoration of God’s creative work. Hence we find cycles of miracles connected with
special periods in the history of redemption, and especially during the time of Christ’s public