The Blatchford Controversies, III - Miracles And Modern Civilization

The silliest argument against Christianity is ridicule its claimed miracles, or to suggest that a belief in miracles is contradicted by modern science.  Miracles are by definition rare events, and it is not obvious at all that the laws of nature could not produce them in rare circumstances.  The real miracle, one not noticed by the rationalists, is the continued existence of things.  Their philosophy cannot begin to contemplate such an occurence as this.

Moreover, the use of a concept like a "law of nature" is no kind of explanation at all, but merely an analogous reference to a more familiar item of experience: a law of Parliament.  If we are free to choose from among familiar experience in our explanation of the world, the Christian prefers a much richer item to use as an analogy: an act of will.  The world emerges from the Father's will in the same way an earthly father begets his offspring.  And this is a much richer source for an analogy, as the potential works of this will are much more varied and marvellous than anything a mere law could ever produce.

The current fashion of materialism is just that: mere fashion.  Fie on that.  It is no argument to say a rational modern judge could not be convinced of Christianity.

But it does not seem to occur to [Blatchford] that we Christians may not have such an extravagant reverence for English judges as is felt by Mr. Blatchford himself. 

The experiences of the Founder of Christianity have perhaps left us in a vague doubt of the infallibility of courts of law.

[Burn.]

And it would be silly for the different religions to deny one another's miracles.  Signs and wonders are a universal feature of human experience.  The arguments among religions concern doctrine, of course.  The vital question is whether a religion has a "true philosophy of the Universe."

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At first I read this as just a boring repetition of the fallacy of inductive reasoning, but it's way deeper than that.  It's especially interesting that the vaunted "laws of nature" that the rationalist subscribed to were about to be overturned wholesale by quantum physics.