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memory of man ; but tbe subject itself will ever retain a considerable degree of importance from its connexion with the evidences of Christianity , and with the character of early Christian writers . It could not be passed by unnoticed in the work now before us , and they who may not assent to the theory of the learned author , will , without doubt , applaud the spirit with which it is proposed . Gibbon has asserted that the cessation of miraculous gifts " must have excited universal attention , and caused the time at which
it happened to be precisely ascertained and noted . " But as pretensions to these gifts had continued in all ages , he would have it inferred that no such gifts were ever bestowed . Our author thinks that the uncertainty respecting their cessation is to be accounted for on the supposition of their being gradually withdrawn . " To adopt the language of undoubting confidence on such a subject , would be a mark no less of foll y than presumption ; but I may be allowed to state the conclusion to which I have myself been led , by a comparison of the
statements in the book of Acts , with the writings of the Fathers of the second century . My conclusion then is , that the power of working miracles was not extended beyond the disciples , upon whom the apostles conferred it by the imposition of their hands . As the number of those disciples gradually diminished , the instances of the exercise of miraculous powers became continually less frequent , and ceased entirely at the death of the last individual on
whom the hands of the apostles had been laid . That event would , in the natural course of things , take place before the middle of the second century : at a time when , Christianity having obtained a footing in all the provinces of the Roman Empire , the miraculous gifts conferred upon its first teachers had performed their appropriate office—that of proving to the world that a new revelation had been given from heaven . What then would be the effect produced upon the minds of the great body of Christians by their gradual cessation ? Many would not observe , none would be willing to observe it ; for all must naturally feel a reluctance to believe that powers , which had contributed so essentially to the rapid diffusion of Christianity , were withdrawn . They
who remarked the cessation of miracles , would probably succeed in persuading themselves that it was only temporary , and designed by an all-wise Providence to be the prelude to a more abundant effusion of supernatural gifts upon the Church . Or if doubts and misgivings crossed their minds , they would still be unwilling- openly to state a fact which might shake the steadfastness of the friends , and would certainly be urged by the enemies of the gospel as an argument against its divine origin . They would pursue the plan which has been
pursued by Justin Martyr , Theophilus , Irenaeus , &c . ; they would have recourse to general assertions of the existence of supernatural powers , without attempting to produce a specific instance of their exercise . The silence of ecclesiastical history respecting the cessation of miraculous gifts in the Church , is to be ascribed , not to the insensibility of Christians to that important event , ( according to Mr . Gibbon ' s sarcastic assertion , ) but to the combined operation of prejudice and policy—of prejudice which made them reluctant to believe , of policy which made them anxious to conceal the truth . —>
Let me repeat that I offer these observations with that diffidence in my own conclusions , which ought to be the predominant feeling in the mind of every inquirer into the ways of Providence . I collect from passages alread y cited from the book of Acts , that the power of working miracles was withdrawn , combined with an anxiety to keep up a belief of its continuance in the Church . They affirm in general terms , that miracles were performed , but rarely venture to produce an instance of a particular miracle . Those who followed them were less scrupulous , and proceeded to invent miracles , very different indeed in circumstances and character from the miracles of the gospel , yet readily believed by men who were not disposed nicely to examine into the evidence of facts which they wished to be true . The Success of the first at *
Untitled Article
Review . —Dr . KayeU TertulliaA . 269
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1827, page 269, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1795/page/37/
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