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Untitled Article
writer maintains ( p . 86 ) , * that all the miracles attributed to Jesus are severally resolvable , either , first , into real though exaggerated cures , and a delusive persuasion , both on his own part , and that of the surrounding eye-witnesses , that the extraordinary effects produced on body and mind by strong religious belief and ve * neration were actual manifestations of divine agency ; or secondly , into imposture on the part of the pretended patient $ or thirdly , into subsequent , popular , or apostolical invention . * Then follows a classified list of the miracles attributed to Christ : —
Real Delusion and Exaggeration , Cure of whole multitudes Matt . iv . 12—25 Cure of a leper viii . 1— 4 Sick of the palsy Matt . ix . 1— 8 Fever — - viii . 14—15 Dropsical man Luke xiv . 2— 4 Oadarene devils Mark v . 1—20 Unclean devils Luke iv . 33—44 Daughter of Canaanitish woman . . Matt . xv . 21—28 Infirm woman Luke xiii . 10—17 Withered hand , Mark iii . 1—12 Centurion ' s servant Luke vii . 1—10 Nobleman ' s son John iv . 43—54 Infirm man at the pool of Bethesda .... v . 1—16 * Issue of blood Matt . ix . 20—22 Widow ' s son Luke vii . 11—18
Imposture of Patient . The blind see Matt . xx . 29—34 The deaf hear Mark vii . 31—37 The dumb speak Matt . xii . 22—37 Lazarus John xi . 1—46 Jairus ' s daughter Matt . ix . 18—26
Popular or Apostolical Invention . Converts water into wine John ii . 1—11 Cures ten lepers Luke xvii . 11—19 Miraculous draught of fishes v . 1—11 Calms a tempest . Matt . viii . 24—27 Walks on the sea xiv . 22—33 Feeds five thousand John vi . 1- ^—14 . Feeds four thousand Matt . xv . 32—39 Causes a barren fig tree to wither — xxii . 17—22 Resurrection and Ascension — -
It is not easy to perceive on what principles this classification proceeds , nor has the author informed us of them . We have merely his dictum that this alleged miracle was an instance of mere delusion , —this of imposture on the part of the patient / end that of apostolical fraud . Why , for in&tange , the withered hand and the infirm woman should have been considered as
Untitled Article
Orthodoxy and Unbelief . 631
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1832, page 831, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1826/page/39/
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