Mind

Mind - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

MIND, n. [L. reminiscor; L. mens; Gr. memory, mention, to remember, mind, ardor of mind, vehemence; anger. Mind signifies properly intention, a reaching or inclining forward to an object, from the primary sense of extending, stretching or inclining, or advancing eagerly, pushing or setting forward, whence the Greek sense of the word, in analogy with the Teutonic mod, moed, muth, mind, courage, spirit, mettle. So L. animus, animosus.]

1. Intention; purpose; design.

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. Prov 21.

2. Inclination; will; desire; a sense much used, but expressing less than settled purpose; as in the common phrases, ""I wish to know your mind;"" ""let me know your mind;"" ""he had a mind to go;"" ""he has a partner to his mind.""

3. Opinion; as, to express one's mind. We are of one mind.

4. Memory; remembrance; as, to put one in mind; to call to mind; the fact is out of my mind; time out of mind. From the operations of the intellect in man,this word came to signify.

5. The intellectual or intelligent power in man; the understanding; the power that conceives, judges or reasons.

I fear I am not in my perfect mind.

So we speak of a sound mind, a disordered mind, a weak mind, a strong mind, with reference to the active powers of the understanding; and in a passive sense, it denotes capacity, as when we say, the mind cannot comprehend a subject.

6. The heart or seat of affection.

Which were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. Gen 26.

7. The will and affection; as readiness of mind. Acts 17.

8. The implanted principle of grace. Rom 7.

MIND, v.t. To attend to; to fix the thoughts on; to regard with attention.

Cease to request me; let us mind our way.

Mind not high things. Rom 12.

1. To attend to or regard with submission; to obey. His father told him to desist, but he would not mind him.

2. To put in mind; to remind.

3. To intend; to mean.

MIND, v.i. To be inclined or disposed to incline.

When one of them mindeth to go into rebellion.

Mindful - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

MINDFUL, a. Attentive; regarding with care; bearing in mind; heedful; observant.

I promise to be mindful of your admonitions.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Psa 7.

Miracle - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

An event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to authenticate the divine commission of a religious teacher and the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matt. 12:38). It is an occurrence at once above nature and above man. It shows the intervention of a power that is not limited by the laws either of matter or of mind, a power interrupting the fixed laws which govern their movements, a supernatural power.

"The suspension or violation of the laws of nature involved in miracles is nothing more than is constantly taking place around us. One force counteracts another: vital force keeps the chemical laws of matter in abeyance; and muscular force can control the action of physical force. When a man raises a weight from the ground, the law of gravity is neither suspended nor violated, but counteracted by a stronger force. The same is true as to the walking of Christ on the water and the swimming of iron at the command of the prophet. The simple and grand truth that the universe is not under the exclusive control of physical forces, but that everywhere and always there is above, separate from and superior to all else, an infinite personal will, not superseding, but directing and controlling all physical causes, acting with or without them." God ordinarily effects his purpose through the agency of second causes; but he has the power also of effecting his purpose immediately and without the intervention of second causes, i.e., of invading the fixed order, and thus of working miracles. Thus we affirm the possibility of miracles, the possibility of a higher hand intervening to control or reverse nature's ordinary movements.

In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally used to designate miracles: (1.) Semeion, a "sign", i.e., an evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine message (Matt. 12:38, 39; 16:1, 4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11, 18, 23; Acts 6:8, etc.); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power.

(2.) Terata, "wonders;" wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).

(3.) Dunameis, "might works;" works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Rom. 15:19; 2 Thess. 2:9); of a new and higher power.

(4.) Erga, "works;" the works of Him who is "wonderful in working" (John 5:20, 36).

Miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of his divine mission (John 5:20, 36; 10:25, 38). Thus, being out of the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of God. Where miracles are there certainly God is. The man, therefore, who works a miracle affords thereby clear proof that he comes with the authority of God; they are his credentials that he is God's messenger. The teacher points to these credentials, and they are a proof that he speaks with the authority of God. He boldly says, "God bears me witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles."

The credibility of miracles is established by the evidence of the senses on the part of those who are witnesses of them, and to all others by the testimony of such witnesses. The witnesses were competent, and their testimony is trustworthy. Unbelievers, following Hume, deny that any testimony can prove a miracle, because they say miracles are impossible. We have shown that miracles are possible, and surely they can be borne witness to. Surely they are credible when we have abundant and trustworthy evidence of their occurrence. They are credible just as any facts of history well authenticated are credible. Miracles, it is said, are contrary to experience. Of course they are contrary to our experience, but that does not prove that they were contrary to the experience of those who witnessed them. We believe a thousand facts, both of history and of science, that are contrary to our experience, but we believe them on the ground of competent testimony. An atheist or a pantheist must, as a matter of course, deny the possibility of miracles; but to one who believes in a personal God, who in his wisdom may see fit to interfere with the ordinary processes of nature, miracles are not impossible, nor are they incredible. (See LIST OF MIRACLES, Appendix.)

Miracle - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

MIR'ACLE, n. [L. miraculum, from miror, to wonder.]

1. Literally, a wonder or wonderful thing; but appropriately,

2. In theology, an event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event. Miracles can be wrought only by Almighty power, as when Christ healed lepers, saying, ""I will, be thou clean,"" or calmed the tempest, ""Peace, be still.""

They considered not the miracle of the loaves. Mark 6.

A man approved of God by miracles and signs. Acts 2.

3. Anciently, a spectacle or dramatic representation exhibiting the lives of the saints.

MIR'ACLE, v.t. To make wonderful. [Not used.]

Proof - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

PROOF,n.

1. Trial; essay; experiment; any effort, process or operation that ascertains truth or fact. Thus the quality of spirit is ascertained by proof; the strength of gun-powder, of fire arms and of cannon is determined by proof; the correctness of operations in arithmetic is ascertained by proof.

2. In law and logic, that degree of evidence which convinces the mind of the certainty of truth of fact, and produces belief. Proof is derived from personal knowledge, or from the testimony of others, or from conclusive reasoning. Proof differs from demonstration, which is applicable only to those truths of which the contrary is inconceivable.

This has neither evidence of truth, nor proof sufficient to give it warrant.

3. Firmness or hardness that resists impression, or yields not to force; impenetrability of physical bodies; as a wall that is of proof against shot.

See arms of proof.

4. Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken; as a mind or virtue that is proof against the arts of seduction and the assaults of temptation.

5. The proof of spirits consists in little bubbles which appear on the top of the liquor after agitation, called the bead, and by the French, chapelet. Hence,

6. The degree of strength in spirit; as high proof; first proof; second, third or fourth proof.

7. In printing and engraving, a rough impression of a sheet, taken for correction; plu.proofs, not proves.

8. Armor sufficiently firm to resist impression. [Not used.]

Proof is used elliptically for of proof.

I have found thee

Proof against all temptation.

It is sometimes followed by to, more generally by against.

Sign - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

SIGN, n. [L. signum; Gr. deicnumt.]

1. A token; something by which another thing is shown or represented; any visible thing, any motion, appearance or event which indicates the existence or approach of something else. Thus we speak of signs of fair weather or of a storm, and of external marks which are signs of a good constitution.

2. A motion, action, nod or gesture indicating a wish or command. They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. Luke 1.

3. A wonder; a miracle; a prodigy; a remarkable transaction, event or phenomenon. Through mighty signs and wonders. Rom 15. Luke 11.

4. Some visible transaction, event or appearance intended as proof or evidence of something else; hence; proof; evidence by sight. Show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Judg 6.

5. Something hung or set near a house or over a door, to give notice of the tenant's occupation, or what is made or sold within; as a trader's sign; a tailor;s sign; the sign of the eagle.

6. A memorial or monument; something to preserve the memory of a thing. What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Num 16.

7. Visible mark or representation; as an outward sign of and inward and spiritual grace.

8. A mark of distinction.

9. Typical representation. The holy symbols or signs are not barely significative.

10. In astronomy, the twelfth part of the ecliptic. The signs are reckoned from the point of intersection of the ecliptic and equator at the vernal equinox, and are named respectively, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorns, Aquarius, Pisces. These names are borrowed from the constellations of the zodiac of the same denomination, which were respectively comprehended within the foregoing equal divisions of the ecliptic of the same name, but are considerably in advance of them. Thus the constellation Aries, is now in that part of the ecliptic called Taurus.

11. In algebra, a character indicating the relation of quantities, or an operation performed by them; as the sign + plus prefixed to a quantity, indicates that the quantity is to be added; the sign - minus, denotes that the quantity to which it is prefixed is to subtracted. The former is prefixed to quantities called affirmative or positive; the latter to quantities called negative.

12. The subscription of one's name; signature; as a sign manual.

13. Among physicians, an appearance or symptom in the human body, which indicate its condition as to health or disease.

14. In music, any character, as a flat, sharp, dot, _c.

SIGN, v. t. sine.

1. To mark with characters or one's name. To sign a paper, note, deed, _c. is to write one's name at the foot, or underneath the declaration, promise, covenant, grant, _c., by which the person makes it his own act, To sign one's name, is to write or subscribe it on the paper Signing does not now include sealing

2. To signify; to represent typically. [Not in use.]

3. To mark.

SIGN, v. i. To be a sign or omen.

Wonder - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

WONDER, n. [G., Gr., to show; and hence a sight; a panic.]

1. That emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind, of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; something that arrests the attention by its novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness. Wonder expresses less than astonishment, and much less than amazement. It differs from admiration, in not being necessarily accompanied with love, esteem or approbation, nor directed to persons. But wonder sometimes is nearly allied to astonishment, and the exact extent of the meaning of such words can hardly be graduated.

They were filled with wonder and amazement. Acts 3.

Wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.

2. Cause of wonder; that which excites surprise; a strange thing; a prodigy.

To try things oft, and never to give over, doth wonders.

I am as a wonder to many. Psa 71.

3. Any thing mentioned with surprise.

Babylon, the wonder of all tongues.

Wonders of the world. The seven wonders of the world were the Egyptian pyramids, the Mausoleum erected by Artemisia, the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the walls and hanging gardens of Babylon, the colossus at Rhodes, the statue of Jupiter Olympius, and the Pharos or watch-tower of Alexandria.

4. A miracle. Exo 3.

WONDER, v.i. To be affected by surprise or admiration.

I could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals.

We cease to wonder at what we understand.

Wonderful - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

WONDERFUL, a. Adapted to excite wonder or admiration; exciting surprise; strange; astonishing. Job 42.

mind (nous, dianoia, sunesis):

1. No Precision in the Terms Used:

We look in vain in the Old Testament and New Testament for anything like scientific precision in the employment of terms which are meant to indicate mental operations.

In the Old Testament lebh is made to stand for the various manifestations of our intellectual and emotional nature. We are often misled by the different renderings in the different versions, both early and late.

Sometimes nephesh or "soul" is rendered by "mind" (De 18:6 the King James Version, "desire of his soul" or "mind"); sometimes ruah or "spirit" (Ge 26:35, "grief of mind," ruah). Here Luther renders the term Herzeleid ("grief of heart"), and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) animum. Sometimes lebh is used, as in Isa 46:8, "bring it to mind" (literally, "heart"), or in Ps 31:12, "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind" (literally, "heart"), as in Septuagint, kardia, and in Vulgate, a corde, Luther, im Herzen, new Dutch translated, uit de gedachtenis (i.e. "memory").

In the Apocrypha this precision is equally lacking. Thus we read in The Wisdom of Solomon 9:15, "For the corruptible body (soma) presseth down the soul (psuche) and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind (nous) that museth upon many things." But these distinctions are alien to the letter and spirit of revelation, a product of the Greek and not of the Hebrew mind.

In the New Testament the words nous and dianoia are used, but not with any precision of meaning.

Here too several terms are rendered by the same word. Thus the Hebrew ruach is rendered by nous in 1Co 2:16 ("mind of the Lord," with reference to Isa 40:13, where "ruach YHWH (spirit of Yahweh)" occurs). Nous evidently means here the organ of spiritual perception--a word borrowed from the Septuagint, where it is sometimes made to stand for lebh (Job 7:17; Isa 41:22); sometimes for ruah (Isa 40:13). In Lu 24:45--the solitary text, where nous occurs in the Gospels--it is rendered "understanding" in the King James Version, "mind" in the Revised Version (British and American).

2. Ethical Sense:

For a true solution we must turn to the Epistles of Paul, where the word frequently occurs in an ethical sense--sometimes in connection with (sinful) flesh as in Col 2:18, "puffed up by his fleshly mind," sometimes in direct contrast to it, as in Ro 7:25, `with my mind I serve the law of God; with the flesh the law of sin.' In Tit 1:15 it is brought into parallelism with conscience ("Their mind and their conscience are defiled"). Phrases like "a reprobate mind," "corrupted in mind" occur elsewhere (Ro 1:28; 1Ti 6:5). From this state of "reprobation" and "corruption" man must be saved. Hence, the necessity of complete transformation and renewal of the inner man (Ro 12:2), "transformed by the renewing of your mind (nous)."

3. Dianoia and Nous:

Another word, with possibly a deeper meaning, is sometimes employed, namely, dianoia, which literally means "meditation," "reflection." It is found as synonymous with nous in a good sense, as e.g. in 1 Joh 5:20 (He "hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true"). Evidently the sense here is the same as in Ro 12:2, a renovated mind capable of knowing Christ. It may also bear a bad sense, as in Eph 4:18, where the Gentiles are represented as having "a darkened understanding," or in parallelism with sarx: "the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph 2:3), and with nous: `walking in vanity of mind (nous) and a darkened understanding (dianoia)' in Eph 4:18. At times also "heart" and "mind" are joined to indicate human depravity (Lu 1:51 "He hath scattered the proud in the imagination (dianoia) of their heart"). It is interesting also to know that the Great Commandment is rendered in Mt 22:37--"Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul (psuche), and with all thy understanding (dianoia) (English Versions of the Bible, "mind")"--though Mark has two renderings in one of which dianoia occurs, and in the other sunesis (Mark 12:30,33), though possibly without any psychological refinement of meaning, for the term sunesis occurs elsewhere in conjunction with pneumatikos ("spiritual understanding," Col 1:9). It also stands alone in the sense of an "understanding enlightened from above" (2Ti 2:7 King James Version: "The Lord give thee understanding (sunesis) in all things"). The history of these terms is interesting, but not of great theological significance.

4. The Great Commandment:

It seems to us that Godet's interpretation of the Great Commandment in Lu 10:27 is somewhat far-fetched. He considers the heart as "the central focus from which all rays of the moral life go forth, and that in their three principal directions: the powers of feeling, or the affections, nephesh (`soul') in the sense of feeling; the active powers, the impulsive aspirations, the might (`with all thy might'), the will; and in the intellectual powers, analytical or contemplative, dianoia (`with all thy mind'). The difference between the heart, which resembles the trunk and the three branches, feeling, will, understanding, is emphatically marked in the Alexandrian variation, by the substitution of the preposition en (`in') for ek (`with,' `from') in the three last members. Moral life proceeds from the heart and manifests itself without, in the three forms of activity. The impulse God-ward proceeds from the heart, and is realized in the life through the will, which consecrates itself actively to the accomplishment of His will; and through the mind, which pursues the track of His thought in all His works" (Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, II, 38, 39).

J. I. Marais

mar'-a-k'-l:

I. THE NATURE OF MIRACLES

1. General Idea

2. Biblical Terms Employed

II. MIRACLE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. Miracles in Gospel History

2. Special Testimony of Luke

3. Trustworthiness of Evidence in Gospels and Acts

III. MIRACLE AND LAWS OF NATURE

1. Projudgment of Negative Criticism

2. Sir George Stokes Quoted

3. Effects on Nature of New Agencies

4. Agreement with Biblical Idea and Terms

5. J.S. Mill on Miracle

6. Miracle as Connected with Command

IV. EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF MIRACLE

1. Miracles as Proofs of Revelation

2. Miracles of Christ in This Relation

3. Miracles Part of Revelation

V. MIRACLES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. Analogy with New Testament Miracles

2. The Mosaic Miracles

3. Subsequent Miracles

4. Prophecy as Miracle

VI. ECCLESIASTICAL MIRACLES

1. Probability of Such Miracles

2. Pascal Quoted

VII. MIRACLE IN WORKS OR GRACE

LITERATURE.

I. Nature of Miracle.

1. General Idea:

"Miracle" is the general term for the wonderful phenomena which accompanied the Jewish and Christian revelation, especially at critical moments, and which are alleged to have been continued, under certain conditions, in the history of the Christian church. The miracle proper is a work of God (Ex 7:3 ff; De 4:34,35, etc.; Joh 3:2; 9:32,33; 10:38; Ac 10:38, etc.); but as supernatural acts miracles are recognized as possible to evil agencies (Mt 24:24; 2Th 2:9; Re 13:14; 16:14, etc.).

2. Biblical Terms Employed:

The Biblical idea of miracle as an extraordinary work of God, generally though not invariably ("providential" miracles--see below, II, 6), transcending the ordinary powers of Nature, wrought in connection with the ends of revelation, is illustrated by the terms used to describe miracles in the Old Testament and New Testament. One class of terms brings out the unusual, exceptional, and striking character of the works, as pele', niphla'oth (Ex 3:20; 15:11, etc.), teras, literally, "a portent" (in plural Mt 24:24; Ac 2:22,43, etc.); another lays stress on the power displayed in them, as gebhurah, dunamis (in plural "mighty works," the Revised Version margin "powers," Mt 11:20,21,23; 13:54; 14:2; 2Co 12:12, etc.); a third gives prominence to their teleological significance--their character as "signs," as 'oth (plural the Revised Version (British and American) "signs," Nu 14:22; De 11:3, etc.), semeion (plural the Revised Version (British and American) "signs," Joh 2:11,23, and frequently; Ac 4:16,22; 6:8; Re 13:14, etc.). Another Old Testament word for "wonder" or "miracle" is mopheth (Ex 7:9; De 29:3). See, further, below, III, 4.

II. Miracle in the New Testament.

1. Miracles in Gospel History:

The subject of miracles has given rise to much abstract discussion; but it is best approached by considering the actual facts involved, and it is best to begin with the facts nearest to us: those which are recorded in the New Testament. Our Lord's ministry was attended from first to last by events entirely beyond the ordinary course of Nature. He was born of a Virgin, and His birth was announced by angels, both to His mother, and to the man to whom she was betrothed (Matthew and Luke). He suffered death on the cross as an ordinary man, but on the third day after His crucifixion He rose from the tomb in which He was buried, and lived with His disciples for 40 days (Ac 1:3), eating and drinking with them, but with a body superior to ordinary physical conditions. At length He ascended to the heavens, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. But besides these two great miracles of His birth and His resurrection, Jesus was continually performing miracles during His ministry. His own words furnish the best description of the facts. In reply to the question of John the Baptist, His predecessor, He said, "Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them" (Mt 11:4,5). Specimens of these miracles are given in detail in the Gospel narratives; but it is a mistake to consider the matter, as is too often done, as though these particular miracles were the only ones in question. Even if they could be explained away, as has often been attempted, there would remain reiterated statements of the evangelists, such as Matthew's that He "went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people" (Mt 4:23), or Luke's "And a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed. And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power came forth from him, and healed them all" (Lu 6:17-19).

2. Special Testimony of Luke:

It must be borne in mind that if there is any assured result of modern criticism, it is that these accounts proceed from contemporaries and eyewitnesses, and with respect to the third evangelist there is one unique consideration of great import. The researches of Dr. Hobart have proved to the satisfaction of a scholar like Harnack, that Luke was a trained physician. His testimony to the miracles is therefore the nearest thing possible to the evidence which has often been desired--that of a man of science. When Luke, e.g., tells us of the healing of a fever (4:38,39), he uses the technical term for a violent fever recognized in his time (compare Meyer, in the place cited); his testimony is therefore that of One who knew what fevers and the healing of them meant. This consideration is especially valuable in reference to the miracles recorded of Paul in the latter part of Acts. it should always be borne in mind that they are recorded by a physician, who was an eyewitness of them.

3. Trustworthiness of Evidence in Gospels and Acts:

It seems to follow from these considerations that the working of miracles by our Lord, and by Paul in innumerable cases, cannot be questioned without attributing to the evangelists a wholesale untrustworthiness, due either to willful, or to superstitious misrepresentation, and this is a supposition which will certainly never commend itself to a fair and competent judgment. It would involve, in fact, such a sweeping condemnation of the evangelists, that it could never be entertained at all except under one presupposition, namely, that such miraculous occurrences, as being incompatible with the established laws of Nature, could not possibly have happened, and that consequently any allegations of them must of necessity be attributed to illusion or fraud.

III. Miracle and Laws of Nature.

1. Pre-judgment of Negative Criticism:

This, in fact, is the prejudgment or prejudice which has prompted, either avowedly or tacitly, the great mass of negative criticism on this subject, and if it could be substantiated, we should be confronted, in the Gospels, with a problem of portentous difficulty. On this question of the abstract possibility of miracles, it seems sufficient to quote the following passage from the Gifford Lectures for 1891 of the late eminent man of science, Professor Sir George Stokes.

2. Sir George Stokes Quoted:

On page 23 Professor Stokes says: "We know very well that a man may in general act uniformly according to a certain rule, and yet for a special reason may on a particular occasion act quite differently. We cannot refuse to admit the possibility of something analogous taking place as regards the action of the Supreme Being. If we think of the laws of Nature as self-existent and uncaused, then we cannot admit any deviation from them. But if we think of them as designed by a Supreme Will, then we must allow the possibility of their being on some particular occasion suspended. Nor is it even necessary, in order that some result out of the ordinary course of Nature should be brought about, that they should even be suspended; it may be that some different law is brought into action, whereby the result in question is brought about, without any suspension whatever of the laws by which the ordinary course of Nature is regulated. .... It may be that the event which we call a miracle was brought about, not by any suspension of the laws in ordinary operation, but by the superaddition of something not ordinarily in operation, or, if in operation, of such a nature that its operation is not perceived."

3. Effects on Nature of New Agencies:

Only one consideration need be added to this decisive scientific statement, namely, that if there be agencies and forces in existence outside the ordinary world of Nature, and if they can under certain circumstances interpose in it, they must necessarily produce effects inconsistent with the processes of that world when left to itself. Life under the surface of the water has a certain course of its own when undisturbed; but if a man standing on the bank of a river throws a stone into it, effects are produced which must be as unexpected and as unaccountable as a miracle to the creatures who live in the stream. The nearness of two worlds which are absolutely distinct from one another receives, indeed, a striking illustration from the juxtaposition of the world above the water and the world below its surface. There is no barrier between them; they are actually in contact; yet the life in them is perfectly distinct. The spiritual world may be as close to us as the air is to the water, and the angels, or other ministers of God's will, may as easily, at His word, interpose in it as a man can throw a stone into the water. When a stone is thus thrown, there is no suspension or modification of any law; it is simply that, as Sir George Stokes supposes in the case of a miracle, a new agency has interposed.

4. Agreement with Biblical Idea and Terms:

This, indeed, is the main fact of which miracles are irresistible evidence. They show that some power outside Nature, some supernatural power, has intervened. They are exactly described by the three words in the New Testament already mentioned. They are terata, "prodigies" or "wonders"; they are also dunameis, virtutes, "powers," or "manifestation of powers"; and finally they are semeia, "signs." The three conceptions are combined, and the source of such manifestations stated with them, in a pregnant verse of Hebrews: "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will" (2:4).

5. J. S. Mill on Miracle:

The words of J. S. Mill on the question of the possibility of miracles may also be quoted. Dealing with the objection of Hume in his Essay on Miracles, Mill observes: "In order that any alleged fact should be contradictory to a law of causation, the allegation must be, not simply that the cause existed without being followed by the effect, for that would be no uncommon occurrence; but that this happened in the absence of any adequate counteracting cause. Now in the case of an alleged miracle, the assertion is the exact opposite of this. It is that the effect was defeated, not in the absence, but in consequence, of a counteracting cause, namely, a direct interposition of an act of the will of some being who has power over Nature; and in particular of a Being, whose will being assumed to have endowed all the causes with the powers by which they produce their effects, may well be supposed able to counteract them. A miracle (as was justly remarked by Brown) is no contradiction to the law of cause and effect; it is a new effect, supposed to be produced by the introduction of a new cause. Of the adequacy of that cause, if present; there can be no doubt; and the only antecedent improbability which can be ascribed to the miracle is the improbability that any such cause existed" (System of Logic, II, 161-62).

6. Miracle as Connected with Command:

There is, however, one other important characteristic of miracles--of those at least with which we are concerned--namely, that they occur at the command, or at the prayer, of the person to whom they are attributed. This is really their most significant feature, and the one upon which their whole evidential value depends. One critic has compared the fall of the fortifications of Jellalabad, on a critical occasion, with the fall of the walls of Jericho, as though the one was no more a miracle than the other. But the fall of the walls of Jericho, though it may well have been produced by some natural force such as an earthquake, bears the character of a miracle because it was predicted, and was thus commanded by God to occur in pursuance of the acts prescribed to Joshua. Similarly the whole significance of our Lord's miracles is that they occur at His word and in obedience to Him. "What manner of man is this," exclaimed the disciples, "that even the winds and the sea obey him?" (Mt 8:27).

IV. Evidential Value of Miracle.

1. Miracles as Proofs of Revelation:

This leads us to the true view of the value of miracles as proofs of a revelation. This is one of the points which has been discussed in far too abstract a manner. Arguments have been, and still are, constructed to show that there can be no real revelation without miracles, that miracles are the proper proof of a revelation, and so on. It is always a perilous method of argument, perhaps a presumptuous one, to attempt to determine whether God could produce a given result in any other way than the one which He has actually adopted. The only safe, and the sufficient, method of proceeding is to consider whether as a matter of fact, and in what way, the miracles which are actually recorded do guarantee the particular revelation in question.

2. Miracles of Christ in This Relation:

Consider our Lord's miracles in this light. Assuming, on the grounds already indicated, that they actually occurred, they prove beyond doubt that He had supreme command over Nature; that not only the winds and the sea, but the human soul and body obeyed him, and in the striking words of the English service for the Visitation of the Sick, that He was "Lord of life and death, and of all things thereto pertaining, as youth, strength, health, age, weakness and sickness." This is the grand fact which the miracles establish. They are not like external evidence, performed in attestation of a doctrine. They are direct and eloquent evidence of the cardinal truth of our faith, that our Lord possessed powers which belong to God Himself. But they are not less direct evidence of the special office He claimed toward the human race--that of a Saviour. He did not merely work wonders in order that men might believe His assertions about Himself, but His wonderful works, His powers--virtues--were direct evidence of their truth. He proved that He was a Saviour by doing the works of a Saviour, by healing men and women from their diseases of both body and soul. It is well known that salvation in the true sense, namely, saving men out of evils and corruptions into which they have fallen, is an idea which was actually introduced into the world by the gospel. There was no word for it in the Roman language. The ancients know of a servator, but not of a salvator. The essential message of the miracles is that they exhibit our Lord in this character--that of one who has alike the will and the power to save. Such is our Lord's own application of them in His answer, already quoted, to the disciples of John the Baptist (Mt 11:4,5).

3. Miracles Part of Revelation:

It is therefore an extraordinary mistake to suppose that the evidence for our faith would not be damaged if the miracles were set aside. We should lose the positive evidence we now possess of our Lord's saving power. In this view, the miracles are not the mere proofs of a revelation; they are themselves the revelation. They reveal a Saviour from all human ills, and there has been no other revelation in the world of such a power. The miracles recorded of the apostles have a like effect. They are wrought, like Peter's of the impotent man, as evidence of the living power of the Saviour (Ac 3; 4). "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth this man stand here before you whole. .... And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved" (Ac 4:10,12). In a word, the miracles of the New Testament, whether wrought by our Lord or by His apostles, reveal a new source of power, in the person of our Lord, for the salvation of men. Whatever interference they involve with the usual order of Nature is due, not to any modification of that order, but to the intervention of a new force in it. The nature of that force is revealed by them, and can only be ascertained by observation of them. A man is known by his words and by his deeds, and to these two sources of revelation, respecting His person and character, our Lord expressly appealed. "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (Joh 10:37,38).

It is therefore a mistake to try to put the evidence of the miracles into a logically demonstrative argument. Paley stated the case too much in this almost anathematized form.

"It is idle," he said, "to say that a future state had been discovered already. It had been discovered as the Copernican system was; it was one guess among many. He alone discovers who proves; and no man can prove this point but the teacher who testifies by miracles that his doctrine comes from God" (Moral and Polit. Philosophy, book V, chapter ix, close).

Coleridge, in the Aids to Reflection, criticizes the above and puts the argument in a more just and more human form.

"Most fervently do I contend, that the miracles worked by Christ, both as miracles and as fulfillments of prophecy, both as signs and as wonders, made plain discovery, and gave unquestionable proof, of His Divine character and authority; that they were to the whole Jewish nation true and appropriate evidences, that He was indeed come who had promised and declared to their forefathers, Behold your God will come with vengeance, even God, with a recompense! He will come and save you. I receive them as proofs, therefore, of the truth of every word which He taught who was Himself the Word: and as sure evidences of the final victory over death and of the life to come, in that they were manifestations of Him who said: I am the resurrection and the life!" (note prefatory to Aphorism CXXIII).

This seems the fittest manner in which to contemplate the evidence afforded by miracles.

V. Miracles in the Old Testament.

1. Analogy with New Testament Miracles:

If the miracles ascribed to our Lord and His apostles are established on the grounds now stated, and are of the value just explained, there can be little difficulty in principle in accepting as credible and applying the miracles of the Old Testament. They also are obviously wrought as manifestations of a Divine Being, and as evidences of His character and will.

2. The Mosaic Miracles:

This, e.g., was the great purpose of the miracles wrought for the deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt. The critical theories which treat the narrative of those events as "unhistorical" are, I am convinced, unsound. If they could be established, they would deprive us of some of the most precious evidences we possess of the character of God. But, in any case, the purpose to which the alleged miracles are ascribed is of the same character as in the case of the New Testament miracles. "For ask now," says Moses, "of the days that are past .... whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Yahweh he is God; there is none else besides him" (De 4:32-35). The God of the Jews was, and is, the God manifested in those miraculous acts of deliverance. Accordingly, the Ten Commandments are introduced with the declaration: "I am Yahweh thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," and on this follows: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:2,3). Without these miracles, the God of the Jews would be an abstraction. As manifested in them, He is the living God, with a known character, "a just God and a Saviour" (Isa 45:21), who can be loved with all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.

3. Subsequent Miracles:

The subsequent miracles of Jewish history, like those wrought by Elijah, serve the same great end, and reveal more and more both of the will and the power of God. They are not mere portents, wrought as an external testimony to a doctrine. They are the acts of a living Being wrought through His ministers, or with their cooperation, and He is revealed by them. If the miracles of the New Testament were possible, those of the Old Testament were possible, and as those of the New Testament reveal the nature and will of Christ, by word and deed, so those of the Old Testament reveal the existence, the nature, and the will of God. Nature, indeed, reveals God, but the miracles reveal new and momentous acts of God; and the whole religious life of the Jews, as the Psalms show, is indissolubly bound up with them. The evidence for them is, in fact, the historic consciousness of a great and tenacious nation.

4. Prophecy as Miracle:

It should be added that the Jewish Scriptures embody one of the greatest of miracles--that of prophecy. It is obvious that the destiny of the Jewish people is predicted from the commencement, in the narrative of the life of Abraham and onward. There can, moreover, be no question that the office of the Christ had been so distinctly foreshadowed in the Scriptures of the Old Testament that the people, as a whole, expected a Messiah before He appeared. our Lord did not, like Buddha or Mohammed, create a new office; He came to fill an office which had been described by the prophets, and of which they had predicted the functions and powers. We are told of the Saviour, "And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Lu 24:27). That, again, is a revelation of God's nature, for it reveals Him as "knowing the end from the beginning," and as the Ruler of human life and history.

VI. Ecclesiastical Miracles.

1. Probability of Such Miracles:

Some notice, finally, must be taken of the question of what are called ecclesiastical miracles. There seems no sufficient reason for assuming that miracles ceased with the apostles, and there is much evidence that in the early church miraculous cures, both of body and soul, were sometimes vouchsafed. There were occasions and circumstances when the manifestation of such miraculous power was as appropriate as testimony of the living power of Christ, as in the scenes in the Acts. But they were not recorded under inspired guidance, like the miracles of the Apostolic Age, and they have in many cases been overlaid by legend.

2. Pascal Quoted:

The observation in Pascal's Thoughts eminently applies to this class of miracles: "It has appeared to me that the real cause (that there are so many false miracles, false revelations, etc.) is that there are true ones, for it would not be possible that there should be so many false miracles unless there were true, nor so many false religions unless there were one that is true. For if all this had never been, it is impossible that so many others should have believed it. .... Thus instead of concluding that there are no true miracles since there are so many false, we must on the contrary say that there are true miracles since there are so many false, and that false miracles exist only for the reason that there are true; so also that there are false religions only because there is one that is true" (On Miracles).

VII. Miracle in Works of Grace.

It has lately been argued with much earnestness and force in Germany, particularly by J. Wendland, in his Miracles and Christianity, that belief in miracles is indispensable to our apprehension of a real living God, and to our trust in His saving work in our own souls. The work of grace and salvation, indeed, is all so far miraculous that it requires the influence upon our nature of a living power above that nature. It is not strictly correct to call it miraculous, as these operations of God's Spirit are now an established part of His kingdom of grace. But they none the less involve the exercise of a like supernatural power to that exhibited in our Lord's miracles of healing and casting out of demons; and in proportion to the depths of man's Christian life will he be compelled to believe in the gracious operation on his soul of this Divine interposition.

On the whole, it is perhaps increasingly realized that miracles, so far from being an excrescence on Christian faith, are indissolubly bound up with it, and that there is a complete unity in the manifestation of the Divine nature, which is recorded in the Scriptures.

LITERATURE.

Trench, Notes on the Miracles; Mozley, Bampton Lectures (Mozley's argument is perhaps somewhat marred by its too positive and controversial tone, but, if the notes be read as well as the Lectures, the reader will obtain a comprehensive view of the main controversies on the subject); A.B. Bruce, The Miraculous Element in the Gospels. For modern German views see J. Wendland, Miracles and Christianity; Christlieb, Modern Doubt and Christian Belief. Paley's Evidences and Butler's Analogy may profitably be consulted. On continuance of miracles, see Bushnell, Nature and the Supernatural, chapter xiv, and Christlieb, as above, Lecture V.

H. Wace

sin ('oth "a sign" "mark" mopheth, "wonder"' semeion, "a sign," "signal," "mark"): A mark by which persons or things are distinguished and made known. In Scripture used generally of an address to the senses to attest the existence of supersensible and therefore divine power. Thus the plagues of Egypt were "signs" of divine displeasure against the Egyptians (Ex 4:8 ff; Jos 24:17, and often); and the miracles of Jesus were "signs" to attest His unique relationship with God (Mt 12:38; Joh 2:18; Ac 2:22). Naturally, therefore, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, "signs" are assimilated to the miraculous, and prevailingly associated with immediate divine interference. The popular belief in this manner of communication between the visible and the invisible worlds has always been, and is now, widespread. So-called "natural" explanations, however ingenious or cogent, fail with the great majority of people to explain anything. Wesley and Spurgeon were as firm believers in the validity of such methods of intercourse between man and God as were Moses and Gideon, Peter and John.

The faith that walks by signs is not by any means to be lightly esteemed. It has been allied with the highest nobility of character and with the most signal achievement. Moses accepted the leadership of his people in response to a succession of signs: e.g. the burning bush, the rod which became a serpent, the leprous hand, etc. (Ex 3; 4); so, too, did Gideon, who was not above making proof of God in the sign of the fleece of wool (Jud 6:36-40). In the training of the Twelve, Jesus did not disdain the use of signs (Lu 5:1-11, and often); and the visions by which Peter and Paul were led to the evangelization of the Gentiles were interpreted by them as signs of the divine purpose (Ac 10; 16).

The sacramental use of the sign dates from the earliest period, and the character of the sign is as diverse as the occasion. The rainbow furnishes radiant suggestion of God's overarching love and assurance that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy the earth (Ge 9:13; compare Ge 4:15); the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a reminder of God's care in bringing His people out of bondage (Ex 13:3); the Sabbath is an oft-recurring proclamation of God's gracious thought for the well-being of man (Ex 31:13; Eze 20:12); the brazen serpent, an early foreshadowing of the cross, perpetuates the imperishable promise of forgiveness and redemption (Nu 21:9); circumcision is made the seal of the special covenant under which Israel became a people set apart (Ge 17:11); baptism, the Christian equivalent of circumcision, becomes the sign and seal of the dedicated life and the mark of those avowedly seeking to share in the blessedness of the Kingdom of God (Lu 3:12-14; Ac 2:41, and often); bread and wine, a symbol of the spiritual manna by which soul and body are preserved unto everlasting life, is the hallowed memorial of the Lord's death until His coming again (Lu 22:14-20; 1Co 11:23-28). Most common of all were the local altars and mounds consecrated in simple and sincere fashion to a belief in God's ruling and overruling providence (Jos 4:1-10).

Signs were offered in proof of the divine commission of prophet (Isa 20:3) and apostle (2Co 12:12), and of the Messiah Himself (Joh 20:30; Ac 2:22); and they were submitted in demonstration of the divine character of their message (2Ki 20:9; Isa 38:1; Ac 3:1-16). By anticipation the child to be born of a young woman (Isa 7:10-16; compare Lu 2:12) is to certify the prophet's pledge of a deliverer for a captive people.

See IMMANUEL.

With increase of faith the necessity for signs will gradually decrease. Jesus hints at this (Joh 4:48), as does also Paul (1Co 1:22). Nevertheless "signs," in the sense of displays of miraculous powers, are to accompany the faith of believers (Mr 16:17 f), usher in and forthwith characterize the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and mark the consummation of the ages (Re 15:1).

See also MIRACLE.

For "sign" of a ship (parasemos, "ensign," Ac 28:11).

See DIOSCURI; SHIPS AND BOATS, III, 2.

Charles M. Stuart

wun'-der, wun'-derful: The verb "wonder" occurs only a few times in the Old Testament; "wonder" as noun is much more frequent, and is chiefly the translation of the word mopheth, a splendid or conspicuous work, a "miracle" (Ex 4:21; 11:9, etc.), often conjoined with 'othoth, "signs" (Ex 7:3; De 6:22; 13:1,2; 34:11; Ne 9:10, etc.). Other frequent words are pala', pele', a "marvel," "miracle" (Ex 3:20; 15:11; Jos 3:5; Isa 9:6, margin "wonderful counselor," etc.). In the New Testament the ordinary verb is thaumazo, and the most frequent noun is teras, a "marvel," "portent," answering in its meaning to Hebrew pala'. As in the Old Testament the "wonder" is chiefly a miraculous work, so in the Gospels the feeling of wonder is chiefly drawn out by the marvelous displays of Christ's power and wisdom (Mt 15:31; Mr 6:51; Lu 4:22, etc.).

Wonderful, that which excites or calls forth wonder, is in the Old Testament chiefly the translation of pala' or pele' (2Sa 1:26; Ps 40:3; Isa 28:29, etc.); in the New Testament of thaumasios (once, Mt 21:15).

For "wondered" in Lu 8:25; 11:14, the Revised Version (British and American) has "marvelled" (compare 9:43); in the Old Testament also "marvellous" frequently for "wondrous" etc. (1Ch 16:9; , Job 9:10; Ps 96:3; 105:2).

W. L. Walker

Definition

The term “mind” refers to the part of a person that thinks and makes decisions.

• The mind of each person is the total of his or her thoughts and reasoning.
• To “have the mind of Christ” means to be thinking and acting as Jesus Christ would think and act. It means being obedient to God the Father, obeying the teachings of Christ, being enabled to do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• To “change his mind” means someone made a different decision or had a different opinion than he had previously.

Translation Suggestions

• The term “mind” could also be translated as “thoughts” or “reasoning” or “thinking” or “understanding.”
• The expression “keep in mind” could be translated as “remember” or “pay attention to this” or “be sure to know this.”
• The expression “heart, soul, and mind” could also be translated as “what you feel, what you believe, and what you think about.”
• The expression “call to mind” could be translated as “remember” or “think about.”
• The expression “changed his mind and went” could also be translated as “decided differently and went” or “decided to go after all” or “changed his opinion and went.”
• The expression “double-minded” could also be translated as “doubting” or “unable to decide” or “with conflicting thoughts.”

(See also: believe, heart, soul)

Bible References

• Luke 10:27
• Mark 6:51-52
• Matthew 21:29
• Matthew 22:37
• James 4:8

Word Data

• Strong’s: H3629, H3820, H3824, H5162, H7725, G12710, G13740, G33280, G35250, G35400, G35630, G49930, G55900

Definition

A “miracle” is something amazing that is not possible unless God causes it to happen.

• Examples of miracles that Jesus did include calming a storm and healing a blind man.
• Miracles are sometimes called “wonders” because they cause people to be filled with wonder or amazement.
• The term “wonder” can also refer more generally to amazing displays of God’s power, such as when he created the heavens and the earth.
• Miracles can also be called “signs” because they are used as indicators or evidence that God is the all-powerful one who has complete authority over the universe.
• Some miracles were God’s acts of redemption, such as when he rescued the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt and when he protected Daniel from being hurt by lions.
• Other wonders were God’s acts of judgment, such as when he sent a worldwide flood in Noah’s time and when he brought terrible plagues on the land of Egypt during the time of Moses.
• Many of God’s miracles were the physical healings of sick people or bringing dead people back to life.
• God’s power was shown in Jesus when he healed people, calmed storms, walked on water, and raised people from the dead. These were all miracles.
• God also enabled the prophets and the apostles to perform miracles of healing and other things that were only possible through God’s power.

Translation Suggestions

• Possible translations of “miracles” or “wonders” could include “impossible things that God does” or “powerful works of God” or “amazing acts of God.”
• The frequent expression “signs and wonders” could be translated as “proofs and miracles” or “miraculous works that prove God’s power” or “amazing miracles that show how great God is.”
• Note that this meaning of a miraculous sign is different from a sign that gives proof or evidence for something. The two can be related.

(See also: power, prophet, apostle, sign)

Bible References

• 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10
• Acts 4:17
• Acts 4:22
• Daniel 4:1-3
• Deuteronomy 13:1
• Exodus 3:19-22
• John 2:11
• Matthew 13:58

Examples from the Bible stories

• __16:8 Gideon asked God for two signs__ so he could be sure that God would use him to save Israel.
• __19:14 God did many miracles__ through Elisha.
• __37:10 Many of the Jews believed in Jesus because of this miracle__.
• __43:6 “Men of Israel, Jesus was a man who did many mighty signs and wonders__ by the power of God, as you have seen and already know.”
• __49:2 Jesus did many miracles__ that prove he is God. He walked on water, calmed storms, healed many sick people, drove out demons, raised the dead to life, and turned five loaves of bread and two small fish into enough food for over 5,000 people.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0226, H0852, H2368, H2858, H4150, H4159, H4864, H5251, H5824, H5953, H6381, H6382, H6383, H6395, H6725, H7560, H7583, H8047, H8074, H8539, H8540, G08800, G12130, G12290, G14110, G15690, G17180, G17700, G18390, G22850, G22960, G22970, G31670, G39020, G45910, G45920, G50590

Definition

The term “sign” usually refers an object, event, or action that communicates a special meaning.

• In the Bible, signs are sometimes given in connection to a promise or covenant that God has made:

• The book of Genesis describes the rainbow God created in the sky as a sign (or reminder) to himself that he has promised he will never again destroy all life with a worldwide flood.
• In the book of Genesis, God commanded the Israelites to circumcise their sons as a sign (or indicator) of the fact that he had made his covenant with them.

• Signs can reveal or point to something:

• The book of Luke describes that an angel gave shepherds a sign that would help them know which baby in Bethlehem was the newborn Messiah.
• Judas kissed Jesus as a sign to the religious leaders that Jesus was the one they should arrest.

• Signs can prove that something is true:
• The book of Exodus describes the plagues that destroyed Egypt as signs that showed who Yahweh was and proved that he was greater than Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods.
• The book of Acts describes the miracles performed by the prophets and apostles as signs that proved they were speaking God’s message.
• The book of John describes the miracles that Jesus performed as signs that proved he was truly the Messiah.

Translation Suggestions

• The frequent expression “signs and wonders” could be translated as “proofs and miracles” or “miraculous works that prove God’s power” or “amazing miracles that show how great God is.”
• Depending on its context, “sign” could also be translated as “signal” or “symbol” or “mark” or “evidence” or “proof” or “gesture.”
• To “make signs with the hands” could also be translated as “motion with the hands” or “gesture with the hands” or “make gestures.”
• In some languages, there may be one word for a “sign” that proves something and a different word for a “sign” that is a miracle.

(See also: miracle, apostle, Christ, covenant, circumcise)

Bible References

• Acts 2:18-19
• Exodus 4:8-9
• Exodus 31:12-15
• Genesis 1:14
• Genesis 9:12
• John 2:18
• Luke 2:12
• Mark 8:12
• Psalms 89:5-6

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0226, H0852, H2368, H2858, H4150, H4159, H4864, H5251, H5824, H6161, H6725, H6734, H7560, G03640, G08800, G12130, G12290, G17180, G17300, G17320, G17700, G39020, G41020, G45910, G45920, G49530, G49730, G52800