Editorial June 29, 1946 Issue

Has the Day of Miracles Passed?

John Randall Dunn

A miracle, according to popular conception, is that which deviates from and contravenes generally accepted law. An act called miraculous is one supposed to partake of supernatural power, to be wonderful, unusual, and from a material standpoint inexplicable. It is not surprising, therefore, that many mortals spurn and refuse to investigate phenomena whose existence cannot be accounted for materially. And as for their accepting as valid the claim of Christian Scientists that spiritual healing is again abroad in the land, the answer is a definite, No!—the days of miracles are gone. Besides, they ask, what scientific proof is there that the accounts of miraculous occurrences in Bible times are genuine history, and not just religious myths?

But is not one on precarious ground if he decries miracles in an age of material miracles? These days, when an incredulous bystander announces the impossibility of a certain accomplishment, lo and behold, an individual usually appears who is doing or has done the very thing deemed impossible. The wise man will agree with Carlyle that "the Age of Miracles, as it ever was, now is."

The Christian world is but slowly awakening to the debt of gratitude it owes to the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science for many things. Not only did Mary Baker Eddy boldly proclaim that the consistent follower of Christ Jesus must today, as of yore, practice Christian healing, but she gave a new meaning to the word "miracle," a fact recognized even by lexicographers. For instance, Webster quotes Mrs. Eddy's definition of "miracle" from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 591): "That which is divinely natural, but must be learned humanly; a phenomenon of Science."

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