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On the Miraculous and Internal Evidences of the Christian Revelation (1836)
On the Miraculous and Internal Evidences of the Christian Revelation - 1836 Author:Thomas Chalmers Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. On the Sufficiency of human Testimony Jbr the Proof of Miracles. MR. HUME'S OBJECTION TO TBE TRUTH OF MIRACLES. Section I.— On the Origin o... more »f our Belief in Testimony. 1. The following is Dr. Campbell's abstract of Hume's argument on the subject of miracles:— " Experience is our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact. Experience is in some things variable in some things uniform. A variable experience gives rise only to probability ; an uniform experience amounts to a proof. Probability always supposes an opposition of experiments and observations, where the one side is found to overbalance the other, and to produce a degree of evidence proportioned to the superiority. In such cases we must balance the opposite experiments, and deduct the lesser number from the greater, in order to know the exact force of the superior evidence. Our belief or assurance of any fact from the report of eye-witnesses, is derived from no other principle than experience; that is, our observation of the veracity of human testimony, and of the usual conformity of facts to the report of witnesses. Now if the fact attested partakes of the marvellous, if it is such as has seldom fallen under our observation, here is a contest of two opposite experiences, of which the one destroys the other, as far as its force goes, and the superior can only operate on the mind by the force which remains. The very same principle of experience, which gives us a certain degree of assurance, in the testimony of witnesses, gives us also, in this case, another degree of assurance, against the fact which they endeavour to establish, from which contradiction, there necessarily arises a counterpoise, and mutual destruction of belief and authority. Further, if the fact affirmed by the witnesses...« less