HKB
"God must fulfil His promises," etc.
Men owe it to God to accept the religion which He sends. God owes it to men not to lead them into error. Now, they would be led into error, if the workers of miracles announced a doctrine which should not appear evidently false to the light of common sense, and if a greater worker of miracles had not already warned men not to believe them.
Thus, if there were divisions in the Church, and the Arians, for example, who declared themselves founded on Scripture just as the Catholics, had done miracles, and not the Catholics, men should have been led into error.
For, as a man, who announces to us the secrets of God, is not worthy to be believed on his private authority, and that is why the ungodly doubt him; so when a man, as a token of the communion which he has with God, raises the dead, foretells the future, removes the seas, heals the sick, there is none so wicked as not to bow to him, and the incredulity of Pharaoh and the Pharisees is the effect of a supernatural obduracy.
When, therefore, we see miracles and a doctrine not suspicious, both on one side, there is no difficulty. But when we see miracles and suspicious doctrine on the same side, we must then see which is the clearest. Jesus Christ was suspected.
Bar-jesus blinded.[346] The power of God surpasses that of His enemies.
The Jewish exorcists[347] beaten by the devils, saying, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?"
Miracles are for doctrine, and not doctrine for miracles.
If the miracles are true, shall we be able to persuade men of all doctrine? No; for this will not come to pass. Si angelus[348]....
Rule: we must judge of doctrine by miracles; we must judge of miracles by doctrine. All this is true, but contains no contradiction.
For we must distinguish the times.
How glad you are to know the general rules, thinking thereby to set up dissension, and render all useless! We shall prevent you, my father; truth is one and constant.
It is impossible, from the duty of God to men, that a man, hiding his evil teaching, and only showing the good, saying that he conforms to God and the Church, should do miracles so as to instil insensibly a false and subtle doctrine. This cannot happen.
And still less, that God, who knows the heart, should perform miracles in favour of such a one.
843
The three marks of religion: perpetuity, a good life, miracles. They destroy perpetuity by their doctrine of probability; a good life by their morals; miracles by destroying either their truth or the conclusions to be drawn from them.
If we believe them, the Church will have nothing to do with perpetuity, holiness, and miracles. The heretics deny them, or deny the conclusions to be drawn from them; they do the same. But one would need to have no sincerity in order to deny them, or again to lose one's senses in order to deny the conclusions to be drawn from them.
Nobody has ever suffered martyrdom for the miracles which he says he has seen; for the folly of men goes perhaps to the length of martyrdom, for those which the Turks believe by tradition, but not for those which they have seen.
844
The heretics have always attacked these three marks, which they have not.
845
First objection: "An angel from heaven.[349] We must not judge of truth by miracles, but of miracles by truth. Therefore the miracles are useless."
Now they are of use, and they must not be in opposition to the truth. Therefore what Father Lingende[350] has said, that "God will not permit that a miracle may lead into error...."
When there shall be a controversy in the same Church, miracle will decide.
Second objection: "But Antichrist will do miracles."