Excerpt from A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic Far above all these sources of error was the dogma that God is glorified by miracles, and the more astounding.the miracle, the more it exalted the power of the Almighty. Not only is God glorified by showing Himself the Master of nature, and unfettered by natural laws, but man is supposed to be honoured also, when delegated to be His fellow-worker. Hence the encouragement given by the religious world to those who avouched a share in such performances, and the eager willingness of all to believe every tale which magnified their faith and honoured its servants. When Placidas was dragged out of a river by Maurus, he told the abbot that he saw the hood of St. Benedict extended over him, as he was drawn from the water. Maurus modestly replied he had seen nothing of the kind; whereupon the abbot remarked, It is plain, therefore, that the merits of Placidas exceed thine, my son; because he stands higher in God's favour than thou dost. This attery paid to scars of visions and workers of wonders could not fail to have a very powerful in uence on religious enthusiasts they laid themselves Open to delusion, and found ready hearers for every marvel! If, instead of this adulation, all claims to the supernatural had been frowned down and discredited, as in Protestant countries at the present day, the supply of miracles, without doubt, would soon have ceased. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."