The Other Extreme.--But just a word of caution here. We must not rush to the opposite extreme, and become obsessed with that ultra-practical spirit which would make all things commonplace, not only in manifestation, but in origin. Miracles, after all, are facts, not fictions, and some of them have their causes far back of and beyond the known principles of science. Disbelief in Divine Interposition.--But there is a disposition in these modern days to do away with everything savoring of the supernatural, "Higher Criticism," so-called, seems to regard this as its special mission. Some people, even if they give credence to works of wonder, invariably refer them to ordinary causes--anything rather than acknowledge divine interposition. Moses and the Red Sea.--For instance, when they read of Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea, they either deny the event in toto, or set Moses and the miracle aside, and substitute some convulsion of nature as the accidental cause of the mighty deliverance, when those waters, after allowing the Israelites to pass through in safety, returned just in time to engulf their pursuing enemies, the Egyptians. [4] A very convenient earthquake, truly! Nothing could have been more timely! But why could not Divine Power have done it all--done it designedly, in the manner and with the means specified in the sacred narrative? [5] Is God impotent in the presence of Nature--fettered by his own creation? Alas! these learned theorists believe not in God, and that is why they deny his works and put nature with its blind forces in his stead. Joshua and the Sun.--They laugh to scorn the idea of Joshua commanding the sun to stand still, deeming it "a sin and a disgrace" that such things should be preached and taught, and denying, of course, that the miracle ever took place. Because, forsooth, the whole solar system would have come crashing down into chaos, had the sun halted for one moment in its decreed course! Yes, that might have happened, such a calamity might have occurred--had there been no God to uphold the solar system and administer the law for its preservation. "The Lord Fought for Israel."--But there is a God, and he was there as he is everywhere, by his all-protective, all-administrative power--the God to whom Joshua prayed before uttering the sublime command: "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon!" [6] "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies; . . . . for the Lord fought for Israel." [7] There you have it--it was the Lord's doing. Joshua was merely the instrument, just as Moses had been. But because such things are not happening every day, and because doubt cannot do them, therefore are they impossible to Faith! Such is the logic of those who scoff at the power of Deity and deny even the miracles of the Savior.