Passing from this, however, to the more general question, the force of some of these objections will be better understood when we consider the passages in the Epistles which are quoted as expressing Paul's belief in miracles, and endeavour to ascertain his real views: what it is he {329} actually says regarding miracles; and what are the phenomena which are by him considered to be miraculous. We shall not waste time in considering how, partly through the influence of the Septuagint, the words [------], and [------] came to be used in a peculiar manner by New Testament writers to indicate miracles. It may, however, be worth while to pause for a moment to ascertain the sense in which Paul, who wrote before there was a "New Testament" at all, usually employed these words. In the four Epistles of Paul the word [------] occurs six times. In Rom. iv. 11 Abraham is said to have received the "sign [------] of circumcision," in which there is nothing miraculous. In 1 Cor. i. 22 it is said: "Since both Jews require signs [------](1) and Greeks seek after wisdom;" and again, 1 Cor. xiv. 22: "Wherefore the tongues are for a sign [------] not to the believing but to the unbelieving," &c. We shall have more to say regarding these passages presently, but just now we merely quote them to show the use of the word. The only other places in which it occurs(2) are those pointed out, and which are the subject of our discussion. In Rom. xv. 19 the word is used in the plural and combined with [------]: "in the power of signs and wonders" [------]; and in the second passage, 2 Cor. xii. 12, it is employed twice, "the signs [------] of the apostle "and the second time again in combination with [------] and [------], "both in signs" [------], &c. The word [------] is only twice met with in Paul's writings; that is to say, in Rom. xv. 19 and 2 Cor. xii. 12; and on both occasions, as we {330} have just mentioned, it is combined with [------].(1) On the other hand, Paul uses [------] no less than 34 times(2) and, leaving for the present out of the question the passages cited, upon every occasion, except one, perhaps, the word has the simple signification of "power." The one exception is Rom. viii. 38, where it occurs in the plural: [------] "powers," the Apostle expressing his persuasion that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, "nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers [------], nor height, nor depth," &c., &c. In 1 Cor. xiv. 11, where the authorized version renders the original: "Therefore, if I know not the meaning [------] of the voice," it has still the same sense.