These Bible stories, which Christians profess to believe, are unworthy of serious consideration. They are not historical, but fabulous. A miracle is a fable. The miraculous is impossible; the impossible untrue. If miracles were possible and necessary in that age they are possible and necessary now. This is an age of unbelief. Give us one miracle and we will believe. Let Jesus visit earth again and with his divine touch revivify the inanimate dust of Lincoln and give him back to the nation that loved him so well, and we will acknowledge his divinity and believe that the Bible is inspired. Had he restored to life the decaying corpse of Lazarus the Jews would have believed in him. The Jews did not believe in him, therefore the miracle was not performed. The divine origin of the Bible cannot be established by miracles because the possibility of a miracle itself cannot be established. In the language of Hume, "a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined." CHAPTER XXIV. THE BIBLE GOD. The Bible, it is claimed, is the word of God--a revelation from God to man. It was written or inspired by God, and deals chiefly with God and his works. Who and what is this God of the Bible? What is the nature and character of this divine author? Is he omnipresent, or has he a local habitation merely? Is he omnipotent, or is he limited in power? Is he omniscient, or is his knowledge circumscribed? Is he immutable, or is he a changeable being? Is he visible and comprehensible, or is he invisible and unknowable? Is he the only God, or is he one of many gods? Does he possess the form and attributes of man, or is he, as Christians affirm, without body, parts, or passions? Let God through his inspired penmen answer. Is God Omnipresent? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord (Jer. xxiii, 24). The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him (2 Ch. ii, 6). If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me (Ps. cxxxix, 8-10). The Lord was not in the wind: ... the Lord was not in the earthquake (1 Kings xix, 11). And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod (Gen. iv, 16). And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder (Num. xxiii, 15). Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze (Ex. xix, 21). God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore (1 Sam. iv, 7). Is God Omnipotent? With God all things are possible (Matt. xix, 26). I know that thou canst do everything (Job xlii, 2).