But in the present discussion I need not go beyond the affirmations of the New Testament. The actions performed by Jesus Christ proved him to be the Messiah. The miracles wrought by the apostles, were performed either to prove the fact of his resurrection, _i.e._ that he was the Messiah, or their own divine mission, which was dependent on its truth, or to draw attention to their message. The supernatural gifts so frequently referred to in the epistles, are affirmed to have been designed for the building up of the Church into a distinct community, and when that purpose was accomplished they were to cease. Being functional, the enlightenment communicated by them was necessarily limited to the special subject matter on which they were exercised. In this point of view miracles may be viewed as attestations of the veracity of the persons who performed them, and of the sufficiency of their knowledge on the subjects they were specially commissioned to communicate. But the question still remains for consideration, Can miracles prove moral truths? I answer emphatically in the negative. If dogmas, which may be viewed as intellectual truths, are incapable of a direct proof by miracles, still more so are moral truths. Such truths can rest only on a moral basis. With respect to the miracles recorded in the New Testament, the question is nugatory, for it nowhere affirms that its miracles were wrought for such a purpose. It is true that Jesus Christ, as the great legislator of the kingdom of heaven, gave an authoritative utterance to many moral precepts as the laws of his kingdom. This royal right of legislation was inherent in his Messiahship. But to give utterance to moral truths in a legislative capacity, has no connection with attempting to prove them by authority. Ordinary human legislation has its authoritative utterances. But when it does this, it does not rest the truths themselves on authority, or base them on adventitious testimony. Our Lord and his apostles uniformly appealed to the internal perceptions of our moral and spiritual nature as the only ground on which moral obligation rests. Let it be observed, however, that this by no means pre‐supposes the truth of the absurd proposition, that every man, however imperfect or degraded, is capable of reasoning out all moral truth for himself. On the contrary, definite moral knowledge requires to be communicated, as all other kinds of knowledge. Its great principles require to be enunciated, and to be worked out to their special applications. But the principles themselves, as far as their binding power is concerned, must ultimately rest on the internal perceptions of our moral and spiritual being. A miracle, therefore, can communicate to them no higher degree of certainty or obligation. The only thing which it can aid in establishing is, that one invested with a divine commission may have a right to claim obedience to special precepts on the authority of God, in whom all moral obligation centres.