For instance, in the earlier Epistles of St. Paul the exercise of
miraculous gifts seems to have been a recognized part of the Church's
system, and in the later ones (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) they are
scarcely noticed. [164:1] If we are to place any credence whatsoever in
ecclesiastical history, the performance of miracles seems never to have
ceased, though in later times very rare in comparison with what they
must have been in the first age.
Now, if the miracles recorded by Augustine, or any of them, were true
and real, the only inference is that the action of miraculous power
continued in the Church to a far later date than some modern writers
allow. If, on the contrary, they are false, then they take their place
among hosts of other counterfeits of what is good and true. They no more
go to prove the non-existence of the real miracles which they
caricature, than any other counterfeit proves the non-existence of the
thing of which it is the counterfeit. Nay, rather, the very fact that
they are counterfeits proves the existence of that of which they are
counterfeits.
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