On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism

Abstract

Alfred Russel Wallace, 1823–1913, credited as the co-discoverer, with Darwin, of evolution by natural selection, subsequently turned his fame into infamy by a series of forays into frowned upon territory, including land reform, anti-vacci-nation, libertarianism and socialism, and spiritualism. One very powerful argument against miracles with men of intelligence, is derived from the prevalent assumption that, if real, they are the direct acts of the Deity. In the present day it is a notorious fact that among the educated classes, and especially among students of medicine and science, the scepticism on such subjects is almost universal. Men who repeatedly, and under conditions which render doubt impossible to them, witness plain facts that their scientific teachers declare cannot be real, but yet decline to disprove by the only means possible, that of a full and impartial examination, may be excused for thinking that theirs is a parallel case to that of Galileo and his opponents.

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