The Harvard Theological Review - July, 1915 #270674

What is the difference between these two classes Of strange events which constitutes one a miracle while the other is not? It is the introduction Of the element Of insight. The first is merely a wonder. He looks at it and passes on. The second is not simply a wonder, but a sign; a spirit has spoken and he has heard and understood. This distinction is Of fundamental importance for the whole question Of miracle. It marks the dividing line between the scientific and the religious interest. The scientific man is interested in the cause Of the event, the religious man in its meaning. When the scientist has shown that you cannot account for what has happened by natural law (or that you can, as the case may be), his interest is at an end. But the interest Of the religious man is only beginning. What has this strange event to tell men which is significant for their life? What message does it bring from the gods?