Apologeticae sive Theologiae Fundamentalis, Tomus I: Demonstratio Christiana

As Christ rules over the rational world of demons, so too does He rule over the irrational world of natural forces: turning water into wine, multiplying bread, walking upon the waters, calming wind and waves.

a) The conversion of water into wine at Cana of Galilee. John relates that Christ, present at the wedding feast when the wine had run out, commanded the servants to fill six water jars (holding 5-7 hectoliters) with water and to bring them, when filled, to the steward of the feast; and that the latter tasted the water turned into the choicest wine.¹ That this came about by miracle is evident from the teaching of nature and confirmed by rationalism. Nature teaches that many successive processes of the physical and chemical order are required for water gradually to be turned into wine; hence a supernatural effect is present, since by a mere act of will the water is suddenly changed into generous wine. This the rationalists tacitly confirm, as they attempt in vain a natural interpretation of the fact. They contend that Jesus secretly brought wine with Him to the wedding and covertly dispensed it for the sake of a jest (G. Paulus), or that He added strong liquors to the water (Woolston, Dulk), or that He suggested to the guests that they should take the water for wine (Neander, B. Weiß). Yet by these insipid opinions the evangelical text is not explained but destroyed. Either, therefore, the historical fact must be denied by fair means or foul, or the philosophical truth of the miracle wrought at Cana must be conceded.

b) The multiplication of the bread, twice accomplished. First Jesus fed about five thousand men, not counting the women and children; and although only five loaves and two fish were at hand, after the meal twelve baskets of fragments remained over.² On another occasion, with seven loaves and a few small fish, Jesus satisfied four thousand men, besides the children and women, and when all had been filled there remained seven baskets full of fragments.³ That these feedings were not effected in a natural way truly stands firm: for with about one kilogram of barley bread⁴ and a few small fish so great a multitude of men could not be fed, and moreover after the meal there could certainly not remain more food than had been present before it. The rationalists, against their will, again confirm this by the absurd hypotheses with which they try to explain the evangelical facts. For they maintain either that Jesus by word and example urged the multitude to take the food abundantly brought in their own baskets and pouches and to distribute it even to the poor (G. Paulus, Hase, Heß, B. Weiß, Furrer), or that the multitude, having received scarcely a morsel, acquiesced most modestly (Renan, O. Holtzmann), or that the apostles brought forth a heap of loaves hidden in a nearby cave (Bahrdt), or that the discourse concerns not material satiety but the spiritual satiety offered by the word of God (Schenkel, Wittichen, Keim). All of which are contrary to the evangelical account. The facts of the feeding, as narrated in the gospels, exclude a natural explanation.

c) The walking upon the Sea of Galilee. After the first multiplication of the loaves Jesus came to the disciples walking Himself upon the sea, and by His word sustaining Peter, who was walking upon the waves, lest he sink.⁵ The fact itself evidently requires a supernatural cause: by walking upon the sea Jesus suspended the law of gravity, and thereby certainly surpasses the order of visible nature. To deny this, the rationalists dream that Jesus either swam to them sporting amid the waves with marvelous dexterity (Lange), or drew near standing upon a beam (Bahrdt), or walked along and around the sea, not upon the sea (G. Paulus, B. Weiß, Furrer); and that Peter either crossed by a ford or, swimming rather boldly, reached safety with the Lord stretching out His hand from the shore (Paulus, Barth). All these explanations are openly rejected by the words and context of the evangelical account. Either the gospel must be corrupted, or the miracle must be conceded; there is no third option.

d) The calming of the storm. While the disciples were crossing the Sea of Gennesaret, a great movement of winds and waves arose, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But Jesus, awakened from sleep, commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. Whereupon the men, marvelling, exclaimed: „Qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediunt ei?"⁶ This event is manifestly supernatural, since no man using natural powers can by his command reduce winds and waves to calm. The rationalists assent, while, seeking a natural explanation, they disfigure or destroy the text of the gospel. For some prattle that Jesus calmed not the sea, indeed, but the disturbed minds of the disciples (Volkmar, B. Weiß); others suppose that the sea was calmed gradually and imperceptibly while Jesus spoke about the storm (G. Paulus, Hase, Heß, Furrer); others deny the whole fact, because, they say, „sedatio illa potestatem suprahumanam, immo prorsus divinam supponeret" (Schleiermacher, Schenkel, Io. Weiß).

In truth, the dominion over natural forces which Christ exercised by turning water into wine, multiplying the loaves, walking upon the sea, and calming the storm is altogether superhuman, and hence in itself is at least a miracle of the second order. But to do all these things in the manner in which Christ did them - suddenly, by one word, by the command of His will - is a miracle of the first order, i.e., a work possible only to the lord of nature. Jesus Christ, therefore, is the lord of nature - God.