The Conclusion

The prayer of faith, when really understood and exercised, will be confessed to be the very highest attainment of the Christian life. And yet it is an attainment which comes from unlearning rather than from learning; from self-abnegation rather than from self-culture; from decrease towards spiritual childhood rather than from increase towards the stature of intellectual manhood. The same condition holds for opening the kingdom of heaven for others as for entering it ourselves, viz., that we “become as little children.” To reach down and grasp the secret of simplicity of faith and implicitness of confidence is far more difficult than to reach up and lay hold of the key of knowledge. Hence, how significant it is that in the Scriptures children are made the heroes of faith. is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith.” And who then are the overcomers? Who are they that have laid hold of the mighty secret of this spiritual conquest? “Ye are of God little children, and have overcome them.” And why? “Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in them.” Yes; and just in proportion as we are emptied of self, and schooled back into that second childhood which should follow the second birth, will God be in us most fully and act through us most powerfully.

There is a passage in the life of an eminent Christian philosopher which is well worth pondering deeply and seriously in this age of superficial praying. A friend of Coleridge says that standing by his bedside not long before his death he was commenting on the Lord’s prayer, when he suddenly broke out: “Oh my dear friend, to pray, to pray as God would have us; to pray with all the heart and strength; with the reason and the will, to believe vividly that God will listen to your voice through Christ and verily do the thing he pleaseth thereupon — this is the last, the greatest achievement of the Christian’s warfare on earth. Teach us to pray, O Lord!” “And then,” says the narrator, “he burst into a flood of tears, and begged me to pray for him.” The greatest achievement indeed! And yet it is not by might nor by power. Wisdom cannot compass it; learning cannot master it. “To pray with all the heart and strength;” which should mean with the heart submerged in the heart of Christ, and with the strength transformed into “the irresistable might of weakness,” with the reason brought into complete captivity to the cross of Christ, and with the will surrendered up to the will of God, this is indeed the secret of power.

Let it be noted that we are speaking of one of the highest attainments of Christianity now, and not of its rudiments. The faith which saves us is the simplest exercise of the heart; the prayer of faith which saves the sick is the most exacting. The one is merely receptive, the other is powerfully self-surrendering. Do you wish to be saved, the Master will only say to you “Take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” Do you wish to be mightily used of the Lord in the office of raising the sick from their beds, and giving life to those who are dead in sin, you will hear him asking the searching question “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism which I am baptized with?” In the faith by which we are converted and delivered from the wrath to come we do naught but receive Jesus Christ; in the faith by which we are consecrated and made vessels “meet for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work,” we give ourselves, soul, body and spirit to Jesus Christ.

That we may see how strenuous and searching the requirements for prevailing prayer are, let us note three explicit conditions laid down in Scripture, to which are attached the promise of whatsoever we ask:

“If ye abide in me and my words abide in you” — John xv. 7.

“If we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” — 1 John iii. 22.

“If we ask anything according to his will.” — 1 John v. 14.

The first requirement, “If ye abide in me —” is that of intimate and unbroken communion with the Lord. Our justification depends upon our being in Christ. Our power and fellowship depend upon our abiding in Christ. And this last implies the most constant and uninterrupted intimacy of the soul with the Saviour. It is the entering into his life and having his life so entering into us, that the confession of the Apostle becomes realized in us — “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Such abiding will stand in exact proportion to our detachment from the world. The “double minded man” who is trying to make the most of both worlds, grasping for earth’s riches and pleasures and yet wishing to secure the highest prizes of the kingdom of heaven, will inevitably waver; and to such a one the Scripture speaks expressly, “Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” It is a hard saying, but one which in some form or other is constantly repeated in the word of God. “Know ye not that the friendship of this world is enmity to God?” asks the apostle James; and the converse is hardly less true for believers, that the enmity of this world is friendship with God. When, for any cause, a Christian finds his earthly affections sundered, so that they do not draw him down, he will at least learn how much easier it is to set his affections on things above. Never do we find the heart of God opening so widely to us as when the heart of the world is closed against us. There is a homely wisdom, therefore, in the lines of an old poet, Henry Vaughan, when for his

THE CONCLUSION. 22p

“soul’s chief health” he prays for these three things:

“A living faith, a heart of flesh,

The world an enemie;
The last will keepe the first two fresh,

And bring me where I’de be.”

How easy it is to understand the secret of /aul’s, “/ live, yet not I” after he has told us of the double crucifixion which he has endured — “By whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.” Some become dead to the world through the pain or trial or privation which cuts them off from all communion with it, though the world is still there; to others the world becomes dead because of the cutting off of friends, and comforts, and fortune, in which their world consisted. In either case, if there be a heart which truly longs for God, it will find a wonderful release towards him. We are advocating no morbid asceticism, but simply interpreting Scripture; and we must add, also, interpreting the secret of power in those who have been mightily prevalent in intercession. For in tracing the lives of those most eminently successful in the prayer of faith, as they have passed in review in this volume, we have found iyp THE CONCLUSION.

that, almost without exception, they have been those remarkably separated from the world, either through their own voluntary consecration or through persecutions, and trials, and sufferings endured for Christ’s sake.

The next condition which we have noted “If we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight,” needs to be emphasized not less strongly. Implicit obedience, a painstaking attention to the smallest and the greatest requirements of the Lord, is what is enjoined. Rather, we might say, a fidelity in service which admits no distinction of small or great when handling the commandments of the Lord. For true obedience knows no such discriminations as essential and non-essential in the divine requirements; it has no test fine enough for distinguishing things indifferent from things vital Among the sayings of Christ, our perfect exampler in praying as in living, we find these two professions which we do well to read together. “/ do always those things that please him**” / know that thou kearest me always** Here again we touch the heart of this great secret To obey well is to pray well; for not only does God love the willing and the obedient, but such know his mind and understand how and what to ask as no others can. One step in compliance with the Father’s will will carry us further in knowledge than ten steps in mere studious search into the mystery of his ways. Wonderfully do the mind and purposes of God open themselves to the obedient soul. “Who by searching can find out God?” But “if any man do his will he shall know of the doctrine.”

Therefore should we study to exercise the most minute and diligent obedience to the Lord’s requirements. “Whatsoever hesaithuntoyou, do it.” In keeping this commandment there is great reward and the surest entrance into the promise of Christ, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you.” In all our Christian life and practice let us beware of saying concerning any command of God that it is only a form, and therefore it does not matter. Forms are sometimes given, no doubt, as tests of our fidelity, as when Naaman is enjoined to wash seven times in the Jordan for his healing, or when the elders are commanded to anoint the sick with oil for their recovery. Forms are nothing, to be sure; but the obedience which responds to those forms in every minute particular, for the love of Christ, is most precious in the sight of God. Hence, significantly, Paul thanks God concerning the Roman Christians that they had “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was committed to them.”

And, finally, “if we ask anything according to his will; “which means” that we should be of a v.ruth purely, simply and wholly at one with the Dne Eternal Will of God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should flow out into the Eternal Will, and be swallowed up and lost therein, so that the Eternal Will alone should do and leave undone in us.“* And let us not be alarmed at this requirement, as though it meant pains, racks, tortures, the loss of our lives, the death of our children, and everything else which is dreadful to contemplate. Why is it that we have associated such things with the prayer,” Thy will be done? “Let us search the Scriptures and see what God’s revealed will is.” For this is the will of God even your sanctification” f “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that

Tbeologia Gcnnsmca, p. go seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life.” * “Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” f These and many other texts, if we had space to quote them, point in one direction, and indicate that the will of God is our health and not our hurt; our weal and not our woe; our life and not our death. It must be the will of God that all that is contrary to him should be destroyed. “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” Sin, sickness and death are contrary to God; they are not plants of his planting, but tares which the enemy has sown in his field. Therefore they are to be plucked up, and we may be certain that we are working in the line of his will when we are seeking to eradicate them. What, then, if we should chiefly aim in our ministry at the sick bed to set forth this blessed disposition and purpose of the divine will? What if, instead of laying such stress on patient sub« mission to pain and bodily disorder as things inevitable, we should seek to lift the sufferer up into harmony with God, in whom there is no sickness and no disorder? And then when we pray” thy

* John ri 40.
♦iTim.fi. 4.

will be done” we shall mean let sickness be destroyed; let the sufferer be delivered from the racks and tortures of pain’s inquisition; let sin and the bitter fruit of sin in these poor tormented bodies be plucked up together. In praying thus we must surely be setting our faces in the right direction. For looking upward for the key of our petition, “Thy will be done on earth,” we hear “as it is in heaven.” But in heaven there is certainly no sin, sickness or death; and so we are enjoined to ask and strive and labor that there be none on earth. And looking forward to the predicted consummation of Christ’s redemptive work, when God’s will shall be actually done on earth, we read the glowing words: “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shad there be any more pain.” Here then is the clearly defined pattern, above us, and before us; and amid all the tangled mysteries of evil, we should set our faces like a flint to pray it out and work it out ink blessed fulfillment. And while we recognize the doctrine of the Divine Sovereignty, to which we have elsewhere referred, thir should no more prevent our asking in faith for the healing of our bodies, than the doctrine of election should prevent our asking with the fullest assurance for the salvation of our souls. These observations in this closing chapter, let it be remembered, are especially for such as may be called to exercise the ministry of healing. If there are those who desire this office, we believe they should seek, with all their heart the consecration, the separation from the world and the surrender to God’s will, which the Scriptures enjoin as conditions of prevailing prayer. To the sick, sensible of their lack of these attainments, and fearing that their case cannot be reached on that account, we would speak a different word, even the word of the Master — “Be not afraid, only believe. “Christ comes to the sinner, helpless, guilty, lost, and saves him just as he finds him. And so with the sufferer, when he lies “stripped of his raiment, wounded and half dead.” As the good Samaritan “came where hs was and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine,” so Jesus will take the patient just where he is, if he takes him at all. We have not to make ourselves better in order to be healed, either spiritually or physically. Therefore let the sufferer take courage and lift up his weary head. Oh, ye unnumbered subjects of pain and bodily torture, with hands and feet which you would use so diligently and swiftly in the service of your Lord if they were only released from the fetters which bind them! Oh, ye countless victims of pain and disorder, who have never consecrated either your souls or your bodies to the service of him who made them, hear all of you that voice of him who speaketh from heaven, saying,” I am the Lord that healeth thee. *’ And if the promises of God and the teachings of Scripture and the testimonies of the healed set forth in this book might throw one ray of hope or alleviation into your sick chambers, it would repay amply the pains we have taken in its preparation, and more than compensate us for any reproach we may incur for having borne witness to a doctrine of which many, as yet, can hear only with impatience and derision. And to this last word we would join a prayer which has come down to us from a very ancient liturgy:

“remember, o lord, those who are diseased and sick, and those who are troubled by unclean spirits; and do thou who art god, speedily heal and deliver them.”

APPENDIX

Note A. (P. 58.)

THE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS.

Those who have never had their attention called to the statements of the Christian fathers respecting the continuance of miracles in their day, will doubtless be surprised at this conclusion of Uhlhorn. But other eminent writers on the early history of the church are equally emphatic. And we are persuaded that no one who has looked carefully into the subject will consider it an easy task to refute this conclusion.

The most ingenious attempt to break the force of the patristic testimony on this subject, which we have met, is that of Rev. Dr. Geo. W. Samson, in an article, “Are there Miracles of Healing?” in “The Christian at Work,” June 1st, 1882. His position is that “no evidence of the continuance or miracles after the apostolic age is presented by the early Christian writers.” And his theory is, that the seeming testimonies to such continuance are written in a kind of historical present tense, the real reference being to the days of the apostles, and not the times of the writers. He applies this method somewhat plausibly to the statements of Irenaeus, but refrains, we think very wisely, from using it upon the other witnesses. When, as in the testimony of Tertullian and Augustine, for example, names and places are given, it is clearly quite impossible to throw the allusion back to apostolic times. We insert a few additional testimonies from the fathers, and ask the candid reader to see how impossible it is to make them refer to the times of the apostles. Tertullian says:

“Even Severns himself, the father of Antonine, was graciously mindful of the Christians. For he sought out the Christian Proculus, surnamed Torpacion, the steward of Euhodias, and in gaatitude for his once having cured him by anointing, he kept him in hi;- palace till the day of his death.” (Ad. Scap. 4.)

We believe no one can candidly read the paragraph in which this sentence stands without being persuaded that the reference is to healing by supernatural means.

Origen, commenting on the words, “the demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” says:

•Of ‘power’ because of the signs and wonders which we must believe to have been performed, both on many other grounds and on this, that traces of them are still preserved among those who regit late their lives by the precepts of the gospel.” (Contra Celsum, B, 1, Chap. II.)

Again, he says:

“And there are still preservea among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures and foresee certain events according to the will of the Logos.” (Id. B. 1, xlvii.)

Once more:

“We assert that the whole habitable world contains evidence of tke works of Jesus, in the existence of those churches of God which have been founded through Him by those who have been converted from the practice of innumerable sins. And the name of Jesus can still remove distractions from the minds of men and expel demons, and also take away diseases.” (Id. B. I, lxvii.)

Who can deny that these are plain assertions of the continuance of miracles in the writer’s day?

Chrysostom, in his Libra Contra Gentiles, commenting on John xiv: 12:

•He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works,” etc., appeals to the miracles recorded in the Acts of the Apostles in proof of the truth of this promise, and then adds: “But if any one assert that these are mere smoke and a fictitious wonder unworthy of credit, LET us VIEW THOSE OF THE present DAY, which are calculated both to stop and to put to shame the blaspheming mouth, and to check the unbridled tongue. For throughout our whole habitable world, there is not a country, a nation, or a city, where these wonders are not commonly spoken of, which, if figments, would never have occasioned so much admiration. And you yourselves, indeed, might testify for us to this. For we shall have no occasion to receive confirmation of what we assert from others, seeing that you yourselves, our opponents, supply us therewith.” (Logos pros Hellenas — Ed. Par, 1621, Tom I, p. 728-732.)

We now reproduce the famous paragraph from Irenaeus entire, that the reader may judge whether the writer is speaking of his own or of apostolic times:

“If, however, they maintain that the Lord, too, performed such works simply in appearance, we shall refer them to the prophetical writings, and prove from these both that all things were thus predicted regarding Him, and did take place undoubtedly, and that He is the only Son of God. Wherefore, also, those who are in truth His disciples, receiving grace from Him, do in His name perform (miracles), so as to promote the welfare of other men, according to the gift which each one has received from Him. For some do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in Christ] and join themselves to the church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come; they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others, still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number of the gifts which the church, [scattered] throughout the whole world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practising deception upon any, nor taking any reward from them [on account of such miraculous interpositions]. For as she has received freely from God, freely also does she minister [to others].

Nor does she perform anything by means of angelic invocations, or by incantations, or by any other wicked, curious art; but directing her prayers to the Lord who made all things, in a pure, sincere and straightforward spirit, and calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, she has been accustomed to work miracles for the advantage of mankind, and not to lead them into error. If, therefore, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ even now confers benefits, and cures thoroughly and effectually all who anywhere believe on Him, but not that of Simon, or Menander, or Carpocrates, or any other man whatever, it is manifest that when he was made man he held fellowship with His own creation and did all things through the power of God, according to the will of the Father of all, as the prophets had foretold.” (Adv. Haer B. I, xxxii.)

We have in this case, as in the other quotations, used the translation of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.

Mosheim, referring to the alleged cures and expulsion of demons in the 2d century, says:

“That those gifts of the Spirit which are commonly termed miraculous, were liberally imparted by Heaven to numbers of the Christians, not only in this, but likewise in the succeeding age, and more especially to those who devoted themselves to the propagation of the gospel among the heathen, has, on the faith of the concurrent testimony of the ancient fathers, been hitherto universally credited throughout the Christian world. Nor does it appear that in our belief as to this we can with the least propriety be said to have embraced anything contrary to sound reason. Only let it be considered that the writers on whose testimony we rely were all of them men of gravity and worth, who could feel no inclination to deceive; that they were in part philosophers; that in point of residence and country they were far separated from each other; that their report is not grounded on mere hearsay, but upon what they state themselves to have witnessed with their own eyes; that they call on God in the most solemn manner to attest its truth (vid Origen contra Celsum, L. I, p. 35), and lastly that they do not pretend to have themselves possessed the power of working miracles, but merely attribute it to others; and let me ask what reason can there possibly be assigned that should induce us to withhold from them our implicit confidence.” (Historical Commentaries, Century II, sect. 5, Note.)

The extended note of Mosheim from which we make this extract is well worth the reader’s examination in full. It contains the strong avowal that the opinion above quoted of the continuance of miracles is the Catholic view; and it criticises at length the opposite theory as propounded by his contemporary Middleton, which he says the author was compelled in a later work practically to retract.

Note B. (P. 80.)

PRACTICE OF THE EARLY BAPTISTS.

Rev. Morgan Edwards, in “Materials towards a History of American Baptists,” Vol. I, p. 23, speaking of Rev. Owen Thomas, once pastor at Welch Tract, Del., says:

“Mr. Thomas left behind him the following remarkable note: ‘I have been called upon three times to anoint the sick with oil for recovery. The effect was surprising in every case; but in none more so than in that of our brother, Rynallt Howell. He was so sore with the bruises of the waggon when he was anointed that he could not bear to be turned in bed otherwise than with the sheet; the next day he was so well that he went to meeting. I have often wondered that this rite is so much neglected, as the precept is so plain and the effects have been so salutary.’”

On page 28 of the same work Mr. Edwards says, referring to Rev. Hugh Davis, pastor of Great Valley church:

“Some years before his death he had a severe pain in his arm, which gradually wasted the limb and made life a burden. After trying many remedies he sent for the elders of the church to anoint him with oil, according to James v 114- 17. The effect was a perfect cure, so far that the pain never returned. One of the elders concerned (from whom I had this relation) is yet alive [1 770], and succeeds Mr. Hugh Davis in the ministry, viz. Rev. John Davis.”

APPENDIX.

He gives several other like incidents, and makes the following observation upon the custom:

“The present generation of Baptists in Pennsylvania and the several other colonies (German Baptists excepted) have somehow reasoned themselves out of the practice of anointing the sick for recovery, not believing that the same kind of reasoning would lead them to discontinue every positive rite, as it actually led Barclay and thousands besides. Our pious forefathers in this province practiced the rite frequently and successfully, as might be shown. (See Examples, pp. 23, 28.) The same may be said of the Baptists of Great Britain and Ireland. Their progenitors also used the salutary unction, whereof some narrations have been made public.”

Note C. (P. 22.)

A DISPUTED TEXT.

SINCE the first edition of this work was published some of its critics have sharply arraigned it because of its failure to discredit the last part of Mark’s Gospel, viz., the sixteenth chapter, from verse 9th to the end.

After an extended examination of the whole question, it seemed to the author that the doubts which have been thrown upon the passage have so rapidly diminished, and have now so nearly reached the vanishing point, that it was hardly worthwhile to disturb the reader’s mind with them. It is a grave consideration as to how much of questioning in regard to such texts the preacher or the writei is justified in raising. It seems to us that unless the evidence against them considerably preponderates, it is best to say nothing about the uncertainty. In this case, we believe that the evidence in favor of the genuineness of the passage vastly outweighs that against it. We have not room to set forth the grounds of this conviction, but would refer the reader to Olshausen’s very strong and to us very conclusive defence of this side of the question.

The fact that so early a writer as Irenaeus quotes this passage as a part of Mark’s Gospel, both Olshausen and Lange consider to be a powerful argument in its favor. When we consider that Irenaeus was only a step removed from the apostles, being a disciple of Polycarp who was the disciple of John, we shall see how important a consideration this is. The view of Olshausen that this part was accidentally torn off from some ancient manuscript, and the loss perpetuated by the transcribers, is far more reasonable, it seems to us. than that it was an addition by a later hand. For a full and satisfactory discussion of the whole question we would refer the reader to the fresh and able Commentary of Morrison. His conclusion in regard to the matter is as follows: Speaking of the view that this passage is spurious, he says: “This notion has grown into a romance of criticism which has thrown a spell of doubt over spirits that have not the least sympathy with Biblical skepticism. But we have shown in a full discussion of the subject in the body of the Commentary that the romance has culminated. There would appear to be no good reason for questioning the authority of the passage” — Introduction to Commentary on Mark.

Note D. (P. 160.)

PASTOR BLUMHARDT.

We cannot too strongly commend the biography of this excellent man, from which we have made this brief extract. It is the most remarkable exemplification of the power of faith and of the possibilities of intercessory prayer which we have ever met. At the same time it is a life the farthest removed from anything of extravagance and high assumption. We give one or two further extracts from it for the benefit of such as may not be able to read the entire book. The first is a reference to the remarkable instance which we have cited: —

“It was especially,” he writes, “in that awful case of sickness (page 160) that I discovered how the testamentary words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,’ are not yet quite out of power, if applied with an humble, penitent, and believing heart. Everything concerning illnesses in my parish began to be changed. Seldom did a medical man appear in it; the people would rather pray. Certain diseases, especially among new-born children, seemed entirely to cease, and the general state of health became better than it was before.”

“Yet never in the least did Blumhardt urge the people to give up medical means; they did it all of their own accord. Nor did he consider his personal presence and mediation necessary. Hun-APPENDIX.

dreds and thousands that came, in course of time, from all parts of Europe — yea, from the remotest parts of the globe — or applied to him, either through friends and relations or by letter, were directed by him to search themselves before the Almighty, to repent, to give themselves entirely up to God, with all their families, and He would then, in answer to a child-like petition as to their peculiar necessities, do according to His holy pleasure. But others without number came or were brought to M5ttlingen, especially on days of public worship; scores of them were accommodated inside the church, outside in the church-yard, or listened to the sermon from neighboring houses. From early in the morning till after the third service, in the evening, Blumhardt had scarcely a minute of rest. Hundreds came, one after another, desiring to lay their spiritual and bodily complaints in particular before him.”

“I myself,” continues Mr. Spittler, “was an eye-witness during eighteen months. Two years after the beginning of the revival, one Sunday morning, a friend and I counted more than a hundred towns and villages of Wflrtemburg and the Grand Duchy of Baden, from which either a few or whole bands of thirty or fifty had come to hear the Word of God, or to receive release from diseases. It would take me hours to testify what the Lord has, through a series of years, done for many a distressed family or individual, who, when all human means seemed to fail, looked up to God as a compassionate and merciful Father. God knows the cases, and those who are concerned know them, and will praise Him here on earth as long as their breath is within them. Blumhardt’s daily prayer and sigh before the Lord was, ‘Oh, that all people would learn again to pray and bring all their matters before their Heavenly Father!’” — pp. 30-32.

Pastor Blumhardt did not like to dilate on these answers to prayer. Still they were known. He held that the signs mentioned by our risen Saviour (Mark xvi, 18) embraced a promise for all times, and that if the signs were now lacking it was through a want of faith in the Church. He took the Lord at his word. Many a captive who had been enthralled bodily and mentally by Satan went away from Bad Boll rejoicing in a liberty wherewith Christ had, in both respects, made him free. Often, as Jiose who had left wrote to tell of their healing, and of the change that had passed over their life, Blumhardt would say with energy, “Thank God, the God of our fathers still lives.”

An esteemed professor of the school of medicine at the University of Tiibingen, resolved, during one of his vacations, to go and make personal inquiries about these cases of healing. Curiosity mainly moved him. He asked the pastor to give him some proofs of the reality of these cures. Blumhardt said, “Give yourself time, and take out of these drawers of my writing-table the letters I have received. Take out as many as you please. Examine the testimony of others as to the answers to prayer for healing. I know of no other proof I can give.” We give the words of an intelligent visitor at Bad Boll: “This professor has often since related to me that Blumhardt (not at all wishing to bias his judgment) left him alone to peruse the letters. He confessed that during the reading of these letters, some of which he thought to be ‘most remarkable,’ his astonishment grew more and more, and it became difficult to slim to continue to doubt, as he had done, the reality of these things, and still more difficult knowing the man whose communication made the deepest impression upon him to be a thoroughly open and honorable character, and least likely to lend himself to anything approaching a selfish fraud.” — pp. 59-61.