501. The question is asked to-day why miracles are not wrought as in times past, for it is believed that if they were to be performed every one would be fully convinced. Miracles, however, are not wrought at this day as formerly, for they have a compelling influence, and destroy free will in spiritual things, and cause a man from being spiritual to become natural. Since the Lord's Advent everyone in the Christian world has the capacity to become spiritual; and he is made spiritual solely by the Lord through the Word. Now this capacity would be destroyed if a man were induced to believe by miracles, since these, as was said above, compel assent and destroy his free will in spiritual things. Everything in such matters that is received from compulsion enters the natural man only, and closes up, as with a door, the spiritual man, who is really the internal man, depriving this of all power of seeing any truth clearly. Therefore he would afterwards reason concerning spiritual things from the natural man alone, who sees everything truly spiritual from an inverted point of view.
[2] The reason why miracles were wrought before the Advent of the Lord was, that the men of the Church in those days were natural, to whom the spiritual things of the internal Church could not be revealed; for if these had been revealed, they would have profaned them. All their worship, therefore, consisted in rituals, which represented and signified the internal things of the Church; and to the due observance of these they could not be brought except by miracles. Miracles, however, could not bring about an understanding of the fact that those representative rituals contained within them a spiritual internal; nor were they even sufficient to ensure the due observance of those rituals. This is evident from the conduct of the Children of Israel in the wilderness; for, although they had witnessed so many miracles wrought in Egypt, and later that greatest of all on Mount Sinai, yet when Moses was absent from them for a month, they danced round a golden calf, and cried aloud that it had brought them forth out of Egypt. Their conduct was similar in the land of Canaan, notwithstanding the wonderful miracles wrought by Elijah and Elisha, and at length the truly Divine miracles wrought by the Lord.
[3] The principal reason why miracles are not wrought at this day is, that the Church has taken away from man all free will, by teaching that he can contribute nothing at all towards receiving faith, towards conversion, and in general towards salvation, as may be seen above in 484. The man who believes this becomes more and more natural; and the natural man, as was said above, sees everything spiritual from an inverted point of view, and consequently turns his thought against it. The higher region of his mind, where free will in spiritual things primarily resides, would then be closed up, and spiritual things, which miracles have almost but not quite, confirmed, would occupy the lower region of the mind. This is merely natural, and falsities respecting faith, conversion and salvation would thus remain above it. The consequence would be that satans would have their habitation above, and angels beneath, like vultures above fowls. Soon the satans would break down the barrier between them and rush furiously upon the spiritual things below; which they would not only deny but also blaspheme and profane. Hence the latter state of the man would be much worse than the first. Soon the satans would break down the barrier between them and rush furiously upon the spiritual things below; which they would not only deny but also blaspheme and profane. Hence the latter state of the man would be much worse than the first.
