In October 1862, the Duke of Argyll published an article in the Edinburgh Review entitled “The Supernatural.” In it, Argyll argued that contrary to the prevailing assumption, miracles were “natural” rather than “supernatural” acts of God. This reconceptualization was a response to the controversial publication Essays and Reviews (1860), which challenged orthodox Biblical doctrine. Argyll's characterization of a miracle was not novel; a number of early modern Newtonian thinkers had advanced the same argument for similar reasons. New in this nineteenth‐century reconceptualization, however, were (1) the recent geological, physical, and evolutionary developments and (2) the introduction of German higher criticism. Argyll and the neo‐Newtonians thus attempted to construct a philosophico‐theological alternative, which would constitute a middle‐position between the traditional acceptance and liberal rejection of miracles. I argue finally that 21st‐century debates on divine action in fact exist as part of a longer historical tradition that dates back to Augustine.

中文翻译：

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科学的统一性或“自然”的神圣行动：在十九世纪消除了法律界限

1862年10月，阿盖尔公爵在《爱丁堡评论》上发表了一篇题为《超自然》的文章。在其中，阿盖尔认为与普遍的假设相反，奇迹是上帝的“自然”行为，而不是“超自然”的行为。这种重新概念化是对有争议的出版物《评论与评论》的回应（1860），这挑战了正统的圣经学说。阿盖尔对奇迹的刻画并不新颖。许多早期的现代牛顿思想家出于相似的原因提出了相同的论点。然而，在这个19世纪的重新概念化中，新的内容是（1）最近的地质，物理和演化发展，以及（2）引入了德国高级批评。因此，阿盖尔和新牛顿主义者试图构建一种哲学神学的替代方案，该替代方案将构成传统接受奇迹与自由拒绝奇迹之间的中间立场。最后，我认为关于21世纪神圣行为的辩论实际上是作为可追溯至奥古斯丁的悠久历史传统的一部分而存在的。