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Contraposition Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

be of such a kind

No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falshood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavours to establish.

What does 'be of such a kind' mean?
I find this sentence very hard to understand because of its complex structure.
  

Top answer

The verb "be" is in present subjunctive mood. Basically, the sentence says that a witness to a miracle must give some testimony such that if the testimony were false (that is, it was invented and no miracle happened at all), it would be even more unbelievable than if it were true (that is, the claimed miracle actually did happen).

— AlpheccaStars

  • The verb "be" is in present subjunctive mood.
  • Basically, the sentence says that a witness to a miracle must give some testimony such that if the testimony were false (that is, it was invented and no miracle happened at all), it would be even more unbelievable than if it were true (that is, the claimed miracle actually did happen).
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3 Answers
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The verb "be" is in present subjunctive mood.

Basically, the sentence says that a witness to a miracle must give some testimony such that if the testimony were false (that is, it was invented and no miracle happened at all), it would be even more unbelievable than if it were true (that is, the claimed miracle actually did happen).
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Still unresolved.... Could you give me some instances?
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contrapositionStill unresolved.... Could you give me some instances?
I have never seen a miracle, nor testified to one. I don't have a single instance to give you from any personal experience.

What did you not understand about the sentence?
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