"A miracle is an event which is not producible by the natural causes that are operative at the time and place that the event occurs." --William L. Craig
"'Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders" (Job 37:14, NIV).
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted" (Job 5:9, NIV). "[T]he day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan" (Psalm 78:43, NIV). "What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11, NIV).
"Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38, NIV).
Skeptics like to attribute biblical faith in miracles as primitive, gullible, superstitious, and ignorant, and unschooled (this is a misconception and a myth), but even the educated didn't question they happened, as recorded in Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, who was no stranger to the world of the supernatural as a Jew who wrote of Christ. They were just as sophisticated as us and by no means can we attribute their belief as naivete. Of course, the error was that the Pharisees attributed these signs to the work of the devil and couldn't discern good from evil they were so blind and hardened of heart. There were only a few periods in biblical history that miracles were commonplace (the exodus, the conquering of the Promised Land, the time of Elijah and Elisha, the time of Jesus, and the beginning of the church age).
But people have never been "simple" and willing to believe anything and they could distinguish the normal from the supernatural or paranormal activity--they would not be fooled as easily as if we were to drive an auto and they would wonder how we could have a horseless carriage, for instance. They knew what was plausible and what was clearly impossible and a sign from God! They knew people don't rise from the dead as Elijah and Elisha had done and then Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. When Moses presented the Ten Plagues on Egypt, the sorcerers recognized the very "finger of God" at work and told that to Pharaoh.
The point of miracles is that they represent an unusual act of God since everything is orchestrated by Him and a common occurrence of God. But if they happened all the time they'd be called "regulars." If you want to see a miracle look in the mirror or at the sunrise! If you say that miracles are "fixed," then so is the sunrise! Miracles have been defined as something that cannot happen under the circumstances without intervention from an outside force. They are indeed unusual events caused by God, but for a reason, since God is not haphazard, whimsical, capricious, nor arbitrary.
Jesus wouldn't accommodate people with miracles on demand to prove Himself, even in front of King Herod during one of His trials. Neither would He do a "biggie" miracle to convince the Pharisees and skeptics, for miracles don't produce faith, faith produces miracles. They evoke or elicit faith in faithful! They only reassure the faith of the believer, and they were never for show, to entertain, or for personal gain or selfish reasons. In fact, miracles only give the desire for more miracles! The Bible records all kinds of miracles to show God's power over nature, men, the elements, disease, demons, and even death. John called them signs because they showed a side to His Deity that He was teaching or illustrating. They show the authenticity and genuineness of His claims!
Science cannot forbid miracles, for they are not within its province and the parameters are out of its domain or realm in the same manner that ethics is--but that doesn't imply they contradict science. They cannot be repeated or duplicated and therefore cannot be tested. One-time events are historical in nature and not subject to repetition. Miracles are not a "violation of natural law," as David Hume postulated, but a special intervention of God into our dimension. The Bible makes no attempt to prove its miracles because it's self-attesting and doesn't appeal to any authority other than itself, otherwise it would not be the highest authority--if it appealed to science we would put our faith in science! In sum, don't boast that you would believe if you could see a miracle, because there is no greater one than the resurrection of Christ which is given by "many infallible proofs" according to Acts 1:3. Blessed are those who have not seen (a miracle--cf. John 20:29)!
The question of the existence of miracles is a philosophical one and depends on whether there is a God. Often the issue is not a miracle in question but the very possibility of miracles that is doubted. We have the veracity of the witnesses as historical evidence and we can easily believe they have not deluded us as madmen or deliberate liars who faced death as the test of their credibility. If you take the miracles out of the Bible it is nothing and only a system of ethics and stories, but if you remove miracles from other faiths, they remain intact.
But none of Christ's miracles were for show or selfish reasons, and He didn't want to just be known as a miracle worker, for He came on a mission to save sinners, but without His miracles, He may have gone down as a mere footnote in history. The problem with the Jews was that even though He had done many miracles they would not believe (cf. John 12:37). Today, you can witness the greatest of all miracles now: changed lives through Christ's resurrection power. Note: You can remove the miracles from other religions and they remain intact, but if you do that to the Bible, it is disemboweled; if Christ had performed no miracles, He would've remained a footnote in history! Soli Deo Gloria!
"'Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders" (Job 37:14, NIV).
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted" (Job 5:9, NIV). "[T]he day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan" (Psalm 78:43, NIV). "What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11, NIV).
"Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38, NIV).
Skeptics like to attribute biblical faith in miracles as primitive, gullible, superstitious, and ignorant, and unschooled (this is a misconception and a myth), but even the educated didn't question they happened, as recorded in Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, who was no stranger to the world of the supernatural as a Jew who wrote of Christ. They were just as sophisticated as us and by no means can we attribute their belief as naivete. Of course, the error was that the Pharisees attributed these signs to the work of the devil and couldn't discern good from evil they were so blind and hardened of heart. There were only a few periods in biblical history that miracles were commonplace (the exodus, the conquering of the Promised Land, the time of Elijah and Elisha, the time of Jesus, and the beginning of the church age).
But people have never been "simple" and willing to believe anything and they could distinguish the normal from the supernatural or paranormal activity--they would not be fooled as easily as if we were to drive an auto and they would wonder how we could have a horseless carriage, for instance. They knew what was plausible and what was clearly impossible and a sign from God! They knew people don't rise from the dead as Elijah and Elisha had done and then Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. When Moses presented the Ten Plagues on Egypt, the sorcerers recognized the very "finger of God" at work and told that to Pharaoh.
The point of miracles is that they represent an unusual act of God since everything is orchestrated by Him and a common occurrence of God. But if they happened all the time they'd be called "regulars." If you want to see a miracle look in the mirror or at the sunrise! If you say that miracles are "fixed," then so is the sunrise! Miracles have been defined as something that cannot happen under the circumstances without intervention from an outside force. They are indeed unusual events caused by God, but for a reason, since God is not haphazard, whimsical, capricious, nor arbitrary.
Jesus wouldn't accommodate people with miracles on demand to prove Himself, even in front of King Herod during one of His trials. Neither would He do a "biggie" miracle to convince the Pharisees and skeptics, for miracles don't produce faith, faith produces miracles. They evoke or elicit faith in faithful! They only reassure the faith of the believer, and they were never for show, to entertain, or for personal gain or selfish reasons. In fact, miracles only give the desire for more miracles! The Bible records all kinds of miracles to show God's power over nature, men, the elements, disease, demons, and even death. John called them signs because they showed a side to His Deity that He was teaching or illustrating. They show the authenticity and genuineness of His claims!
Science cannot forbid miracles, for they are not within its province and the parameters are out of its domain or realm in the same manner that ethics is--but that doesn't imply they contradict science. They cannot be repeated or duplicated and therefore cannot be tested. One-time events are historical in nature and not subject to repetition. Miracles are not a "violation of natural law," as David Hume postulated, but a special intervention of God into our dimension. The Bible makes no attempt to prove its miracles because it's self-attesting and doesn't appeal to any authority other than itself, otherwise it would not be the highest authority--if it appealed to science we would put our faith in science! In sum, don't boast that you would believe if you could see a miracle, because there is no greater one than the resurrection of Christ which is given by "many infallible proofs" according to Acts 1:3. Blessed are those who have not seen (a miracle--cf. John 20:29)!
The question of the existence of miracles is a philosophical one and depends on whether there is a God. Often the issue is not a miracle in question but the very possibility of miracles that is doubted. We have the veracity of the witnesses as historical evidence and we can easily believe they have not deluded us as madmen or deliberate liars who faced death as the test of their credibility. If you take the miracles out of the Bible it is nothing and only a system of ethics and stories, but if you remove miracles from other faiths, they remain intact.
But none of Christ's miracles were for show or selfish reasons, and He didn't want to just be known as a miracle worker, for He came on a mission to save sinners, but without His miracles, He may have gone down as a mere footnote in history. The problem with the Jews was that even though He had done many miracles they would not believe (cf. John 12:37). Today, you can witness the greatest of all miracles now: changed lives through Christ's resurrection power. Note: You can remove the miracles from other religions and they remain intact, but if you do that to the Bible, it is disemboweled; if Christ had performed no miracles, He would've remained a footnote in history! Soli Deo Gloria!
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