Chapter 6:Miracles

Pocket handbook of Christian apologetics (2003)

Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli

Name some Bible miracles

Are there some you find “easy’ to believe and others you find harder to believe, why?

Why did Jesus perform miracles?

Which biblical miracles are essential and which are optional for ‘true faith’?

Are miracles something that only happens to “special” people or for all?

In the Bible how did people respond to miracles - deny, rejoice, accept etc.

Jesus - Which miracles do you believe?Born of a virgin Fed the 5000Water into wine Cast out demonsHealed a paralytic Rose from the deadHealed blind, deaf, mute Calmed the stormAppeared to the disciples after the resurrection

Jesus - Which miracles do you believe?Born of a virgin Fed the 5000Water into wine Cast out demonsHealed a paralytic Rose from the deadHealed blind, deaf, mute Calmed the stormAppeared to the disciples after the resurrectionCARM has a paper looking at miracles and

rebutting arguments against miracleshttp://carm.org/questions/about-jesus/cant-all-jesus-miracles-be-

explained-naturally

CARM has a paper looking at miracles and rebutting arguments against miracles

http://carm.org/questions/about-jesus/cant-all-jesus-miracles-be-explained-naturally

The Objections most frequently leveled by critics of Christ's resurrection- Christ's resurrection is a myth, not history.- The resurrection stories are full of contradictions.- Miracles are not possible.- The body was stolen.- Jesus only fainted and then recovered from his wounds.- The witnesses were just “seeing things.”

The Objections most frequently leveled by critics of Christ's resurrection- Christ's resurrection is a myth, not history.- The resurrection stories are full of contradictions.- Miracles are not possible.- The body was stolen.- Jesus only fainted and then recovered from his wounds.- The witnesses were just “seeing things.”

How would you counter such arguments?

How would you counter such arguments?

• Acts 2:22 - “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

"It was Hume who first spoke of miracles as violations of nature. But Christians don't believe that the Legislator is subject to any of the laws of nature."

Craig Keener

"It was Hume who first spoke of miracles as violations of nature. But Christians don't believe that the Legislator is subject to any of the laws of nature."

Craig Keener

"Those who assume that miracles cannot happen are merely wasting their time by looking into the texts: we know in advance what results they will find for they have begun by begging the question."

C.S. Lewis

"Those who assume that miracles cannot happen are merely wasting their time by looking into the texts: we know in advance what results they will find for they have begun by begging the question."

C.S. Lewis

Why believe the biblical miracles?1. God made the universe out of nothing - a miracle is easy after that.2.The factual nature of the miracle stories is evident from the text of Scripture - there were witnesses to the healings etc. - nothing in the description of the miracle events remotely suggests that we should look for naturalistic explanations for the miracles. They are presented as truly supernatural.

3. The miracles stories are not embellished like mythology. They are straight-forward matter-of-fact historical narrative accounts.4. There was not enough time after the events took place for myths to have crept into the accounts - miracles are part of the text from the very beginning.

5. The writers of the Bible attested to Jesus’ miracles (John 2:11etc) but Jesus himself based his claim of divinity partly on his miracles (Matthew 11:4-6, Luke 7:22-23, John 10:25, 38, John 14:11, John 15:24)6.Jesus’ greatest miracle, the resurrection, has overwhelming evidence in its favor - if the resurrection is a fact of history, Jesus’ other miracles are believable.

7. To deny the miracles leaves the Bible as a secular book, which gives one the option of ignoring it. If you start throwing out the miracles, you will [arguably] start picking and choosing among other things you like or don’t like in the Bible.

8. There is no compelling reason to doubt the Bible. The evidence supports the reliability of Scripture throughout. Norman Geisler, a “demythological approach to miracles and the New Testament documents in general is unjustified. First and foremost, it is contrary to the overwhelming evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament documents.”

A miracle is

“a striking and

religiously

significant

intervention of God

in the system of

natural causes”

A miracle is

“a striking and

religiously

significant

intervention of God

in the system of

natural causes”

William Lane Craig: 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 Lane Craig: 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”

J.P. Moreland, the noted philosopher, illustrates divine intervention with the following example. According to the law of gravity, if you drop an object, it will fall to the earth. But, if an apple falls from a tree and you reach out to catch it before it hits the ground, you’re not violating or negating the law of gravity; you, with your free will are merely intervening, overriding the natural causes operative in that particular circumstance. According to Moreland, God intervenes in a very similar fashion causing what we call ‘miracles’.

J.P. Moreland, the noted philosopher, illustrates divine intervention with the following example. According to the law of gravity, if you drop an object, it will fall to the earth. But, if an apple falls from a tree and you reach out to catch it before it hits the ground, you’re not violating or negating the law of gravity; you, with your free will are merely intervening, overriding the natural causes operative in that particular circumstance. According to Moreland, God intervenes in a very similar fashion causing what we call ‘miracles’.

Miracle: An event brought about by a special act of God. There is much disagreement about the definition beyond this minimum. Some thinkers argue that a miracle must involve an exception to the laws of nature or (perhaps alternatively) involve some event that exceeds the natural powers or capacities of natural things. Others insist that a miracle is recognizable primarily by its revelatory power as a sign that shows something about God or God's purposes and that such events do not have to be scientifically inexplicable. Traditional apologetics viewed miracles as important confirmation or certification that a prophet or apostle was genuinely sent by God.C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion

Miracle: An event brought about by a special act of God. There is much disagreement about the definition beyond this minimum. Some thinkers argue that a miracle must involve an exception to the laws of nature or (perhaps alternatively) involve some event that exceeds the natural powers or capacities of natural things. Others insist that a miracle is recognizable primarily by its revelatory power as a sign that shows something about God or God's purposes and that such events do not have to be scientifically inexplicable. Traditional apologetics viewed miracles as important confirmation or certification that a prophet or apostle was genuinely sent by God.C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion

“Since Christians do not have a presupposition that excludes the miraculous, we are able to look at the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Bible, weigh the evidence, and make a choice to believe or not believe. Of course, Christians by default believed in the resurrection of Christ.”http://carm.org/miracles-cannot-happen

“Since Christians do not have a presupposition that excludes the miraculous, we are able to look at the resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Bible, weigh the evidence, and make a choice to believe or not believe. Of course, Christians by default believed in the resurrection of Christ.”http://carm.org/miracles-cannot-happen

Two questions about miracles

Two questions about miracles

Philosophical question - are miracles possible?Historical question - are miracles actual (do they happen)? This simply requires some historical knowledge and/or investigation, has it ever happened?The philosophical question is the one that apologists argue with people about - the possibility of miracles needs to be decided upon. People who do not believe in miracles usually have some form of argument which says miracles cannot happen.

1. The idea of miracles presupposes that nature is a self contained system of natural causes - only in that there are regularities can there be irregularities

2. A miracle is not a contradiction - a man walking through a wall is a miracle, a man both walking through a wall and not walking through a wall at the same time is a contradiction - God performs miracles but not contradictions (which are meaningless)

contradiction |ˌkäntrəˈdik sh ən|* a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another* a person, thing, or situation in which inconsistent elements are present

To believe miracles happen you have to believe in a miracle worker - you have to believe some form of God exists. Then we can say miracles are possible - although God might choose not to make this possibility a reality.Are God and the world both open to miracles happening?There is nothing in the nature of God that says he would not make a miracle happen - he is omnipotent and can do it, we cannot know a priori if he will though.

a priori |ˈä prēˈôrē;* relating to or denoting reasoning or knowledge that proceeds from theoretical deduction rather than from observation or experience* in a way based on theoretical deduction rather than empirical observation

Can we object to miracles from the position of nature - here we have already acknowledged that God created nature - if God can bring the world out of a Big Bang then he can add some smaller bangs of miracles! If nature is made by God for God - then he can do miracles.

Objections against miracles

Objections against miracles

As apologists we have to consider what objections people might bring against miracles. This is not to be dealt with on an historical level, the people here are probably objecting on the basis of philosophical ideas not historical validity - in other words we are arguing on the level of possibility (or an argument that they are very improbable) - after all if they are impossible we do not need to consider historical “occurrences”.

We should remember that

much of the fundamental truth

of the Christian faith is based on

“miracles” - incarnation, resurrection,

salvation, biblical inspiration...

“Vital to the discussion of whether or not miracles can occur is the issue of a person's presuppositions. If someone believes that there is no God and also believes in what is called naturalism - that all things in the universe are subject to natural physical laws - then miracles are defined out of existence - the universe is defined in such a way as to make miracles impossible. Therefore, if someone says that miracles cannot happen, then it is most probable they deny the existence of God and/or believe in naturalism/evolution.”http://carm.org/miracles-cannot-happen

“Vital to the discussion of whether or not miracles can occur is the issue of a person's presuppositions. If someone believes that there is no God and also believes in what is called naturalism - that all things in the universe are subject to natural physical laws - then miracles are defined out of existence - the universe is defined in such a way as to make miracles impossible. Therefore, if someone says that miracles cannot happen, then it is most probable they deny the existence of God and/or believe in naturalism/evolution.”http://carm.org/miracles-cannot-happen

Once God revealed the entirety of the information that He wished to make available to mankind…the need for miraculous confirmation of the oral Word came to an end. Now, people can sit down with a New Testament, the written Word of God, and, with honest and diligent study, conclude that it is God’s Word. Many preachers and teachers today have failed to acknowledge this crucial biblical factor. They fail to face the fact that we have absolutely no need for the miraculous. Since the purpose of miracles has been achieved, the miracles, themselves, have ceased

Once God revealed the entirety of the information that He wished to make available to mankind…the need for miraculous confirmation of the oral Word came to an end. Now, people can sit down with a New Testament, the written Word of God, and, with honest and diligent study, conclude that it is God’s Word. Many preachers and teachers today have failed to acknowledge this crucial biblical factor. They fail to face the fact that we have absolutely no need for the miraculous. Since the purpose of miracles has been achieved, the miracles, themselves, have ceased

This extract came from a Christian apologetic

website - http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=1399

– it is shown here as an example of the reasoning

provided by some believers for not

believing in modern day miracles

This extract came from a Christian apologetic

website - http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=1399

– it is shown here as an example of the reasoning

provided by some believers for not

believing in modern day miracles

I repeat: the Bible teaches that miracles are no longer necessary. We have everything we need to function in this life, to be pleasing to God, and to survive spiritually (2 Peter 1:3). Spiritual maturity is now within the grasp of every single individual who chooses to access the means to maturity—the written Word of God. To insist that we have need for the miraculous today is to undermine, and to cast aspersions upon, the all-sufficiency of God’s Word (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I repeat: the Bible teaches that miracles are no longer necessary. We have everything we need to function in this life, to be pleasing to God, and to survive spiritually (2 Peter 1:3). Spiritual maturity is now within the grasp of every single individual who chooses to access the means to maturity—the written Word of God. To insist that we have need for the miraculous today is to undermine, and to cast aspersions upon, the all-sufficiency of God’s Word (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Objection #1Objection #1

Miracles violate the principle of uniformity of nature

Reply: what is the uniformity of nature? Is this meant to suggest that only natural causes lead to events in the world - in which case it is like saying that “miracles violate the principle that miracles never happen”

Objection #2Objection #2

A miracle must by definition, violate some law of nature, and therefore must be a maximally improbable event. But then it is always more likely the event never really occurred as described (or remembered), or that it did not violate the laws of nature.

A miracle does not violate the laws of nature in the same way the college principal does not violate college law by cancelling classes for a special event. A violation can only take place when an established order has to be upheld and someone refuse to do so.God has authority over the whole universe and so he cannot violate it (and would not feel guilt or embarrassment about it). In a miracle all God does is change the schedule for the day.

A second response goes this way: why should miracles be considered maximally improbable?

They are unusual but how do we know whether or not they are likely to occur? Such a conclusion only comes from already having decided that God does not exist or that he would never work a miracle.

Objection #3Objection #3

How can we ever know it is God and not a mere god (or a demon) who is responsible for this or that striking intervention in the natural order of things?

Context is important here - looking at the miracles of Jesus and the relationship he claimed to have with the Father, we come to three possible conclusions:

1. Sincere lunatic

2. Demonic fraud

3. The Son of God, and therefore his deeds were in the fullest sense miracles.

The three possibilities need to be considered in the light of the life, character and message of the one performing the miracles.