Miracle
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
A miracle is an act of supernatural intervention by God. Miracles are brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, without the use of mechanisms capable of being discerned by empirical senses, and in many cases designed to authenticate the divine commission of a religious teacher and the truth of his message.
Monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam believe that the universe is the result of a miraculous act of creation by God. In addition to providing basic moral guidelines, the Bible is a history book that records God's creation and interaction with the physical realm. Miracles performed by God, Jesus, and their servants or disciples have taken place throughout history, including modern times. Such a supernatural history may indeed preclude a naturalistic interpretation of Earth history.
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Old Testament Miracles
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- Creation — The creation of the universe, the Earth, and life on Earth is said to have taken place over the course of just six days. The specific description of the creation events are described in the first chapter of Genesis.
- Noah's Ark — Humans and the plethora of terrestrial animals that inhabit our world are only alive today due to a miracle. According to Genesis 6-8 , a global flood destroyed all life on Earth except for those God saved through his instructions to Noah that he build an ark. Since the survival of much of the life on Earth was reliant upon an act of supernatural intervention, a naturalist could never correctly interpret the evidence of the flood. Naturalists must instead hold to a presupposition that life was able to survive the formation of the layers of strata without supernatural assistance. Other than the creation itself, this miracle is the single-most significant in preventing a naturalistic interpretation of Earth history.
- Moses — The book of Exodus describes the oppression and mass departure of the Israelites who had been enslaved by Egypt. God performed numerous miracles during this period, many through his servant Moses.
- The Burning Bush — God calls Moses from a burning bush to set him on a mission to help free the Israelites from slavery.
- Plagues Upon Egypt — God set several plagues upon the Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release the Israelites.
- Pillars of Cloud and Fire — After departing Egypt, God led the Israelites by a pillar of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire at night so they could travel in the dark.
- Parting the Red Sea — To escape the Egyptian army, God instructs Moses to part the waters of the Red Sea and the Israelites pass through on dry ground.
New Testament Miracles
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- Star of Bethlehem — The birth of Jesus was marked by a light that led oriental scientists from distant countries to the exact place where Jesus lived in Bethlehem. Although many try to employ an astronomical phenomenon to explain this event, several aspects of the light defy naturalistic explanations.
- Jesus — The first four books of the New Testament contain closely parallel accounts of the life of Jesus Christ and His ministry, which include the numerous miracles He performed.
- Jesus Raising the Dead — Matthew 9:18-26 , Mark 5:35-43 , and Luke 8:49-56 contains the story of Jesus resurrecting the young daughter of a synagogue ruler following her death.
- Jesus Walking on Water — Matthew 14:22 , Mark 6:45-56 , and John 6:16-24 ; describe an event where Jesus walks on water to reach the boat in which his disciples were traveling. When Peter sees Jesus, he also gets out of the boat and walks to Him on the water.
Messianic miracles
Although the Jews accepted the reality of miracles, there were certain categories of miracles that they expected the Messiah alone to do.
The Torah provides instructions for a cleansed leper to show himself to the priest, but no Israelite had ever been healed of leprosy. The only Old Testament healing happened to a Gentile, Naaman the Syrian 2King 5 . Therefore the Rabbis concluded that cleansing a leper would be a sign of the Messiah.
The Rabbis recognised demon possession and had formulae for casting out demons. These formulae depended on learning the demon's name. Since a dumb demon would not allow its victim to speak, there was no way of learning its name and therefore no way of casting it out. So the casting out of a dumb demon was said to be something that only the Messiah would be able to do.
A third category of Messianic miracle was healing a man who had been blind from birth.
All of these Jesus did, thus using the Rabbis' own teachings to demonstrate to them that he was Messiah. The reaction of the onlookers in these cases show that they recognise the implications. Matthew 9:32-33 , Matthew 12:22-23 , Mark 1:40-45 , Luke 5:12-15 , John 9:32
Modern Miracles
Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 . C.S. Lewis, Gary Habermas, Norman Geisler, and Christians who engage in Christian legal apologetics have made arguments that miracles are reasonable and plausible.
There are many accounts of modern miracles, particularly outside the West. For example, the book Megashift, by James Rutz, recounts many miraculous incidents. The reason that few are seen in the West is the unbelief which pervades the Western church. The majority of clergy do not acknowledge the authority of scripture; some do not even believe in God; and the same scepticism is trained into Westerners from birth by their culture. It is hardly surprising, then, that God's power is rarely seen in the West. Matthew 13:57-58
It is necessary to beware of fake miracles. First, there are some ministries that claim to do miraculous healings, but these are either false — a woman was told she was cured and told to stop her medication; she died — or so subtle as to be unverifiable. For example, claims of cures of having one leg shorter than another (a very rare complaint, according to doctors) have been very frequent in certain quarters. Second, miracles are not necessarily a proof of divine power. The source of power for miracles is the realm of the spiritual, but not every spirit is good. God allows evil spirits a certain degree of power, and many spiritualists, mediums, psychics and faith healers get their power from these evil spirits. One must study the Bible to know how to discern between what is truly from God and what is from Satan.
One Biblical example is that of Pharaoh's magicians (Jannes and Jambres, according to Jude) who could reproduce some of the first of the signs and plagues, such as turning staffs to snakes and the plague of blood. Exodus 7:11
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Related References
- Are Miracles Logically Impossible?
- Miracles and Modern Scientific Thought by Norman Geisler
- A Jurisprudential Analysis of Hume's 'In Principle' Argument Against Miracles by Paul K. Hoffman (PDF file)
- "Miracles are not possible," some claim. Is this true?
- Miracles, C.S. Lewis, HarperCollins, NY, NY, 2001 (originally published by C.S. Lewis in 1947)
- In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case for God's Actions in History, R. Douglas Geivett, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois: 1997 [1]
- Megashift, James Rutz, Empowerment Press, Colorado Springs, 2005, ISBN: 0-9669158-2-8
See Also
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