Miracles Do Happen

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Miracle stories tend to come from ignorant and barbarous nations rather than people of good sense and education.

I am a sceptical person by nature – a lawyer by training – and I believe in miracles. Yes, you read that sentence correctly! I find that most objections to the existence of miracles are based on questionable philosophical presuppositions rather than an open-minded assessment of the evidence. What about the testimony of Scripture? Anyone who is familiar with the New Testament knows that the apostle Paul lists a number of spiritual gifts ( charismata in the Greek language) which he apparently regards as a “normal” part of the life of the church. Catalogues of these gifts can be found in Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; and Ephesians 4:11. Regardless of your perspective, there is no question that some of these charismata are still operating today; for example, faith, mercy, evangelism, exhortation, and teaching. On the other hand, we can say with certainty that at least one of them ceased to exist at the beginning of the second century: apostleship. What about the others? What about specifically supernatural manifestations of the Spirit such as tongues, healings, and miracles? Throughout the Gospels and Acts, miracles invite attention. Thus, in Acts 14, the signs God performs through Paul and Barnabas draw attention to their gospel message, which results in some people believing that message—and other people persecuting them. But it is hard for people to simply remain neutral or ignore the message when God performs acts of power in front of them. A thought popped into my head and out my mouth before I had time to consider how wild it would sound. “We could ask God to make time stand still while she speaks,” I suggested. Yet when each of us gives what we have, the miracle of multiplication occurs again. – Alice Camille

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From the Christian perspective, the greatest miracle ever to occur in human history, in terms of its significance for humanity, is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The evidential case for the historicity of the Resurrection is extremely strong. Even sceptical scholars such as Géza Vermes admit that, apart from the Resurrection, no plausible alternative explanations have been offered in 2,000 years of historical inquiry that can satisfactorily account for the historical facts surrounding Jesus’ life. All serious historians agree that: (1) Jesus died by crucifixion; (2) that his disciples genuinely believed that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them on a number of occasions; and (3) that the early Church exploded in numbers soon after Jesus’ death. In other words, the best historical explanation for the agreed facts of history is that Jesus of Nazareth really did rise from the dead, which is why Richard Swinburne, an Oxford University professor of philosophy, has argued that it is 97% probable, based on the evidence, that the Resurrection really happened. Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle. – Phillips Brooks The Revd Dr Michael Jagessar is secretary of the United Reformed Church racial justice and intercultural ministry department The 2020 pandemic changed everything about daily life, and not always in a good way. God, however, was not hampered in the least.

Ask your kids to share how they think they can tell the difference between fantasy, fiction, magic, and miracles. Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins. – Jim Rohn The area I chose was considered “too risky” until the pandemic arrived. Suddenly, we were welcome to bring food and distribute it.Women repented of their sin and were set free but, as if freedom was not a big enough miracle, something happened Sunday morning that took my breath away. It is hard to believe in miracles when evil is so prominent, why would an all-loving and all-powerful God allow such awful things to happen if he can act in the world? Nazi concentration camps for example Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Matthew 19:26 NASB If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change. – Gautama Buddha

A miracle is nothing more or less than this. Anyone who has come into a knowledge of his true identity, of his oneness with the all-pervading wisdom and power, this makes it possible for laws higher than the ordinary mind knows of to be revealed to him. – Ralph Trine Our local alternative school supplemental weekend food distribution came to a halt when the school switched from in-person to virtual learning.Healing miracles are indeed abundantly reported in the world’s great religions. God is the prime sources of miracles and he has granted this power to his messengers as well. Jesus is said to have healed paralysis, dropsy and deafness. Muhammad is said to have healed burnt skin, broken legs and muteness. In Bible and Koran, God miracle quotes have been highlighted in abundance. There is no miracle witnessed by multiple people who were of good sense, education, integrity and reputation. Instead, miracle stories come “chiefly” from ignorant and barbarous nations and when found in civilised people, they tend to be inherited from ignorant and barbarous ancestors. My first observation is that we shouldn’t think of the Bible times, either Old or New Testament, as times in which saints of God consistently did miracles. That would be a distortion of the biblical record. They were few and far between in the Old Testament. They were uniquely concentrated in Jesus and his apostles in a very special, Christ-exalting way. They are shared in part through spiritual gifts with all the saints. Countless Miracles James 5:16 tells us prayers for healing should begin with confession of sin “so that you may be healed.” The confession of sin is not optional if we want answered prayer. When Jesus said, “Follow me,” He wasn’t kidding. He expects His people to follow Him in an all-in, all-encompassing way.

If miracles are confinedto descriptions of subjective perceptions in our mind, then they become subject to the same criticisms as religious experiences. They could just be naturalistic phenomena such as random brain hallucinations, drugs, fasting, sleep deprivation, mental illness etc. Paul Tillich’s anti-realist understanding of miracles Not possible,” trusted advisors told me. “The miracles were all used up getting the church started.” Used up? No power left? When I was a young seminary professor, the campus ministry at the adjoining college was planning an outreach for a particular day. When that day arrived, however, rain was pouring down and the weather forecast was rain all day. One student, Sharon, a sophomore biology major from another college, led us in prayer for the rain to stop. “It can’t hurt,” I thought, joining in the circle.The same God who parted the Red Sea, gave sight to the blind, healed lepers, and raised Lazarus from the grave is still in the miracle-working business. With that said, keep reading… If you want to read more samples of that foretaste, there are quite a number in my Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021). The point of faith is to accept on trust revealed truths about God that we would be unable to know by ourselves. As St Paul says: “If Christ is not raised, your faith is pointless” (1 Cor 15:17). For example, he said in John 10:37, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.” In other words, “These works are good evidence that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. I’m unique. I am the Son of God. This is true.”