Question 53 – The Bible describes miracles. How is it possible to believe them?
Miracles, another vast topic with a capital "M". We are not talking here about miracles like "it's a miracle I managed to arrive on time today..." or "a miracle – I passed my math exam". We are speaking of interventions by a higher power into the natural order of things (supernatural healings, resurrection from the dead, Jesus walking on water, etc.). However, we will not solve or defend specific cases of miracles or the miraculous experiences of believers here. I want to reflect here more on our philosophical approach to miracles.
According to skeptics, miracles were matters of primitive belief by our ancient ancestors, who could not explain unknown things (thunderstorms, unusual disease symptoms, or rare natural phenomena). A storm would come, and lightning would strike? The gods or evil spirits are angry, they thought. With the advent of modern science, however, we know things work differently, and therefore belief in miracles loses meaning and justification, many think. For example, radical atheist Richard Dawkins commented on believers in biblical miracles as follows:
"The virgin birth, the Resurrection, the raising of Lazarus, even the Old Testament miracles, all are freely used to religious propaganda, and they are very effective with an audience of unsophisticated and children." [3]
It is important to realize that many so-called "miracles" were actually not miracles at all. Perhaps most supposed miracles are more a result of ignorance of context, certain natural laws, self-deception, mere coincidence, or deliberate fraud. That is a fact. However, I am convinced that not all events can be explained and thus dismissed in this way. James R. Moore adds:
"Today scientists will admit that no one knows enough about 'natural law' to say that any event is necessarily a violation of it. They agree that an individual's non-statistical sample of time and space is hardly sufficient ground on which to base immutable generalizations concerning the nature of the entire universe. Today what we commonly term 'natural law' is in fact only our inductive and statistical descriptions of natural phenomena." [7]
Philosophical Filter
When discussing this topic, it is important to realize that although we may witness an objective miracle, for many, this miracle might not exist at all. Almost everything can be explained differently than how it really happened. Whether you think a miracle occurred depends mainly on how you approach miracles yourself. If you do not believe in miracles, you will inevitably try to explain everything around you through the lens of your conviction. Even if you experienced an encounter with a real angel, you might consider it hallucinations, fatigue, or some brain disorder.
If you were miraculously healed, you might attribute it to a false diagnosis by doctors (even if it was confirmed multiple times) or to yet undiscovered biological mechanisms of our body. And even if a sign appeared before you in the sky saying, "HELLO, I EXIST, BELIEVE IN ME, YOUR GOD," you might interpret it as a new secret weapon of the church, again as hallucination, or even the work of aliens. However unlikely this assertion might be, it would be more acceptable to you than accepting the conclusion that a genuine miracle occurred. Because, according to your conviction, such things do not happen. Before any study of miracles, it is therefore necessary to clarify this initial philosophical standpoint.
Sadly, many skeptics automatically approach the study of miracles in this way. They are predetermined – miracles do not exist. Surely, a critical approach is necessary in today's world of deceit and manipulation; this is undeniable. Nevertheless, I believe that most critics grossly "overshoot" (or, proverbially speaking, throw out the baby with the bathwater). They do not critically examine reports of miracles; they (perhaps subconsciously) exclude them beforehand and then create theories and constructs that support their beliefs. And they approach biblical miracles the same way. For instance, some biblical texts clearly present supernatural intervention by divine power, yet critics automatically explain these events entirely differently – attempting to forcefully provide alternative explanations. A case that speaks volumes – the dating of certain New Testament books. When the average historian takes a Gospel where Jesus predicts Peter's death, they automatically date the recording of this statement to a time after Peter was executed.
Why? Simply because – according to them, Jesus couldn't have known that. With this approach to the Bible, almost all critics come, including many liberal theologians. But this tells us nothing about whether miracles are possible or not. We are merely discovering that some people believe in them and others do not. Everything around us, including genuine miracles, battles for acceptance in our minds within the realm of personal interpretation. In other words – if I don't believe in miracles? Then I will question and explain absolutely everything in another way, even if that explanation is more absurd than the miracle itself (known as various clumsy explanations in terms of incredible coincidences, etc.). And conversely – if I believe they exist, I am in danger of seeing them everywhere and mistaking non-miraculous things for miracles (what we call the "God of the gaps," where a miracle is inserted into the "white spaces" of our knowledge).
Miracles? Why Not?
Let us look at this question from the perspective of God's existence. I provocatively ask – what is strange about miracles? Why couldn't they exist? The claim that no miracles exist, in my opinion, presupposes the following conclusions:
- God does not exist.
- Nature created itself and is the ultimate being; nothing else exists. It's some sort of closed system that can't be interfered with by anything or anyone.
However, if a personal God exists, the existence of miracles is highly probable and essentially necessary (unless God chose not to interfere with His creation again). Consider that if there is a God who created billions upon billions of stars, planetary systems, millions of creatures, and so on, then for Him, it is absolutely no problem to arrange the conception of a single woman (the virgin birth of Jesus), intervene in a sick body (healing), or calm a storm whose operating principles He Himself designed. Such an idea is ironically amusing. Indeed, if no intelligence surpassing physical reality (God) exists, then no miracles are possible. But if such an intelligence exists and wishes and can interfere with our reality, then the so-called "miracles" are a necessity. Christianity and, by extension, many other religions and philosophies do not agree with the assumption of our world being a closed system. On the contrary, they believe the created world is merely a part of a higher dimension of being, that under certain conditions, an external force can intervene.
Do Miracles Violate Natural Laws?
I understand why atheists have a problem with miracles. But what baffles me is when individuals who claim to be Christians deny miracles (even those described in the Bible). A missionary once aptly called this approach "the pinnacle of lost thinking." Critics often reject miracles from the belief that they are breaches of natural laws. I, however, do not think so. Miracles do not violate scientific laws in their consequence; they only enter into them. Take gravity, for example. This law causes a falling apple to move downward. The physical law holds and acts = the apple falls. But what happens if you catch it before it hits the ground? Would anyone say you broke a physical law? Of course not! Nothing happened other than an external intelligence intervening in the operation of the unchangeable law. Miracles are the same way. God is the author of natural laws, maintaining them to function automatically on their own. However, He can enter into these existing laws according to His sovereign will. Miracles are thus an intervention into the open system of the physical world by another intelligence that transcends our reality and exists beyond it.