Miracles

Most of the miracle accounts in the Bible are not theologically necessary. That is, theological propositions rarely (if ever) rely on specific miracle accounts being literally true. Of course, those who believe that the Bible is inerrant will believe that the miracles accounts are literally true, and those who believe that the Bible is infallible will believe that there is much truth to most of the miracle accounts. But there are many non-Christians who discount the possibility of any miraculous events and view the miracle accounts in the Bible as evidence that the Bible cannot be trusted as it contains (in their minds) much obvious fiction.

From an apologetic perspective, defending all of the miracle accounts in the Bible is of minor importance. The profound exception is the miracle account of the Resurrection, which is absolutely core to all of Christianity and all of Christian theology. Paul writes:

[I]f Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ … and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:14-19)

But for a person to believe in the Resurrection of Christ, they would have to first believe that miracles are possible, at least in theory. The reader is probably aware that many people are not open to this possibility. They believe that any explanation for something incredible, no matter how improbable, is more likely than a miraculous explanation, which they deem impossible. Nevertheless, some will have an open mind about miracles and the apologist should be able to address the issue. This section therefore makes the case that (1) miracles are possible; (2) the claims of miracles in the NT are credible (regardless of whether they actually occurred); and (3) there is strong evidence that actual miracles have occurred, even in recent times.

Possibility of Miracles

The possibility of miracles is a nuanced philosophical topic that, if approached in this way, will generally be unhelpful for apologetics. This said, a very brief background of the philosophy of miracles will be covered, as this knowledge provides credibility to the apologist even if the philosophical arguments are not used.

Miracles were first given serious philosophical consideration by Thomas Aquinas. According to Aquinas, all things have the inherent potential to receive some perfection or to perform some action. This is referred to as potency. A particular type of potency is for something to respond to a divine decree, called obediential potency. Ignacio Silva writes, “This potency is rooted in the primordial order through which creatures depend upon their creator. Ultimately, given that God has the power to do everything that does not imply a contradiction, and that nothing prevents there being an obediential potency in creatures, God can command this potency to be actualized by His active power without any natural created means.”[i] In other words, there is nothing philosophically problematic with God performing miracles.

Aquinas developed his philosophy of miracles before a time where the world was largely understood as following physical laws of nature. A number of more recent philosophers have therefore modified the philosophy of Aquinas to reflect that miracles require a temporary suspension of these physical laws. These philosophers are called neo-Thomists. For example, Édouard Hugon asserts that physical laws are contingent upon the concurrence of God.[ii] Since physical laws work under God’s concurrent causation, they can temporarily be suspended by God, allowing miracles to occur.

The most prominent philosopher arguing against miracles was the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711–1776). Hume argues that the only way to judge between two or more explanations is by weighing the evidence. Hume goes on to argue that since miracles are by definition single occurrences, the evidence in favor of natural explanations will always outweigh the evidence in favor miraculous explanations. According to Hume, it will always be more likely that the report of a miracle is a result of misinterpretation, deception, or some other non-miraculous phenomenon.[iii]

The primary criticism of Hume’s argument is that it assumes that miracles are highly improbable. C.S. Lewis explains, “Unfortunately we know the experience against [miracles] to be uniform only if we know that all the reports of them are false. And we can know all the reports to be false only if we know already that miracles have never occurred. In fact, we are arguing in a circle.”[iv]

But miracles can typically be treated in a more simple way by the Christian apologist. An all-powerful God can perform miracles if He so desires. Therefore, the first step of the apologist with regards to miracles is to argue for the existence of an all-powerful God. This subject is treated in the first section of this chapter and will not be repeated here. But typically the opposing view to a God that can perform miracles is that (1) there is no God; and (2) all things happen in accordance with the physical laws of the universe. An apologetic response to this it that it is a self-defeating viewpoint. John Haldane writes, “For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”[v]

Since miracles require a temporary suspension of the physical laws of nature, it is worth exploring the most common ways that people understand these laws of nature.[vi] The first option is that they can be understood as simply descriptive. Observations have been made in the past and certain laws are consistent with these observations. The second option is to view the motion of atoms and sub-atomic particles as somewhat random. Individual particles behave randomly, but the law of averages allows for highly confident statistical predictions at a macroscopic level. There is room for miracles in both of these views.

A third option for understanding the physical laws of nature is that they are necessary truths like mathematics. This view typically precludes miracles since miracles would violate necessary truths, similar to a mathematical contradiction. However, these necessary truths are not necessarily inconsistent with miracles performed by a power unconstrained by normal physical laws. C.S. Lewis explains this through the example of a billiard ball. Physical laws can predict what a billiard ball will do when struck by another billiard ball. But if a person interferes with the billiard ball by manually stopping it, the prediction turns out to be wrong. No violation of physical laws occurred. The prediction simply did not account for external interference. In the same way, God can interfere in something, resulting in an outcome that would not have been predicted without this divine interference.

Biblical Miracle Accounts

There are some who dismiss all of the Gospel books as made up since they describe miraculous events. To these people, miracles are impossible and therefore nobody could honestly make such miracle claims. Craig Keener has made an extensive and investigation of this topic, not whether miracles actually occur, but whether honest people make miracle claims similar to those found in the NT. Keener concludes the following:

[M]y primary argument, based on substantial evidence, is that historians should not dismiss the possibility of eyewitness information in the miracle accounts in the Gospels or Acts, since large numbers of eyewitnesses can and do offer miracle claims, many of them quite comparable in character to the early Christian accounts … the kinds of miracle claims most frequently attested in the Gospels and Acts are also attested by many eyewitnesses today. Whether any miracle claim represents genuine divine or supernatural activity is a separate question that must be addressed separately, but events such as the immediate recovery of many people after a significant spiritual experience are too well attested to question.[vii]

There are well over fifty miraculous accounts in the NT, most related to healings and exorcisms. In addition, the author of the Gospel of John writes, “So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (Jn 20:30). Some NT miracles apart from physical healings and exorcisms include the following:

• The virgin birth of Jesus (Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:26-38);
• Jesus turns water into wine (Jn 2:1-11);
• Catching many fish (Lk 5:1-11);
• Widow’s son raised from the dead in Nain (Lk 7:11-17);
• Calming the storm (Mt 8:23–27; Mk 4:35-41; Lk 8:22-25);
• Jairus’s daughter raised from dead (Mt 9:18-25; Mk 5:22-43; Lk 8:41-56);
• Feeding of 5000 men (Mt 14:15-21; Mk 6:35-44; Lk 9:12-17; Jn 6:5-14);
• Walking on water (Mt 14:22-33; Mk 6:45-52; Jn 6:16-21);
• Feeding of 4000 men (Mt 15:29-39; Mk 8:1-10);
• Tribute money appears in mouth of fish (Mt 17:24–27);
• Lazarus raised from dead (Jn 11:1-44);
• Fig tree cursed and withered (Mt 21:18-22; Mk 11:12-25);
• Apostles freed from prison by angel (Acts 5:19; 12:7–11);
• Dorcas is restored to life (Acts 9:40);
• Earthquake releases Paul and Silas from prison (Acts 16:25-26);
• Eutychus restored to life (Acts 20:7-12); and
• Paul is unharmed by viper’s bite (Acts 28:1-6).

Based on the above list, it must be recognized that Keener’s observation of miracles claims that commonly happen in modern times does not cover the full scope of miracles in the NT (Keener does document claims of dead people coming back to life). Most evangelical and fundamentalist Christians believe in all of the NT miracle accounts including healings, exorcisms, and the other various miracles listed above. But many non-Christians will be highly skeptical, and the apologist should make it clear that belief in all of the NT miracles is not required to have saving faith in the Gospel message, nor is belief in all of the NT miracles essential or even relevant for the vast majority of theological topics.

Evidence of Miracles

And so, belief in a personal God is consistent with a belief in the possibility of miracles. God can perform miracles if he so chooses, but does this actually happen? Some believe that it would be unseemly for God to create the universe just as He wanted, only to have to meddle in it later on. C.S. Lewis writes:

He might work miracles. But would He? Many people of sincere piety feel that He would not. They think it unworthy of Him. It is petty and capricious tyrants who break their own laws: good and wise kings obey them. Only an incompetent workman will produce work which needs to be interfered with … Looking up (like Lucifer in Meredith’s sonnet) at the night sky, they feel it almost impious to suppose that God should sometimes unsay what He has once said with such magnificence. This feeling springs from deep and noble sources in the mind and must always be treated with respect. Yet it is, I believe, founded on an error.[viii]

There are philosophical and aesthetical argument both as to why God may choose to perform miracles and why he may choose not to perform miracles. These arguments are not likely to be helpful in apologetics and will therefore not be addressed here. Much better is to make the case that verifiable miracles have occurred in recent history. Recall from the section on prayer that Craig Keener, after carefully investigating many hundreds of miracle claims, finds that some have no easy non-miraculous explanations (see p. 202). He summarizes these findings in a table, where he identifies 23 miracle accounts where supernatural explanations are much more plausible than natural explanations if supernatural explanations are not a priori ruled out.[ix] Some of these are:

• Flint McGlaughlin and Robin Shields witnessed a blind man whose eyes were clouded with cataracts instantly healed, his eyes visibly changing. This is medically impossible, and the healing is verified by post-healing photographs;
• Professor Ayodeji Adewuya witnessed his baby son being restored to life through payer after being dead for twenty minutes with no vital signs. There was no brain damage and the son now has a master’s degree;
• Elaine Panelo was pronounced dead due to liver cancer. After being dead for two hours, she came back to life with the liver cancer immediately and permanently healed;
• Albert Bissouessoue witnessed the raising of a child who had been dead for about eight hours;
• Douglas Norwood’s wife regained the ability to walk after being paralyzed due to a severed spinal cord (this is medically impossible); and
• Stephen and Sheila Heneise witnessed a person with a congenital limp be healed as one leg visibly lengthened over several minutes.

These are some of the miracle accounts that describe phenomena most likely to be supernatural, but still largely rely on eyewitness testimony. Keener also recounts many extraordinary healings that are medically documented. Some of these are:

• Carl Cocherell had a severe ankle break, which was x-rayed and put in a cast. Carl heard a voice from the Lord saying that his ankle was not broken. The next day, more x-rays were taken showing no signs of either an ankle break, or even tissue indicating where the break had been. Keener has reviewed the before and after radiology reports for this healing.
• Melaina Marshall was diagnosed with osteopetrosis, with x-rays showing the resulting calcification of her bones. Melaina chose not to undergo treatment and had a prayer group pray over her. After that, Melaina never experienced any symptoms of osteopetrosis, and later x-rays showed no signs of calcification. There is no known medical cure for osteopetrosis.
• Onel was a twelve-year-old boy with broken and malformed bones in his feet. X-rays showed the lower bones in his feet becoming like sand. After prayer for healing, new x-rays showed the full formation of the foot bones with no deformity; and
• Dr. Chauncey Crandall, a distinguished cardiologist, personally witnessed the death of Jeff Marking from a heart attack in an emergency room and then coming back to life after being dead for more than 30 minutes. Crandall certified the death, and notes that Marking was obviously dead as his face, toes, and fingers had already turned black. Crandall left to return to his other patients but felt a strong compulsion from God to return. He returned, prayed over Marking, and instructed the emergency room doctor to shock Marking’s heart one more time. Marking’s heartbeat was instantly and completely restored, he suffered no brain damage, and his blackened extremities were ultimately restored.

Another very credible source for a large number of miraculous healings is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, a Roman Catholic shrine and healing bath in southern France. Millions of people pilgrimage to Lourdes with the hopes of miraculous healings, and systems are in place to document these healings when they occur. Lourdes has an extensive medical organization that archives medical documents showing pre-healing conditions and post-healing conditions. They also have an extensive review process to determine whether an observed healing can be explained by known natural means or not. This process takes at least two years and is fully auditable by external parties. Although there are many more claimed cures, the Lourdes archives has about 1200 records of inexplicable cures for which there are systematic and orderly medical documentation such as x-rays, clinical reports, and doctor diagnosis certificates. There are also about an additional 4000 cases that are probably miraculous cures, but with somewhat incomplete records. Some examples of miraculous healings at Lourdes includes the following:[x]

• Charles McDonald was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the lungs and of his twelfth thoracic vertebrae with dozens of confirming x-rays. He was unable to walk for over a year. McDonald was taken from his home in Dublin to Lourdes on a stretcher, with multiple abscesses having to be dressed multiple times per day. After two immersions in the waters at Lourdes, McDonald regained the ability to walk. McDonalds’ abscesses quickly healed, and follow-up medical examinations after his return home showed no traces of his former illness.
• Madame Augault was ill for twelve years with a fibroid tumor of the uterus that had grown to an enormous size and was startling in appearance. This tumor was externally obvious but also verified through x-rays. She journeyed to Lourdes on a mattress and was immersed in the healing waters. The very next day her abdomen was completely flat, with her waist diameter shrinking by seven inches. After a meticulous examination of all medical records, the president of the Lourdes Medical Bureau concluded that Augault’s cure was instantaneous, astonishing to the many medical professionals who observed it, and that the cure cannot be attributed to natural processes.
• Lydia Brosse was a young woman who had suffered for years with intestinal tuberculosis and had undergone multiple surgeries. When she finally travelled to Lourdes, she had to lie on her stomach due to large abscesses extending down to both buttocks. She was submersed in the healing waters of Lourdes on two occasions with no healing evident. But on the train ride back, her abscesses completely healed. Brosse’s surgeon, after examining her after her return, was astonished. He did not believe that such quick healing from tuberculosis was possible by natural means.

From an apologetic perspective, the above miracle accounts should demonstrate that miraculous healing and reviving the dead are not only possible but have recently occurred based on credible accounts and testimony. Presenting some of these cases to a person skeptical of miracles can result in a more open mind with regards to biblical miracle accounts but is particularly important with regards to the resurrection of Jesus, which is discussed next.

[Next: The Resurrection]

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[i]        Alberto Ignacio Silva, “Thomas Aquinas and Some Neo-Thomists on the Possibility of Miracles and the Laws of Nature,” Religions, vol. 15 no. 422, April 2024: 3.

[ii]        Édouard Hugon, Cursus Philosophiae Thomisticae, III Metaphysica, Paris: Lethielleux, 1935: 279-281.

[iii]       Hume’s argument appears in the tenth section of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, which is titled “Of Miracles.”

[iv]       C.S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study, in The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, New York, NY: HarperOne, 1947/2002: 392.

[v]        John Haldane, Possible Worlds and Other Essays, London: Chatto and Windus, 1927: 209.

[vi]       C.S. Lewis expands on the ways in which physical laws can be understood (and the implications for miracles) in Ch. 8 (“Miracles and the Laws of Nature) of his book Miracles: A Preliminary Study, in The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics.

[vii]      Craig Keener, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts, vol. 1, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing: 2-6.

[viii]      C.S. Lewis, Miracles, in The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, New York, NY: HarperOne, 2002/1947: 115.

[ix]       This table is on pages 752 to 756 of the second volume of Craig Keener’s Miracles. These 23 miracles are listed as “yes” or “very probably yes” as to whether a supernatural explanation is more plausible that a natural explanation.

[x]        These cases are taken from Ruth Cranston’s book, The Miracle of Lourdes: The Complete True Story About the World-Famous Shrine. This book won both the Christopher Award and the Marian Medal in 1956.