5 Reasons why Your Miracles aren't Really Miraculous

5 Reasons why Your Miracles aren't Really Miraculous

5 Reasons why Your Miracles aren’t Really Miraculous

Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant)

5 Reasons why Your Miracles aren’t Really Miraculous

1) Our memories are very selective. Amazing moments can take on a life of their own in the future.

True story: I liked this girl in college. One day, I run into her at the bus stop and we start talking. We hit it off. We dated for a couple of years. She was partly the reason I quit medical school and decided to become a teacher. And if I didn’t quit school, I probably never would’ve become a vocal atheist.

If I were religious, that, to me, would be a perfect example of God guiding His hand to make sure we met. In reality, it was just a coincidence. If we hadn’t met, if we hadn’t dated, then something else would’ve happened and I just wouldn’t have those cherished memories. I would’ve had different ones. Maybe better, maybe worse.

Looking back, we can always find those turning points in our lives. It’s easy to call them miracles. Or to say God guided us in one particular direction. But you could easily explain that as just a coincidence.

2) Other peoples’ miracles can sound pretty delusional.

When something happens to us, it’s miraculous. When it happens to someone else, it’s crazy. When we feel led to make a decision or we think God has blessed us with good luck, it seems perfectly normal to thank God. But when someone else tells you God was speaking to them and told them to quit their job, you think they’re weird. You go home and talk smack about them with your spouse!

When someone else says God healed them of a disease, you want to see their medical records. When your cancer goes into remission, God had a hand in it…

3) Christians experience a lot of miracles…

Faith healers on television? Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff…
Incredibly successful pastors? They get their own reality shows
Bestselling books? They get their own bookstore sections!
Everything Snopes debunks? It’s something you heard in church.

None of that happens with Muslim imams and hindu priests and Jewish rabbis. They all believe God is divine. They all believe in Miracles. But they don’t market miracles like Christians do. Successful Christians love to pretend God’s grace had everything to do with their success and not their own skills or luck. It’s a powerful story that keeps perpetuating every time something goes right.

4) Miracles have never, ever been proven. There are things we can’t explain, but there are no miracles. If you can prove supernatural powers exist, James Randi will give you a million dollars. Even the Catholic Church’s supposed miracles that turn a Pope into a Saint are just stories that may lack a natural explanation.

5) If Miracles were real, our problems would be solved.

If God spoke to us and actually intervened and helped us, diseases would be eradicated, and our loved ones would always live, and we’d never get hurt… but as it turns out, miracles are rare, selective, subjective, and unverifiable.

This post and many of the things I’ve said in it were written by a pastor who was questioning the supposed miracles another pastor told him about. And while all these thoughts I mentioned ran through his head, he also considered the fact that maybe he just wasn’t a good Christian.

How depressing is that?

I want to just take this guy and say, “You’re not experience miracles because no one really experiences miracles!” They think they do, but they’re just mistaken! Get over it!

But it’s so hard to do that when you still, deep down in your heart, believe in magic.

http://twofriarsandafool.com/2014/05/other-peoples-magical-experiences/

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47 Comments

  1. Rick Moore on October 1, 2022 at 2:03 am

    Hemant, you seem to be a well educated, well-spoken person and your videos are thought provoking – I like that. I am enjoying your perspective shown in your videos.
    You might do well to do even a little bit of research, however, regarding your thoughts in this video about miracles.

    Miracles do happen; they are verifiable; they have been observed, verified, and publicized widely by medical professionals – just a little scholarly research – it wouldn’t take much.
    God created our bodies to be self-healing. Sometimes, they need a little help. Doctors are wonderful, because they have been educated in just how they’re put together and tick.
    But, DOCTORS ARE INCAPABLE OF HEALING. Ask any (honest) medical professional. Good doctors know how to HELP the body heal itself. Remember, they’re still practicing!

    Here’s the deal – all that exists was created by God, including the sciences, i.e.- medical, chemistry, physics, et al, everything! God created even the raw material from which everything else was formed. SCIENCE IS A RESULT OF THE NATURE OF GOD, as is everything in the universe. If it exists, God did it!
    The studies of the sciences, ARE actually the study of God. As we learn more about the sciences, we are really learning more about God’s nature and qualities. God is AWESOME!

    God has nothing to prove to anyone – that’s a human need.
    God believes YOU exist and loves you, Hemant, just as you are. All God asks for is reciprocation.

  2. ambasing on October 1, 2022 at 2:03 am

    I’m an atheist but I believe in miracles

  3. Craig Black on October 1, 2022 at 2:03 am

    Video added would significantly help than zooming in on face for all of them. They would be more memorable.

  4. Mavro Syvannah on October 1, 2022 at 2:04 am

    7 years later and you’ve come so far. But today in the current year you would be more correct and persuasive if when talking about the God of the old testament that is the JEWISH God. You need to call a spade a ♠️. There is no Christian without the many cults of Semitic people OR the cults of Roman.

  5. Ben Ndemo on October 1, 2022 at 2:05 am

    Tell me when somebody takes poison and he doesn’t die how do you call tht? Where do you get strength to argue wth te truth?

  6. D BR on October 1, 2022 at 2:06 am

    Charlatans are still duping millions with their miracle claims. Now, rewind a few millenia back when this ridiculous mythology/fanfic was written.

  7. Gabriel Valeriolete on October 1, 2022 at 2:07 am

    I remember some christians co-workers discussing one time that they knew a guy who always said there is no God and then he got a cancer (implying that God punished him) and I could just ask "so christians don’t get cancer?". The amount of self centered delusion most people arround us are engaging is ridiculous.

  8. JD3 Jefferson on October 1, 2022 at 2:08 am

    This dude isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.
    The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on St. Juan Diego’s tilma is a miracle from Heaven, and I’ve never heard any atheist be able to explain this miracle.
    https://youtu.be/Ds7nD_QNeKA

  9. Green boi on October 1, 2022 at 2:09 am

    I love the stoner music

  10. Lola Lamaro on October 1, 2022 at 2:10 am

    This uk so helpful ,I don’t believe in God anymore but the indoctrination I went through as a kid stuck with me and Im trying to deconstruct that and lately I’ve been wondering if miracles are even real and thus is honestly helpful

  11. Abhishek on October 1, 2022 at 2:11 am

    Miracles do happen.
    Example:- Even when atheists are spitting on Christians, and beating them up. Christians still are bold and brave enough to love them, forgive them and pray for them.

    I don’t hate any atheists, as it’s not gonna be me who would be regretting the decision of being an atheist. But I rather pray for them everyday. Sending my love and prayers for all the atheists out there. Hope you open your eyes. God bless you.

  12. Ben Ndemo on October 1, 2022 at 2:12 am

    I’m the testimony jesus is lord. Is a miracle worker. Believe it or not. Do you know what it means to be poor?

  13. Jack Rosario on October 1, 2022 at 2:14 am

    The New York Mets won game 6 of the 1986 world series that was a miracle!

  14. akastevegrant on October 1, 2022 at 2:15 am
  15. puirYorick on October 1, 2022 at 2:17 am

    So winning a sports championship is NOT god’s intervention?

  16. Adnan Alam on October 1, 2022 at 2:17 am

    Some people live their lives thinking there is no such thing as miracle… While others think that EVERYTHING HAPPENING AROUND THEM IS A MIRACLE. Think about it… In this vast universe there’s a tiny planet named earth in which you are born as one of the only race which can speak think and possess remarkable intelligence.. or think about one of the theories of physics just getting reversed…

  17. Merlyn Schutterle on October 1, 2022 at 2:18 am

    What is that stupid music doing? Why do you think that improved anything? It’s annoying. You get a thumbs down for that.

  18. Dave Slingeth on October 1, 2022 at 2:21 am

    1 Yeah, so far I agree, they may not be miracles, just mere coincidences. But remember that God sees all those branches, and He guides us towards good (not literally because we have free will, but by our conscience, surroundings, including miracles etc.)

    2 In fact, there have been countless documented medical cases for miraculous (even overnight) healings (mainly from fatal diseases) acknowledged by doctors. One famous one is the case of Padre Pio, who was given Jesus’ stigmas (20th September, 1918), meaning his hands and feet (yet was able to work normally) were bleeding for 50 years without ever becoming infected or, you know, killing him. The bleeding stopped and the stigmas disappeared exactly 50 years later, only two days before his death in 1968.
    Or have you heard about Saint Rita, whose 600-year-old, incorruptible body is on display in a glass coffin in Cascia, Italy.

    3 This coin, too, is two-sided: God does help us (everyone), however, He’s not like a vending machine (you get what you ask for). He won’t just lead us right to success, we have to strive ourselves as well.
    Btw, the perception and evaluation of miracles in the case of atheists is called deliberate blindness. It means that they don’t want to notice the miracle even if it happens before their own eyes. They won’t accept it, because, well, they don’t want to. They will always search for a loophole no matter what. They are ready to deny scientific evidence. "

    4 This is simply not true. Let me mention just a few:
    First, you’re maybe familiar with the Shroud of Turin that was used to cover the face of Jesus inside the tomb. The blood stains were examined by a group Italian scientists (who were skeptical about its miraculous nature to say the least), and they found that there were no male chromosomes present in it. Now, this is impossible if Mary had had sex with Joseph (or any other human for that matter). This proves Mary’s parthenogenesis.
    Second, have you heard about the blood miracle of Saint Januarius? The story basically goes like this: He was the bishop of Benevento in the 4th century AD. He lived during the great persecution of Christians. He was caught by the guards of the emperor, and because he refused to make sacrifices to pagan gods, he was beheaded near Solfatara. A woman collected his blood into two glad vials. The miracle is that the blood – defying chemistry – keeps liquefying and recurdling since its first recorded case in 1389. If that’s not enough, it also defies physics! When the content of the two vials were carefully examined, the scientists once found that when the miracle happened the mass of the blood increased, however its weight decreased. Now, I’m sure we all know Newton’s second law of motion by heart. It states that weight and mass are in direct proportionality with each other, meaning if one increases, the other does too.
    Finally, try reading about the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, Portugal.
    In conclusion, I think of miracles not as things that we can’t yet explain, but rather things that go against already well-explained natural laws.

    5 It doesn’t work that way; miracles are not some kind of toys of God. They are physical signs of His presence in our lives. He loves us so much, that He occasionally manifests Himself in tangible ways. And we don’t have to fear death, as it can’t hold us captive forever anymore since Christ opened Heavens gates by His death and Resurrection.

  19. Chandru Shamdasani on October 1, 2022 at 2:21 am

    It’s all settle, Jesus is my saviour. , I believe Jesus that settles it. Quit a to heudm and find answers in th we Bible. Hi BB to be salvation a to my CV service as, they are good.
    Yo yo VC at we nonsense.

  20. Jahid on October 1, 2022 at 2:22 am

    you don`t beieve in miracle then what is your belief in big bang? Wasn`t it a miracle?

  21. Mars2028 on October 1, 2022 at 2:23 am

    The media will call anything a miracle to increase ratings. One of my first experiences with this was in the mid 90s when a major tornado outbreak hit south Florida. During the afternoon rush hour multiple tornadoes tore across five counties in south Florida. Dozens of homes were destroyed and one tornado even crossed a major highway launching several cars into a nearby swamp. More than a hundred people were taken to local hospitals. Amazingly when the storm finally fizzled out no one had been killed. Local churches, including one that lost its roof in the storm, started calling it a miracle that no one died. The local media started reporting this and soon stories about the "miracle in south Florida" started being broadcast all over the country. And it wasn’t just Christian media doing this. NBC nightly news ran a story called south Florida’s miracle. The real reason no one died is a lot more believable. The national weather service’s satellites and ground based weather radar saw the storm developing over the Everglades. With this information the national weather service was able to issue tornado warnings for the counties ahead of the storm. Local TV and radio stations got the warnings out to people in time for most of them to seek shelter before the storm hit. None of that changes the fact that a lot of people got hurt and many people lost everything in what was at the time the most expensive tornado outbreak in Florida history.

  22. David Hoshour on October 1, 2022 at 2:23 am

    My way of explaining unexplainable events, healings, etc. I think that there is no God. of course. But I do believe that there is magic. Also there are 2 forms of magic good or light magic that religious organizations use and bad or dark magic like witchcraft, vudu etc.

  23. ashton lambert on October 1, 2022 at 2:24 am

    הנה הוא בא בעננים; וְכָל עֵין תִּרְאֶה אוֹתוֹ וְגַם הַנִּקְרוּ אוֹתוֹ וְכָל מִנְיוֹת הָאָרֶץ יִבְלוּ עָלָיו. למרות זאת, אמן

  24. Luis Galindo on October 1, 2022 at 2:24 am

    Can someone tell me why since I was a kid never believed that crap about god, Jesus,angels and satan even though my family is so sick Christian? Why are there so few like me?

  25. ashton lambert on October 1, 2022 at 2:24 am

    כל מיני חטאים וחילול קודש יסלחו לבני אדם; אבל חילול הקודש לרוח הקודש לא יסלח לבני אדם

  26. ecbenny J on October 1, 2022 at 2:25 am

    Nothing has anything to do with god. It’s just being at the right place at the right time. It happens to us all. In other words, we get LUCKY from time to time.

  27. Adrian Millard on October 1, 2022 at 2:27 am

    The music reminds me of an old C64 game called The Secret of Monkey Island.

  28. pauline coburn on October 1, 2022 at 2:29 am

    What is the terrible music behind this

  29. Jinkismale on October 1, 2022 at 2:33 am

    brother i a have a question is black majic miracle or how black majic works.which wims majic and science

  30. ashton lambert on October 1, 2022 at 2:33 am

    Everyone who reads this comment will one day see Jesus. Every eye will see Him. Even those who have pierced Him.

  31. Turbochad on October 1, 2022 at 2:33 am

    I do have to ask about your take on Eucharistic miracles? Do you think that they are more interesting as a potential piece of “evidence” or do you think that they are easily “dismissible” and if so, why or why not?

  32. Natsu Satsujinki on October 1, 2022 at 2:34 am

    I’ve literally been playing a game and declared that God couldn’t stop me. With no explanation but God strengthening my faith, I hit the ground on the game. There were no enemies. Q

  33. michael merritt on October 1, 2022 at 2:36 am

    it’s so easy to say that miracles don’t exist when you don’t believe in them. It’s easy to say that God doesn’t exist when you don’t believe in God. It’s easy to deny religion when you decide not to believe in religion. So what exactly is atheism nothing more than a choice not to believe something based on personal choice. I’m sorry that you’ve never experienced a miracle. Or maybe you can finally believe that God does exist as do miracles. Just take that one step.

  34. Margie Smith on October 1, 2022 at 2:41 am

    No offence but the music is way to distracting almost so loud I lose my concentration on what your saying. I think if you lowered or had something less active my ADHD would not kick in .

  35. Glenn Jerome Everette on October 1, 2022 at 2:42 am

    What about synchronicity?

  36. Traed Moch on October 1, 2022 at 2:42 am

    I believe in miracles. And Smokey Robinson.

  37. Viking drengen spiders on October 1, 2022 at 2:44 am

    This does not disprove mirecals at all i’ve experinced them somone talling me something about me that she couldn’t have known

  38. Audrey Foote on October 1, 2022 at 2:46 am

    Miracles are a belief and should be seen a such.

  39. Carolina Platas on October 1, 2022 at 2:47 am

    Can you do an updated video bur focus more on eucharistic miracles where there has been blind investigations and proven scientifically

  40. Homestead Homie on October 1, 2022 at 2:49 am

    my buddy is a very religious person. he lives by what the bible says. he told me that one day he was at Applebee’s eating his favorite salad and having a tall glass of his favorite beer. he then said "god" spoke to him and said that will be the last beer you will ever drink. and as he was taking drinks, it kept tasting worse and worse with each drink. he said he knew from that point on, alcohol would never touch his lips again!! true story! and don’t get me started on how he "heals" people!! SMDH!

  41. Vipul Lakkad on October 1, 2022 at 2:52 am

    Your way of speaking is not good

  42. God of the gaps on October 1, 2022 at 2:52 am

    The only miracle is the jewish superstition is still a thing in 2021.

  43. Margie Smith on October 1, 2022 at 2:53 am

    frustrating to hear someone say they had to the hospital and they got through some surgery or sickness. They come out of the hospital and praise god for the miracle. Never saying to thank the doctors and nurses who actually helped the person.

  44. Malik Hoff on October 1, 2022 at 2:55 am

    there is no GOD

  45. John Manyu on October 1, 2022 at 2:58 am

    God loves you brother, Jesus Christ is waiting for you.

  46. Elie on October 1, 2022 at 3:00 am

    Mar charbel fad walid dumb and astrology. No such things as miracles all hallucinations. Fene b kl sohole 2ol law mesh mn wara el meshkle bl madrase 3ajibe jot 3a dhour cheouir seret atheist. Law 7atoone ahle rasmeye meshkle w seret b louazie t2arabet 3a Allah fene 2ol 3ajibe

  47. Richard Clark on October 1, 2022 at 3:00 am

    Well did you hear what he said ( may not be actually miraculous. ) he’s not quite sure of himself. He knows there is an all powerful GOD. He just doesn’t want to admit it. He is trying to cover his guilt
    With human reasoning . Like when cain
    Killed able GOD asked cain , where is your brother able ? cain said he didn’t know and he also said if he was his brothers keeper. Cain knew ,but he thought he could lie to GOD .just like
    People today ,they think they can lie to GOD.

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