A Primer on Christian Miracles
A Primer on Christian Miracles
In Acts 19 we have a description of the Apostle Paul doing some of the most amazing miracles in the book of Acts. These miracle descriptions both lead to faith and doubt in contemporary people. How can we get our minds around the relationship between miracles and faith today?
I always hear The Book of Acts as The Book of Axe. Well, I work a lot with an axe as I clear our summer house property from dead or otherwise ugly trees, so that may contribute to the matter. Is there a lot of weeding done in The Book of Acts?
Most Christians I would say claim some sort of personal miraculous revelation experience. This is an important technique because such experiences cannot be proven false and end up serving as a foundation for unquestioning adherence. While I do think in many cases miracles are intentional deceit (as in the gospel accounts, or perhaps the Shroud of Turin, or the more obscure Miracle of Lanciano), I think for many people these "miracles" take the form of feeling the presence of God during prayer, and being inspired to make a change, having a euphoric feeling of forgiveness and redemption, and so on. There are also miraculous-seeming visions that can appear in dreams, or a near-sleep dreamlike state, or other events that might exhaust our sober thinking. There are also coincidences… reading scripture and finding it surprisingly relevant to our lives, or hearing a sermon that touches intimately on our immediate concerns. Lastly there is the sensation of awe that might be found for example, when surrounded by nature, in a forest, on a mountaintop, in the ocean. For all of these there are skeptical explanations that are likely more accurate. My desire is not to strip the world of all its luster, which it retains, but only to keep us grounded in what is real.
Enjoy your holiday. God bless you.
I feel blessed to have actually vitnessed miracles. I saw back problems fixed, people with too short of an arm and leg have them extended, I felt a dislocated elbow fall in to place.
Why did I get to witness this? Probably because my faith is weak and these miracles have helped me not become an atheist. As I’ve acquired scientific titles in academia the memories of miracles have reminded me of God.
Canadian Rockies are amazing. Interior BC and Banff are breathtaking. As a Canadian it was tough not to stay forever.
A life of searching, that’s how I feel.
Enjoy Canada Paul!
Keener is a brilliant Biblical scholar but his stuff on miracles isn’t very compelling to me. When you look into the cases they’re somewhat laboured.
Hello My Lovelies ❤❤❤
Bart Ehrman is a good scholar, but a rotten preacher! You can’t promote Christianity or any other faith, in the framework of the French Enlightenment … which is mostly noted for the croissant (fave of Queen Marie Antoinette) and the guillotine (fave of Maximilien Robespierre). People, both modern and ancient, are exactly like the Pharisees who tested Jesus over miracles … only worse! Their attempt to summon a miracle, are straw men of deceit.
Thanks Paul. Luke 18: 18 to 29 and Luke 19: 1 to 9 are quite a contrast. In between the two is the story of the blind beggar….. maybe Bartimaeus? Both the beggar receiving his sight and a rich man giving half his possessions to the poor are miraculous in their own ways.
Word. So much to chew on, thank you! I’ve always heard the rich young ruler framed as disingenuous in his questioning, like “yeah sure I’ve kept all of those commandments”, a caricature meant to highlight our need for grace because obviously no one can keep all of the commandments. I think what you say here makes a lot more sense in terms of a real person and not a caricature, a real human who is seeking God and leaves confused that his old map doesn’t fit as Jesus looks on and loves him.
If crossing over to BC stirs some repressed pagan instincts (pun intended) please hug one of the giant trees for me. I wish I can manage to go there see them myself someday. And thank you, this sermon was a great one.
Following the rabbit trail of Bart Ehrman. Thanks for the lead.
Beautiful Paul, thank you. Enjoy your stay in the rockies :).
I wonder why miracles dislike cameras. Also, can you tell me which camera you are using for streaming? Thank you <3
Enjoy your holiday! We will miss you but look forward to a fully refreshed PVK in the near future.
Half relevant, do you know if John Calvin was a sucessionist? I was surprised to see him say in the Institutes that people in his day no longer received the miraculous gifts (toungues, healing, etc.).
All the best, Paul, for your well deserved holiday. Watch out for them bears.