Miracles

Passage of the Red Sea via Wikipedia

From the Latin miraculum, a miracle could be defined as any event that inspires wonder.

In the Christian sense a miracle is anything caused by God’s deliberate spiritual intervention, and not through powers deemed “natural.” However, a miracle is not just an interior spiritual event. Often miracles are observed – or claim to be observed – in the physical world (e.g., miraculous healings).

Almost like a fantastic work of art, supernatural miracles often have a symbolic importance extending well beyond the physical event. Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, for example, could also point to the belief in Christ’s ability to save the spiritually dead and deliver them to everlasting life in heaven.

Jesus performs about 40 miracles. These consist of

• healing the sick
• casting out of demons (i.e. exorcisms), which often, but not always, involve mental and physical healing
• commanding nature to obey his will
• bringing the dead back to life

The Old Testament contains its fair share of miracles. Some of the more well-known miracles are

• the creation of the universe in Genesis
• the writing of the 10 Commandments in tablets of stone
• the parting of the Red Sea
• Daniel remaining untouched in the lions den

Many writers and religious scholars exhibit bias when trying to explain religious miracles through natural and observable scientific causes. The parting of the Red Sea, for instance, is commonly explained by the idea that the water level lowered naturally because strong winds came up just when Moses and the Israelites wanted to cross the waters and escape the Egyptians, who were in hot pursuit.

Likewise, the walls of the fort at Jericho coming tumbling down has been variously attributed to earthquake tremors and sound vibrations generated by the horns and trumpets of war.

A third position on miracles contends that the timing of the supernatural and the natural meaningfully coincide since God authors both for a purpose beyond ordinary human comprehension. This view suggests that the concepts of supernatural and natural may not be as discrete as commonly believed.

In popular culture, the hit song “Miracles” (1975) by Jefferson Starship spells out the importance of believing in miracles in order for them to occur, this especially so in the New Testament.

Search Think Free » Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs), Icon,  Saint, Thiering (Barbara), Synchronicity

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