Modern Day Miracles?

By Eddie Lawrence

A lot of religious people believe that miracles brought about by the power of God are being performed today just as they were in Bible times. Others claim that the days of miracles ended when the last of the New Testament apos­tles and prophets died and that miracles are no longer happening. Which is cor­rect?

If one is observant, one will quickly real­ize that these two groups aren't using the word miracle in the same way. Those who believe that miracles still happen today tend to use the word miracle in a way that is more inclusive of the events in question than those who don't think miracles still occur. For that matter, people in general tend to use the word miracle too loosely. For example, the birth of a baby is said by some to be a miracle. It certainly is won­drous how God has equipped the human body to reproduce after its own kind, but is it really a miracle?

If the truth is ever to be determined, we all must set aside how the word is used in general everyday speech and turn to the Scriptures to determine exactly what it means there. In addition to defining what a miracle is, does the Bible give any clues as to the traits of real miracles?

Acts 4 is an excellent passage of scrip­ture to help sort this question out. Peter and John are being called into question by the Jewish rulers because they had "taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (vs. 2). They had healed a man (in chapter 3) who had been lame since birth. The man couldn't walk but had to be carried every­where he went. God miraculously healed the man through Peter and John and he immediately leapt up having received strength in his feet and ankle bones. All the people present saw this man whom they knew to be lame now walking and leaping and so they eagerly listened to the preaching of Peter and John (Acts 3:1-10).

The council hears Peter and John's an­swers regarding their actions and then puts them outside so that they can confer among themselves privately. In Acts 4:16 the rulers make an astounding statement, "What shall we do to these men? For, in­deed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem , and we cannot deny it." This verse is rich with clues that will help us understand the traits and charac­teristics of a true miracle.

The first clue is in the definition of the word miracle itself. The Greek word used in Acts 4:16 that is translated into English as miracle is "semeion" (Strong's number 4592). In the context of the miraculous, the word is defined in Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon as "a sign, prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature". So, in order to qualify as a miracle, an event must be un­usual and transcend the common course of nature.

Qualifying trait number one:

A miracle is a supernatural event that violates or supersedes the laws of nature.

Next, notice in the passage that even those who opposed Jesus and His follow­ers could not honestly deny that a miracle had taken place "a notable miracle has been done… and we cannot deny it". When they were honest amongst them­selves, even the enemies of the Lord ad­mitted that miracles were being performed through His followers.

Qualifying trait number two:

True miracles cannot honestly be de­nied even by those in opposition.

The miracle that God's followers had performed was "evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem ". Miracles that were performed in the Bible weren't hidden away for just a few people to see. They weren't known of only through hearsay but were evident to all.

Qualifying trait number three:

Real miracles are evident to everyone and they pass the test of public scrutiny.

Many times it is claimed that a miracle has occurred when the circumstances sur­rounding the event are perhaps not well understood. For example, sometimes peo­ple will undergo a medical procedure and be given what at first appears to be bad news. After a more thorough medical ex­amination it turns out that all is well and the initial diagnosis was faulty. Another ex­ample could be the oft heard of situation where someone has positively been diag­nosed with a disease that later goes into remission.

In both examples, it often happens that those who have been praying for the per­son will conclude that a miracle has taken place. In the first case there was never a real problem to begin with and thus no miracle. In the second either the body's immune system has defeated the illness or remission is typical of the disease itself. Again, no miracle has taken place.

Certainly we want to give God the credit when someone recovers from an illness. God is the one who gave our body the power to heal itself. Through His provi­dence, and through ways we may not un­derstand, He can certainly bring marvel­ous things to pass. However, if we are go­ing to speak as the Bible speaks, we should take care in calling such events miracles.

If a modern day event cannot meet the three qualifications that are found in Acts 4:16, it cannot be called a miracle in the same sense that the word is used in the Holy Scriptures. &

Those Pesky Preconditions of Intelligibility

By Bob Myhan

Before there can be any intelligent dis­cussion of competing worldviews, there must be common ground. If the disputants cannot agree on what will con­stitute final authority, they will be at cross purposes in trying to prove their re­spective propositions. In other words, attempts at debating without a common final authority will be futile.

For example, if there is to be a debate concerning what the Bible teaches, the dispu­tants must agree to take the Bible as their final authority. But if there is to be a discussion over what the Book of Mormon teaches, that book must be agreed on as the final authority.

Thus, there can be no debate over com­peting worldviews, if the two sides cannot agree to a common final authority. In any debate, certain preconditions of intelligibil­ity must be assumed at the start. But these preconditions cannot be assumed arbitrar­ily.

Preconditions of intelligibility are condi­tions that must be assumed before any in­telligible discussion can be had. Two such preconditions were mentioned in the July 18, 2010 issue of Faithbuilder. They were logic and morality. Others are the uniform­ity of nature, personal dignity and freedom, the reliability of our senses and the reliabil­ity of memory.

No worldview can be consistently de­fended that does not provide justification for whatever preconditions of intelligibility it assumes. Atheism, for example, can pro­vide no justification for the use of logic or moral judgment. If matter is all that exists, then laws of logic do not exist and thought can exist only as an aspect of matter. Nor can there be any moral law independent of man if man is only matter in motion.

Deism, on the other hand, can provide justification for the use of logic, in that it maintains the existence of a greater being, who created man and gave man the ability to reason. But it cannot consistently as­sume a law of morality, because it main­tains that the Creator has not provided us with any such law—not in the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon nor any other book that is purported to be inspired.

Therefore, atheism cannot consistently make a logical defense of itself, and deism cannot consistently argue—on the basis of morality—against God, as He is described in the Bible.

In addition, deists aggressively deny the reality of miracles on the grounds of the uniformity of nature, though they have no justification for assuming the uniformity of nature. The Bible teaches that nature is, and shall remain uniform.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offer­ings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease." (Gen. 8:20-22)

Thus, the Bible believer has a basis for assuming the uniformity of nature. But the deist and atheist do not. For all they know, nature is not uniform, except where they have observed it to be so. &