Do You Believe In Miracles?

Well do you? 

In an AP article entitled, Many Think God's Interventions Can Revive the Dying, Lindsey Tanner explores the nebulous and sometimes tenuous landscape of faith and medicine. 

Of course to the post-Enlightenment rational mind miracles are largely disavowed since they cannot be explained scientifically.  Yet there have been plenty of recorded medical miracles that would seem to assert that on specific occasions the science will just not add up.

Part of the challenge is that I think that we often define a miracle much to narrowly.  For many a miracle is a person who lost a limb growing a new one, or someone who had been declared dead in every way suddenly reanimating back to the land of the living.  But how about the single parent who gets up every day and plays both mother and father to three children, works two jobs and volunteers in a variety of civic or religious institutions and manages not to curse God for their life's circumstances.  I think miracles happen every day but we have just become so sedated to life and so consumed with our own ability to do and be.

I remember the day I found out that my 30-year-old brother had died.  I rushed to the hospital praying all the way that perhaps his death was a mistake.  Upon arrival I was taken back to the room where he was laid out.  I remember wanting to beat on his chest and tell him to get up, and then screaming internally to God, "You can do this God!  It's easy for you!  Bring my brother back to life!"

Do I believe that God could have done it?  With all my heart. 

I remember last August when the phone call came that informed me that my best friend died at the ripe old age of 36.  Oh how I anguished and shook my fists at God.  Could God have saved him.  I believe it without a doubt.  It seemed so senseless.  Then a few weeks later his youngest son came down with the same [treatable disease].  It was his father's sickness and eventual death that might have well been the key to saving his son's life.  Could God have saved both of them?  I believe without a doubt!

I think part of our western struggle comes not from a belief in the miraculous but from our sense of entitlement.  After all, we are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, aren't we.  The truth is: we are entitled to nothing.  Life is a gift.  A gift to be used to serve and love our neighbor and the marginalized.  Yet most of our lives are fixated on consumption and self gratification.  Perhaps the reason that we don't see miracles more is that we have forgotten how to live humbly. 

Have you ever wondered why we hear of so many miracles happening in 3rd world countries?  It's hard to be too proud [and I am using the term proud in an negative prideful way] when you are looking up from the bottom.  The poor and the marginalized are hungry, desperate, and willing to risk being misunderstood.  Perhaps that's why the majority of Jesus' miracles were done among the poor, disenfranchised and marginalized of his day.  They we're hungry for something that the rest of the power brokers of Jesus' had largely lost their appetite for awed by the miraculousness of their own ability to self-sooth and self-medicate with wealth, position, and power.

The Associated Press article quotes Pat Loder of my home state and locale.  Pam went through the mind numbing and soul wrenching agony of losing two small children to a freak accident; something I cannot imagine enduring.  While she clung to the belief that God could heal her children, sadly and tragically both of them ended up succumbing to their injuries.  When asked about her belief in miracles now, Pat says something incredibly insightful. " I have become more of a realist....I know that none of us are immune from anything."  Friends, I don't take that to mean that Pat has lost her faith.  Perhaps through her encountering with an unimaginable suffering she has encountered the One who suffered unimaginably for her and her two beautiful children.

Do I believe in miracles...without question!  In fact I'm praying right now for a young man named Todd.  And, I would ask you to please join me in praying for him.  I've been playing the song "Healer" all afternoon in the background on iTunes.  It is one of the most powerful songs I have heard in a long long time.

Peace,

Eric

Comments

[Eric]

Well Kevin, here we go. I’m tired and find myself at the end of a long day. So here are some of my initial thoughts. I thought it would be helpful to place my comments within the text of yours so that I could follow better your train of thought. I hope you don’t mind.

Kevin....
Do I believe in miracles? No. I do not believe in miracles, as defined by an act where God suspends natural law. I reject the idea of miracles, not just because there is no reasonable proof, but because the existence of miracles would contradict the image of God revealed by Jesus.

Eric...
Ok Kevin, we’re just going to have to agree that we’re not going to squabble over “proof” whatever that may be to both you and I. Science, while a gift of God and a useful tool to explain many phenomena, is not the supreme arbiter of truth. We may just have to agree to disagree here. If that makes me naive and a simpleton, then so be it. I think there is an arrogance that is birthed out of the Enlightenment and the age of reason that presumes that for anything to be understood it must be understood rationally. Also, not sure what you mean by “I reject the ideas of miracles….because the existence of miracles would contradict the image of God revealed by Jesus.” I guess to get at this I would need to understand the vantage point from which you understand Jesus. If, you accept the traditional and historic position of the catholic [read universal] church, then I would have to say Jesus being both God and man…well, miracle.

Kevin...
Jesus embodied compassion. He also revealed God to us through the ordinary everyday realities of life. Did extraordinary things seem to happen? Yes. Jesus made us see God where others saw no God. If natural law was suspended then "objectively" all would see the phenomenon.

Eric...
Again, “Jesus embodied compassion”? Yes, but in what sense to you mean? What was the motive behind that compassion? Niceness? Thoughtfulness? Empathy? I completely agree with the statement that Jesus “revealed God to us through the ordinary everyday realities of life” But I’m not sure I follow your next sentence: “did extraordinary things seem to happen.” Jesus, at least in my opinion isn’t an illusionist.

Kevin...
Does faith change things? Yes. Extraordinary change (ex: many forms of faith healings) do not require the suspending natural law. What about the miracles in the bible? Critical analysis of the biblical miracles show that they are not historically reliable, but are literary devises to explain Jesus.

Eric...
Here seems to be the real meat of the analysis. It seems that I can’t use any of the miracles in the Scriptures to suggest that they do in fact exist and happen from time to time because you say that they are merely literary devices. I am aware of the existence of the critical analysis and have studied it quite extensively myself, but I just haven’t been able to reach the conclusions reached by many of the authors. Do I take the Bible literally…well yes and no. There are plenty of places where metaphor, hyperbole, and mythic story are injected into the text. But loving God and neighbor for instance, or serving and caring for widows and orphans, doing justice loving mercy, walking humbly, leave little to debate or imagination. Take for example the Genesis account of creation. I believe it is absurd to try to use Genesis as a scientific document from which to argue against Darwinian evolution. Not to mention the fact that if Moses did indeed write the entire Torah, how could he have been present to witness the events of prehistory that he was instructed to record. Not by personal experience but by revelation and mythic narrative; stories told throughout the generations in an oral culture until it was one day written down.

Kevin...
Did the writers believe in the supernatural? Absolutely. Jesus probably did as well. He also believed many 1st Century ideas that we would not hold today.

Eric...
True, can’t really argue with that. But again, I think that we need to be careful about the arrogance of our “modern” view of things versus a premodern view of things. I think that history has shown pretty consistently that just because we’re smarter, more technologically advanced and industrialized doesn’t mean that humanity is any better off. The 20th century for example was one of the bloodiest on record. But, I’m sure one could argue against that as well.

Kevin...
How can Jesus reveal God (be God incarnate) and not know everything? Ask the writer of Luke (Luke 8:45). We added this requirement to our idea of divinity.

Eric...
Again, your comment leads me to believe that you reject the idea of Jesus as “God in the flesh.” I do, however, believe in the historic confessions of the Church and its Scriptures that Jesus was both God and man…i.e. Nicene Creed and Paul’s Christ Hymn in Philippians. Understanding this, from at least my point of view, I see no tension suggesting that Jesus’ knowledge, in the flesh, was somewhat limited or at the very least veiled during his earthly life and ministry. I believe in no way that the “baby” Jesus had a mind that was anything more that an infant mind subject to human development. As far as “knowing everything” I guess I would have to ask the question does foreknowledge equal causation. If you know something before hand, say that a hot stove will burn a small child’s hand, and that said child touches it after being warned that it’s hot, does that mean that you caused the burn? I think not.

Kevin...
How can we believe that God allows human and animal suffering, and created the organic diversity through the struggle for life (natural selection)? Humans may get eternal life, but what about animals? What about prehuman species?

Eric...
As far as who “gets in” if that’s what you’re asking. Well I am comfortable with leaving that arena open to God and simply committing my life to embodying the Kingdom of God in the way of Jesus in order that when people see my life, in all of it’s messiness, in some of the better moments, they might see Christ in me.

Kevin...
Our tradition tells us that God is revealed by what God does. Logically we can also understand God by what God doesn't do. If God can suspend natural law, and suffering exists, then God is not compassionate. God revealed in Jesus is compassionate; therefore God does not suspend natural law because God can't. How can there be something God cannot do? God cannot sin. God cannot do evil. God cannot lie. God cannot suspend natural law because that is the nature of God, and the universe God made.

Eric...
Ah the age-old question of omnipotence paradox: Can God make a rock that is too big for God to move? Can God change God’s mind? Can God never lie? Well the Scriptures imply that on certain occasions God might seem to at least some of the above. Titus suggests that God cannot lie when it comes to his promise of eternal life at least. Hebrews 6 seems to imply that when God, who is greater than we, makes an oath, in this context an Abrahamic one, God cannot lie, cannot renege on God’s promise. The idea of God limiting Godself seems completely reasonable to me; if for example God really does desire to be in relationship with human beings then God would in some way, at least marginally limit Godself to interact with finite creatures.

Kevin...
If by miracles you mean God revealed in our lives, then I believe in miracles. I believe in the power of love, beauty, compassion, truth, justice, etc...

Eric...
Amen my friend, sincerely amen!

Kevin...
And I believe that Jesus exemplified these for us. That is why I follow him. None of these "miracles" requires the suspension of natural law, nor the existence of a compassionless God. I hope you agree or have some suggestion on how to reconcile the two ideas (suffering and God's compassion)

Eric...
Hey Kevin, there many out there who can argue the theodicy question much better that I. Some great authors who have tackled these things N.T. Wright, William Abraham, Greg Boyd, Richard Swineburne just to name a few. For as many authors as there are on either side of the issue there are some great and helpful reads on both sides of the debate. All I will say is that I do believe that one can believe in a compassionate and loving God and believe and accept the presence of suffering in the world. Just to use a human flawed example: I would never want my own children to suffer, but there are some things that they will walk into, do themselves, and experience that as much as I would rather they not, they will experience. Does that make me a bad or not good or unloving parent? I don’t think so.

Let’s keep the conversation going. Thanks for the good stuff. I don’t get to do this often enough!

Peace my friend,

E

[Eric]

Wow, Kevin, let me ruminate on that a bit. You seemed to have solved the age old theological question of theodicy: why does suffering exist if God is good.

Seriously, good stuff here. I just want to chew before I respond.

Peace to you.

E

[Kevin]

Do I believe in miracles? No. I do not believe in miracles, as defined by an act where God suspends natural law. I reject the idea of miracles, not just because there is no reasonable proof, but because the existence of miracles would contradict the image of God revealed by Jesus.

Jesus embodied compassion. He also revealed God to us through the ordinary everyday realities of life. Did extraordinary things seem to happen? Yes. Jesus made us see God where others saw no God. If natural law was suspended then "objectively" all would see the phenomenon.

Does faith change things? Yes. Extraordinary change (ex: many forms of faith healings) do not require the suspending natural law.

What about the miracles in the bible? Critical analysis of the biblical miracles show that they are not historically reliable, but are literary devises to explain Jesus.

Did the writers believe in the supernatural? Absolutely. Jesus probably did as well. He also believed many 1st Century ideas that we would not hold today.

How can Jesus reveal God (be God incarnate) and not know everything? Ask the writer of Luke (Luke 8:45). We added this requirement to our idea of divinity.

How can we believe that God allows human and animal suffering, and created the organic diversity through the struggle for life (natural selection)? Humans may get eternal life, but what about animals? What about prehuman species?

Our tradition tells us that God is revealed by what God does. Logically we can also understand God by what God doesn't do. If God can suspend natural law, and suffering exists, then God is not compassionate.

God revealed in Jesus is compassionate; therefore God does not suspend natural law because God can't.

How can there be something God cannot do? God cannot sin. God cannot do evil. God cannot lie.

God cannot suspend natural law because that is the nature of God, and the universe God made.

If by miracles you mean God revealed in our lives, then I believe in miracles. I believe in the power of love, beauty, compassion, truth, justice, etc... And I believe that Jesus exemplified these for us. That is why I follow him. None of these "miracles" requires the suspension of natural law, nor the existence of a compassionless God.

I hope you agree or have some suggestion on how to reconcile the two ideas (sufferring and God's compassion)

Sincerely,

Kevin