Christianity through a study of Luke and Acts

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Rosie Murdoch L5R

Paper 1 - Christianity through a study of Luke and Acts

Title 1

(a)(i)Explain the term ‘miracle’

The term miracle is viewed in more ways than one depending on many factors. A Christian’s definition would be somewhat different to that of a non-religious person’s. The Chambers Family Dictionary defines a miracle as “a wonder, a prodigy, and a supernatural event - a mediaeval drama founded on Old or New Testament history or on the legends of the saints”. The term through a Christian’s eyes is a more religious one in which God plays a vital part. A Christian might describe a miracle as “an event that happens through an act of God. God’s work becomes clearly seen in an unexpected way such as an answered prayer. Miracles don’t break the laws of nature they are signs that God is at work”. A typical non Christian’s definition might be “when something good happens to anyone whether Christian or not. It is just a coincidence and they rarely occur. Whether a person is religious or not everyone has an equal chance of one happening to them”.

(a)(ii)Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles giving examples from Luke’s Gospel.

Jesus was a performer of miracles. In Luke’s Gospel he tells us that Jesus performed many different types of miracle. Jesus performed miracles for a number of reasons. He wanted to show people that he was the Son Of God. The miracles showed God was working through him in a special way and that he was the true Messiah. Universalism also plays a big part in why Jesus performed miracles. He wanted to help everyone no matter what they looked liked or how they acted, he knew that everyone was equal and wanted to prove he had nothing against anyone, he did this by healing anyone who came to him no matter what their background.

To be a follower of Jesus, faith is essential; he implied this in all the miracles he performed. The people were cured because of their faith in Jesus. Today, if a Christian is sick, they must remember to have faith in Jesus in the hope to be healed. Also to have faith in Jesus is to receive a place in the spiritual Kingdom -the Kingdom of God. It is a key concept in Christianity, in which God has the reign over all things. To have faith in Jesus is the only way of entering, so it is very important for Christians today.

Jesus’ Nature Miracles showed his power over nature. This included walking on water and calming a fierce storm. Another example of this is the Feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:12-17). In this miracle Jesus feeds 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. This would be impossible for any human being to do. However, this miracle shows God’s power breaking into the world through Jesus. It shows that nothing is impossible for God. The fact that 5,000 people followed him already showed that they had faith in him and that he had succeeded in showing people he was the Messiah. It shows the people are physically satisfied as there are 12 baskets of leftovers, however before they ate the food, Jesus thanked God as it also shows the people are spiritually satisfied. This miracle can encourage Christians to pray in seemingly hopeless situations. Also Jesus’ actions here are the same as those that he performed at the Last Supper which shows this miracle has Eucharistic Significance.

Jesus’ physical healing miracles showed his power over physical illness, this included blindness, deafness and dumbness. An example of this is The Centurion’s Servant (Luke 7:1-10).This physical healing shows that God’s power is so strong in Jesus that he can heal someone who is on the point of death. It was written in the Old Testament (Isaiah) that the Messiah will heal the sick, so this demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah. It also tells us that Jesus only has to say a word and his authority is so great that he can heal the Centurion’s servant even at a distance. The fact Jesus was not physically there with the servant gives Christians hope today if they are ill because now that he is not physically with them he can still help them if they have faith. The man is a Gentile but Jesus still helped him because Jesus came to offer salvation to all people, this is a good example of universalism.

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Jesus’ Exorcisms showed Jesus’ power over evil spirits. People believed these spirits were because of the devil and often caused illness and mental disorders. His casting out of demons was a sign of the Kingdom of God. When he cured the diseased, it showed the Kingdom of God defeating the powers of darkness. An example of this is the boy with epilepsy and a demon (Luke 9:38-43). This physical healing again shows God’s overwhelming power in Jesus to heal such a disease. Just by commanding the evil spirit to leave the boy was enough. Jesus did not have to touch the boy thus showing how great his ability really is. The fact that he did it in front of a crowd shows he has no doubt about his healing. Jesus does say to the people how they are wrong because they believed his disciples could drive the illness out, when they should know that Jesus is the only one powerful enough to do so. However, he still cares enough to heal the boy without a fuss. This is another good example of universalism because although he may be cross at the people he still is there for them and knows that they are in need of help.

Jesus’ Raising to life miracles show his power over death. This included the widow of Nain’s son and Lazarus. Another example of this is the raising to life of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:49-56). In this miracle everyone’s hopes were shattered because they knew there was nothing they could do as the girl was dead. This miracle shows Jesus is the Son of God and the true Messiah as he can do anything no matter how great or small, he is so powerful he can even bring the dead back to life. In this miracle Jesus gives Christians the hope of eternal life, and also because he himself rose from the dead, he wants the people who believe in him for them too to have eternal life in heaven. He wants people to believe that he can do anything even as great as raising the dead. This miracle gave the people hope, that if they believe in him and faith they too can be raised from the dead to live forever.

In Luke, Jesus performed many different types of miracles - Nature, Physical, Exorcisms and Raising to Life. They showed the world that he had great authority and power as the Messiah and as the Son of God. However, they were not just for show, they had significance. Every miracle he performed had a message, not just to show universalism and teach others to do so, but also to show the Kingdom of God defeating all illnesses and overcoming evil.

Bibliography

R.S File

Good News Bible

Luke Textbook

Internet sites:

Paper 1- Christianity through a study of Luke and Acts

Title 1

(B)Discuss the meaning of healing miracles with reference to present day belief and Christian life.

Miracles are a fundamental part of Luke’s gospel and some Christians would argue that they form a major influence in modern day worship. Jesus’ miracles express his kind-hearted and selfless nature and his power is shown greatly as he breaks all physical laws. The teachings implied in his miracles are important for Christians today to follow and reflect on.

Jesus’ miracles were a demonstration of God’s salvation and compassion. Christians believe that Jesus performed miracles both to help people by doing good works in the world and to show that he was special. Christians believe the miracles prove that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah and the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies.

Modern day Christians use miracles in worship. At church services they pray for miracles to occur in situations that seem hopeless for humanity to deal with. This corresponds to Christian belief. They believe God can, and does, intervene in people’s lives. This is a significant part of Christian understanding of God as a personal being.

When Christians pray for miracles, this also implies to them the idea that the motive must be pure and not for an egotistical reason. For example a Christian would not pray to win the lottery. Jesus had the ability to perform miracles as he was one with God and he did them for people in need, not for himself.

However, for many people, miracles have become hard to accept since science has disproved or explained many of them. Miracles appear to break the laws of science and so many people say that miracles don’t happen today so therefore they cannot exist. However, many Christians still consider miracles to be very important today, as they demonstrate who Jesus really was. They believe that the miracles were one of the few things that convinced others that he was the Son of God through the power that he had.

Christians in society today can learn a lot from the miracle stories and go about their life living accordingly. When Jesus heals a paralysed man (Luke 5:17-26) he is proving to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that he has the authority and the ability to forgive sins, ‘“Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”… “I will prove to you then that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” “I tell you get up, pick up your bed and go home!” At once the man got up’. This teaches Christians today to follow his example and find forgiveness for those who have sinned. Christians learn that everyone deserves a chance and that they should not be selfish and hold a grudge.

The healing of the leper (Luke 5:12-16) teaches Christians to follow Jesus’ example and reach out to those who are on the edge of society and to accept everyone equally without discrimination. It teaches Christians to help people in need and there are many ways in which they can do this.

The healing of the centurion’s servant (Luke7:1-10) teaches Christians that they do not have to be physically with someone to help them as Jesus just said the words and the servant was healed. They can help by sharing their wealth and giving away some of their belongings to charity shops for example. This is still helping the needy without physically being there with them.

Some Churches today also run healing services. Christians go to these services for many reasons, they may be for personal prayer for mind, body and spirit or they may be praying for someone close to them who is suffering in some way. Several go as they want to receive communion, or to hopefully become healed as many believe.

Christians go to healing services to be at one with God, although people are unable to predict if a miracle may happen or not, many marvellous healings have taken place in the past. The service can be done in many ways and takes many forms - physical, spiritual, emotional, relationships etc. The service may be done by laying on of hands, anointing with oil or by holding someone’s hands, these are all the power of touch which is a way in which Jesus performed many of his healing miracles. It can also be a time of prayer or there may be singing or chants. When the churches perform these healings, many Christians claim that they can feel God’s power resting on them. Those who minister spiritual healing are channels of God’s love. They are following Jesus’ example.

As miracles can still occur today, many places of pilgrimage are popular for miraculous healings. Lourdes in the south of France is a place of pilgrimage and ‘no one leaves Lourdes without a gain in faith’. If those are not cured they still go away with more faith. John Trayner was paralysed very badly but he always had faith in the blessed virgin and was determined to join pilgrimage. He wanted to go to Lourdes and was determined although his family and friends begged him not to. He bathed in the water there and he was healed. He claimed he had been cured because of his faith and determination.

In conclusion, Christians today still relate back to Jesus’ miracles and learn from them. They relate to them in their lives and follow his example to help others. The belief in miracles helps to provide a practical focus for Christians, in that they feel encouraged to pray for others. It also provides support for Christians, as it demonstrates God’s compassion for the world and his involvement in it.

Paper 1- Christianity through a study of Luke and Acts

Title 1

Most Christians believe that miracles were performed by Jesus but many don’t believe they still happen today. There are numerous reasons for which we may think they happen today, there are places of pilgrimage that ‘heal’ people and physical healings in churches taking place across the world which seem indescribable. However, there are many reasons that make us think differently, there is no proof that the ‘miracles’ today are truly miracles and they could just be coincidences. Many people say that because they break the laws of nature, they are impossible.

Some people believe in miracles today for example if they have had an accident and they manage to survive they often say it was a miracle they were cured. This may not be seen as a miracle by other people as they may think it is just good medical care that cures them. However, occasionally these ‘miracles’ may be difficult to explain and appear not to work with the laws of Nature, just as Jesus’ miracles didn’t. For example a pastor from the south of England said that “there was a leak in a sulphuric acid container that came upon me that was so dangerous it could damage my body forever. I was getting scrubbed down. My legs were totally black. Something amazing happened. My legs were completely unharmed.”

Society today is much more scientifically based than it was when Jesus was alive. We nearly always need proof to believe that anything is real. If something cannot be proved, we think it is false, we need evidence. In biblical times, a lot of things had not been explained; therefore, they accepted any supernatural event more readily. Miracles today, have mostly been disproved, however, there have been a few occurring around the world that have been proven. For example, John Trayner who was paralysed very badly became cured.

However, Christians still have hope and look for signs that miracles can occur. Pilgrimages e.g. Lourdes and Santiago de Compastela, have had ‘miracles’ taking place and are still popular. Recently, many Catholics believed that a statue of the Virgin Mary had shed real tears. These examples may be justified or not, but they show that the psychological power of miracles remains strong for some people. Yet this may be a small minority compared to that in biblical times.

There are confirmed instances of miracles happening today. From these apparent instances it helps Christians to believe God still performs healing miracles even today. As it is said in the Bible (Hebrews 13:8) that Jesus is “the same yesterday and today and forever,” this tells us that Jesus will always be with us spiritually doing what he did 2000 years ago.

Christians who do not believe that miracles happen today will not be able to experience one as miracles are only real in the minds of people that choose to believe in Jesus and his miracles. They must have faith as this is essential in believing whether or not miraculous events still happen in the modern day. Jesus told this to many of the people he healed, e.g. the woman with the haemorrhage (Luke 8:43-48) “My daughter, your faith has made you well.” Christian’s today have faith, in the hope that they too will become healed by Jesus just as others did 2000 years ago.

Some people think of it in an entirely different way and think of reasons why healing miracles cannot happen. They believe that they go against the laws of nature and so they cannot happen. These people also do not consider that Jesus’ miracles went against the laws of nature. They are usually non-Christian as they do not believe in Jesus’ power to go against normality. Christians might say that it is not surprising that such people do not experience miracles, as they do not have faith.

There are many differences in those ‘healing miracles’ performed today and those of Jesus years ago. Non-believers may say that some people’s experiences with miracles at present may have been interpreted as a miracle because they are out of the ordinary, yet, they do not feel they are necessarily miracles. For example in one case “a man who was confined to a wheel chair is known to have walked out of a burning house, saving himself and some children.” Many people would regard this as impossible so as a result would believe it to be a miracle. However, it is known that some illnesses are ‘the product of the human mind’. Perhaps in this case there was never any illness. People are sometimes physically hurt, because they have been aggravated by psychic or emotional processes (psychosomatic illness). So in this case because he was in danger he tried to save himself resulting in him being ‘healed’ due to ‘auto-suggestion’ - there was nothing physically wrong, just mentally. ‘Faith healers do not heal by the Holy Spirit today. They only seem to cure when in reality there was no real physical problem.’ ()

I believe that Jesus performed miracles a long time ago. I do not believe that they can still be performed today as none of us in this world are Jesus and so I don’t believe that anyone else can perform miracles but him.

In conclusion, many people have different views on whether healing miracles are still present today. For some people they are still relevant today and form a big part in today’s society, for others they do not exist and aren’t important. This is possibly beause over the years, science has got in the way of miracles being easy to accept, therefore, the amount of people today still believing in them is far less then that in biblical times.