David Hume was a Scottish philosopher and Historian who had very strong views on miracles. He defined miracles as, ‘a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.’ He believed that nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it ever happens in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die all of a sudden. But it is a miracle that a dead mean should come to life, because that has never been observed in any age or country. Therefore, there must be ‘a uniform experience against every miraculous event, otherwise the event would not merit that appellation. And as a uniform experience amounts to a proof, there is here a direct and full proof, from the nature of the fact, against the existence of any miracle; nor can such a proof be destroyed, or the miracle rendered credible, but by an opposite proof, which is superior.’
Healing ‘miracles’ happen all the time. It is possible to witness many of these taking place in a modern hospital. Some Christians however, believe that these miracles come about from advances in technology and not from God. But other Christians would advance on that, and say that these technological advances were a clear result of God’s inspiration in human beings.
No one can prove that miracles really do exist, but some Christians may believe they don’t exist because they feel the miracles are merely unusual happenings that can be explained by science. Those that do believe often describe this point of view as being cynical, but maybe it is just a practical point of view.
All Christians accept that there are some things that cannot be explained, but some Christians would not believe that these certain events were miracles. Instead they would put such events down to fate or luck, because no one really knows if miracles in the Bible really happened or if they were true. So, we can’t say that similar events from the Bible do not happen today. Also, people do not have proof that miracles really do exist, instead the ‘miracles’ might have been caused by accident.
More often than not, science can explain the majority of so-called miracles happening.
E.g. ‘Edith had a breast biopsy that showed a small spot of cancer, so she called for prayer cloth and once she received the cloth, she placed it on herself. She went back for another test and it came back normal – no cancer!’ Miracle believers would stress the fact, that the explanation of the cancer ‘disappearing’ would be due to God acting upon Edith. Whereas non-believers would state the fact that not everybody is perfect, and so everyone makes mistakes once in a while. Even Doctors come into this category. Therefore, the Doctor misdiagnosed the patient in the first place which would lead to the cancer ‘disappearing’ when she went back for another test, as there was no cancer to start off with.
Eg. ‘Brandon was in a terrible car accident that killed the 2 friends that he was with. The accident left Brandon in a coma with a cracked skull and internal bleeding. We heard of the accident through a staff member who is friends with him and prayed for him during our midweek service. Our staff member called to find an update on Brandon and was told that he had come out of the coma ½ hour after we had prayed and the doctors found nothing wrong with him! God is a Miracle Worker today and forever!’ Again, miracle believers would insist this was God acting onto Brandon to make him better and come out of the coma after friends and family had prayed for him. But, non-believers would argue and say that it was just a coincidence that he came out of the coma after friends and family praying for him, and not God acting upon him because of prayer being said for him.
E.g. ‘Her right hand was in pain (with a large spot) and when Pastor Ted prayed to the television audience, she was healed!’ Once again, miracle believers would stress the fact that the only explanation for this was because God was acting upon this woman to make her better. But, as with all things, Christians who don’t believe that miracles happen today would argue that the pain she had was psychological and not physical, and so, when she had prayed, the believed in herself that God was working upon her making her better. So, it was mind over matter as there was no physical problem to begin with.
To all of the above examples, Christians who believe in miracles would argue that miracles confirm the true message of Jesus Christ. If no one in a Christian’s church is getting changed (by miracles occurring) then they are involved in dead religion. Christians need to meet the Lord and the changes God produces are not confined to inward, spiritual changes but also includes physical changes. Miraculous healings occur more and more these days where many Christians pray as the Bible teaches them to pray. It is the bibles that teach Christians that there are such gifts called miracles. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 tells Christians what the Holy Spirit gives to people.
But, science can’t explain everything:
E.g. ‘A six-inch high porcelain statue began weeping tears of blood. The liquid staining the image is genuinely blood, and human at that. The Santiago coroner’s office pronounced the substance is type O-4 human blood. The statue weeps regularly, particularly in the presence of children.’ (The Guardian, UK, 4 December 1992)’ Doctors attached to the Police Criminal Investigation Department confirmed that the mysterious red liquid, which flowed from the eyes of the statue of the Virgin May, was indeed human blood. Dr Inelia Chacon stated that three samples of the liquid examined in a laboratory were shown to be blood.
Since 14th November 1992, when the tears of blood were seen for the first time, the modest home of Mrs Rodriguez had become the main attraction for residents of the district.
Weeping Statue of the Virgin Mary
Scientists are not able to prove that the statue bleeding was not a miracle, but instead may say that this was just a trick done by the people at the church where the statue came from. But, this seems unlikely, as the priests were hardly to lie about something like this.
Quite often, technology can save peoples’ lives.
*Alix Whitcomb – weighing nearly 8lbs
‘An American who has been in a coma for eight months after a car crash has given birth to a healthy baby daughter. Doctors at the University Hospital, Cincinnati delivered *Alix Whitcomb, weighing nearly 4kg (8lbs). They said she is one of the few known cases in the US, of a baby being carried for the full duration of a pregnancy by a comatose mother. The father of *Alix Whitcomb, claimed, ‘It’s a miracle’.’
The father of the child wrongly claimed it as being a miracle. It is not a miracle as the Scientists had the technology to save the baby girl. The mother was very unlucky, but the doctors helped the child by injecting minerals and using all the technology that they could use to help the child survive. If the doctors never helped, they would have been no way in knowing if the child would have survived or died. Some Christians would have probably said to trust in God, but, if we have the technology, it is better to do the best we can in saving the Child’s life rather than putting God to the test and wait to see what fate she would have had.
It is very difficult for Christians to choose whether miracles do or do not happen today. Instead, Christians should have faith in God and then He will make a miracle occur to a real follower and To a person who has a very strong faith in him, as according to the Bible, ‘Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)’, which implies God is working miracles today. But on the other hand miracles do not happen today as we have the technology to help us heal people and the science which can explain unusual happenings, which some Christians say were a clear result of God’s inspiration in human beings.