Miracles have been performed by others apart from Jesus both before and after his time on Earth. Moses divided the Red Sea with God’s power to help the Israelites escape the Egyptians, Exodus 14:22, “the waters were divided.” In Acts 3:7 a lame man was cured by Peter and enabled to walk after a lifetime of begging in the streets. Acts 4:16 explains the views of the people from the time that miracles were undeniable when Jesus and his disciples walked the earth, “Everyone in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle and cannot deny it.” This shows that because of the frequency of miracles and the number of people who witnessed them, they were accepted as works of God. However in recent times there have been less miracles. Either this or we are less willing to accept events as miracles and prefer to live our lives based on conclusive scientific facts.
The laws of nature as science dictates are the way in which we expect situations to unfold. When this is not the case and an extraordinary event occurs many explanations are offered but often there is not a logical interpretation available, so people turn to the intervention of God. Paul Little examines what we actually mean by the laws of the universe as he writes, “Laws cannot make anything happen. They are merely descriptions of what God makes happen.” This is an extremely valid point as God being the creator and sustainer of the universe has the power to do anything he wishes with his creation. The laws were put in place by him so should we find it so difficult to believe that he breaks them when it is necessary? It is impossible to find another explanation for these occurrences and as CS Lewis stated, “Christ demonstrated a power over natural forces that could only belong to God, the author of these forces.” If we believe that God created the universe we must also believe that he occasionally intervened in situations for his own purpose.
As AE Garvie writes, “A Christ who being the son of God, and seeking to become Saviour of men, (and) wrought no miracle, would be less intelligible and credible than the Jesus whom the gospel records so consistently present to us.” If Jesus did not have the power to defy nature there would be little reason in placing faith in him. His period in this world was used to demonstrate his power over natural forces and encourage those who were sceptical to believe. It was evidence of his identity and a demonstration of his authority over the universe even although he does say in scripture that he does not have to prove himself to mankind. The nature of his miracles such as raising people from the dead cannot be denied or explained logically. There were a great abundance of witnesses and he performed a substantial amount of miracles to make his intervention indisputable. However this was over two thousand years ago and since then we have become critical of people who claim to have experienced miracles as many accounts are proved false as people don’t always give truthful accounts. Even minus these circumstances there is still enough evidence to point towards inexplicable event still occurring today such as near-death experiences. A number of people have been pronounced clinically dead for lengths of time deemed impossible for a human to survive, and still made a full recovery. Medical knowledge cannot account for many of these happenings and cannot explain them as anything other than a miracle.
Bernard Ramm comments that, “If the raising of Lazarus was actually witnessed by John and recorded faithfully by him when still in soundness of faculties and memory, for purposes of evidence it is the same as if we were there and saw it.” The historical recording of such events is proof that they did in fact happen. The only way that this could not be true is if everyone who recorded miraculous works in the Bible is a liar and for most, this is even more difficult to believe than the occurence of miracles themselves. Five thousand people witnessed Jesus make five loaves and two fish feed the multitudes. Can they all be mistaken?
The extent of scientific knowledge is also questionable. It is a common presumption that our knowledge of the universe is complete which is not true. New theories are being offered continually and with so many questions regarding the way our universe works left unanswered we should not assume that science is superior over any religious belief. Science offers an alternative naturalistic approach to the mechanics of the universe for those who find the concept of a God or other supernatural power too difficult to believe. It is no more superior to Christianity in its claims only in the way it presents them which is often as fact and not as one of many possibilities. In our modern era science does have a stronger influence on people than religion which requires followers to rely on faith but it can still not be described as superior.
There is no question that science and miracles are irreconcilable. An inexplicable event is not accepted by science and must be proven either to have a rational origin we as of yet have not discovered or put down to the deceitful nature of mankind claiming to have experienced miracles. Modern Christians should not have to adapt their beliefs to the claims of science as they are no more superior than the claims of Christianity or any other religion. Christians should stay faithful to their convictions as their meaning has not and will not diminish in time as countless scientific theories have. The claims of the Bible will always be conceivable with faith. Science has to admit to failure in the past. Scientists were adamant an atom couldn’t be split until fifty years ago and a few centuries ago it was common belief that the earth was flat! Within a few centuries time scientific claims will again be moderated to suit new breakthroughs whereas the word of God will continue to stand the test the time no matter how many interrogations it faces.
