miracles. 854773

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Adonis Junior Akra 11.AS1

R.S Course Work-Miracles

Title 1:

(a) (I What is it meant by the term ‘Miracles’?

The term 'miracle' in the dictionary means: 'an extraordinary event attributed to some supernatural agency, any remarkable occurrence, but in wikipedia it says a 'miracle': is an event believed to be caused by interposition of divine intervention by a supernatural being in the universe by which the ordinary operation of nature is overruled, suspended or modified.

The term miracle is derived from the Latin word mircullum meaning 'something wonderful'.

It is something extraordinary and is thought to be when God does something to break all the normal rules and laws of nature. Miracles generally do not seem to happen much nowadays as it is more associated with Jesus' time than ours. Some people e.g. Newspaper journalists and magazine editors use the term 'miracle' in the wrong sense. They can use it from something like "It is a miracle that he got out alive" when someone has been in danger of some sort or "This product can work miracles" trying to promote some cream or new product.

People in different cultures have substantially different definitions of the word "miracle". Even within a specific religion there is often more than one of the term.

What these books are saying is that a 'miracle' is not an 'earthly' power, but to some extend use in everyday speech of something wonderful happening so it might as well be a power that man made.

What I understand about the word miracle is that it happens through God and only God can make miracles happen but it seems at the present moment miracles can happen for example something really good but unexpected happens we will classify it as a miracle, but is it a miracle or good fortune?

I can understand if a person who claims to have 'seen' or have been 'saved' by a miracle is a practicing Christian and had always believed in God or knows that they have not been the best person but has realized their mistakes and has confused and turned they life around.

Sometimes the term "miracle" may refer to the action of a supernatural being that is not a God. In the absence of an adequate definition for the supernatural we can’t exactly define what a miracle is, but we could define a miracle by what it is not. The general notion of a miracle held by most theists could be described by what it is not as follows; an observable event for which the only possible explanation of its cause is not natural.

Jesus exercised his own faith every time he performed a miracle. And he showed that people could be cured miraculously of both physical and mental illness-as long as they had faith.

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Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles: give examples from Marks Gospel.

Jesus did a lot of miracles according to the Gospel told by Mark which falls into four categories. There are the Healing miracles, The Nature miracles, Raising the dead and Exorcism (casting out demons).

This is a preview of the whole essay

Describe how Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles: give examples from Marks Gospel.

“The women who touched Jesus’ cloak”, this miracle is about a woman who had been bleeding for more than twelve years and then touched Jesus. With that one touch she was healed and Jesus felt the touch which He stated 'Someone touched me; I know that the power has gone out of me.' Jesus asked for the person who touched him and she spoke out. Because she told Him it was her, she was healed. 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.'

This miracle shows the Christians of today anything is possible if you believe or have any form of faith in God. “The Healing of a boy with an Evil Spirit”, this is an Exorcism miracle. This miracle is significant because Jesus in my opinion sounded quite angry in the sense that the people only came to him when something was wrong. He stated 'O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?'

A man’s son was driven by the evil spirit who 'throws him into convulsions'. As the boy walks towards Jesus the spirit threw him to the ground in a convulsion but Jesus as kind as He rebuked the evil spirits and healed the boy. The crowd that surrounded him was 'amazed at the greatness of God'.

Jesus performed many miracles on his time on earth to make people notice and remember him and to show his identity as the messiah and the Son of God and to make us have great faith in God. Also I believe he performed miracles for those in the future, like us. The people who saw and heard of Jesus’ healing miracles would write about them, they would have been talked a lot about from town to town in Jesus’ time, this helped the amazing stories of Jesus’ healing miracles travel. Many people wrote about him, this includes Mark. Mark saw that Jesus was the Messiah and wanted people to know about the good news. The healing miracles would go down in history so that we can learn about Jesus and the Kingdom of God in the bible so we can also have faith in him and believe that he can still perform miracles for his children on earth.

(b) Discuss the importance of the healing miracles of Jesus for Christian life today

There are 8 healing miracles in Marks Gospel;

The man with an evil spirit (1:21-28)

The Paralyzed man (2: 1-12)

The man with the shriveled hand (3:1-6)

Jarius’ daughter (5:21-4, 35-43)

The women with a hemorrhage (5:25-34)

The Syro-Phoenican woman’s daughter (7:24-30)

The epileptic boy (9:14-29)

Blind Bartimeus

It was common belief in those days that serious illness or disability was a punishment from God for sins committed either by the victims or their parents.

By healing so many people, Jesus showed that this was not the case-if it was -, why should Son undo the work of the Father? It is widely agreed in medical circles today that some illness can be caused by deep, spiritual anguish or guilt. Perhaps Jesus had this mi The healing miracles that Jesus performed are important for Christian life today as it shows that faith and belief in Jesus has the power to change a person’s life as Christians believe that Jesus responds to anyone who puts their faith and trust in him.

I think that Jesus’ healing miracles is very important for Christian lives today and for those in the future. I think this because Christians can rely on these miracles to have faith in the Kingdom of God. If Jesus did not perform healing miracles then it destroys the image we see of Jesus. Christians believe that it was because he was the Son of God that he had the power to perform healing miracles..nd he said to the paralyzed man, “My son and your sins are forgiven”

The miracles in the Gospels should not be understood as merely an historic record of an actual event. To the early Christians the miracles meant much more. They are proof of who Jesus was, of his overwhelming goodness, and of his connection with the Father who sent him. Mark used accounts of Jesus’ miracles to show that:

Jesus was the long waited messiah
He was the Son of God
The Kingdom of God was present on earth
By putting faith in Jesus, individuals’ lives could be transformed

Christians see these miracles and believe that they could happen to them if they have faith because these miracles are so great and unimaginable. Christians may turn to Jesus when they are ill and there is no cure, such as a cancer and they have nothing left to turn to. So they put their faith in God, by themselves and their families praying. It has been known for them to be cured because they have great faith in the Kingdom of God; this is what many people would call a healing miracle. We can know about Jesus healing miracles from Marks gospel, the blind beggar .This story happened in Jesus’ time on earth, yet healing miracles have been heard of which are similar even today.
I think that the most important fact of Jesus’ miracles is that no one has ever, or can ever perform his healing miracles. We some times come to believe that a magician may perform a miracle using his magic by pulling a rabbit out of his hat, however in reality there so-called ‘miracles’ are just tricks made to astound us to trick our eyes into believing that it was a miracle. No one can perform a miracle, only Jesus. I think this fact leads Christians into greater faith.

I disagree with the statement “healing miracles do not happen today” I believe that healing miracles do happen today. I think this as I see and hear about healing miracles happening daily, we see healing miracles reported in our newspapers, magazines and on television. Christians believe that healing miracles do happen today as Christians have faith in Jesus. When Christians become ill or have a disease they and their families pray to the lord for help that they will be healed and watched over, because they have great faith in believing that God will listen to them and bless them. We are all Gods children and he loves us all. He created miracles when he was on earth as a man and he loved us, and his love will never stop therefore he shall carry on creating his miracles for those who believe and have faith.

Supernatural and natural miracles are happening today as we do see them occurring in our everyday lives. E.g. when someone had cancer, it has been known for him or her to be cured because they have had faith in the kingdom of God.

However many so-called miracles have natural explanations. That does not make them any less miraculous. I think that a natural miracle still could happen as God could choose to perform his miracle through a natural force.

Miracles help Christians and many other religions to depend on God, our provider and to turn to believers from reliance on the natural wisdom of man to trust in the faith of God.

However some people may believe in the statement “Healing miracles do not happen today”. I think this because some people may think as Jesus is not on earth so therefore healing miracles may not be performed, and that Jesus can’t perform healing miracles just because some people have great faith in the kingdom of God. Some other religions may believe that healing miracles were never performed as they think that Jesus’ healing miracles in the Bible are just stories or myths.

Jesus’ healing miracles are believed to happen today to those who have faith in the kingdom of God; however some think these healing miracles may not exactly be a miracle and only appear to happen by ‘chance’

As well as Jesus’ own miracle working, the Gospel describes how he authorised the twelve apostles to work similar wonders in his name. The disciples performed these in the early years of the church’ history, after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Although the New Testament only deals with the early life of the church, there is a strong argument in believing that from the time of Jesus people have developed the power to heal others. Miracles and healing are "spiritual gifts” along with the gifts of teaching and administration. These still exist in the church so I expect, as a Christian, that Jesus continues his miraculous work today, from time to time, through certain Christians. However, that does not mean that all modern-day claims to the miraculous should be believed. Some can be proved fake whilst others may be the product of human deception, and some even genuine.

Many Christians believe that Jesus still heals people miraculously today, in answer to prayer. According to Antonio Bernardo, between 1858 and 1978, 64 miracles were declared as official miracles. Miracles in Lourdes, a small village in the northern France, which is closely associated with God and the miracles he performs there. In 1987, a man who had been paralysed for 3 years, having suffered with multiple sclerosis, was claimed to be healed. In 1999, the miracle was deemed official. It had complied with all of the church’ criteria to declare a miracle. It had been sudden and unforeseen. It was permanent, the man had been able to walk ever since, and he had received no treatment prior to the miracle, which could have influenced the outcome.

However there are people who are sceptical in believing that miracles still occur today. The Catholic Church is extremely careful to believe that miracles still exist. They have rigorous criteria to follow in order to ensure that only the “true” miracles are made official. The cure itself must be sudden, unforeseen and permanent. The sickness must have been grave and and any prior treatment should not in any was have affected the outcome. We can see how particular the church is in making miracles official because over the past 120years, from 1858 and 1978 only 64 miracles have been made official.

Recently Padre Pio, an Italian man, developed the same wounds in his hands as Christ had developed through crucifixion. Many people said that this was a miracle however many believed the wounds had to be self-inflicted. When Padre Pio went to Rome to see Pope John Paul, the Pope carefully examined these wounds and there was much discussion about whether this man should indeed be deemed a saint.

These miracles prove that Jesus has chosen particular people to serve as shinning examples of a Christian way of life for the new millennium.” It shows Christians today that Jesus is alive within us as he continues his work through many of us today.

Despite the fakes and the failures, Jesus is still spiritually alive on the earth today and personally, I do believe that is miracle-working power is still with many of us today.