Miracles: A New Testament Insight

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of 'miracle':

1. 'an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs';
2. 'an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment';
3. 'Christian Science: a divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfilment of spiritual law';
4. 'an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God';
5. 'a very amazing or unusual event, thing, or achievement';
6. 'an extraordinary event is taken as a sign of the power of God';
7. 'something (as an event or accomplishment) that is very outstanding, unusual, or wonderful'.

1. Abstract

At present, research into the subject of miracles does not weigh the terms in today's context. In the current society, there is a great debate on whether miracles are true and from God. The source of miracles is the contentious point of this debate. The research will provide a view from the New Testament perspective and the evidence of Scripture from different miracles occurred in the New Testament.

The article begins with arguments from the anti-miracle view and the evaluation of their findings, statements, and beliefs. This lays the foundation for questions into whether miracles are still happening today and whether it has ever happened.

The article will also focus on the arguments from the pro-miracle view and the evaluation of their findings, statements, and beliefs. The evidence of Scripture and the interpretation thereof will be studied and commented thereon. The primary objective is to ensure these views from a neutral perspective.

2. Introduction

The miracles accounts of the New Testament are historically reliable, yet subject to different views in past and present; miracle through faith, sorcery, myths, and possible scientifically human action by a man.

The healing methodology was not corroborated by physical examination or the use of medicines. The mechanisms used by Jesus in the Gospels comprised of the following, spitting, touching, praying and the use of words. In this study, we will focus on these issues expanding on the historical events and its impact on today's society.

The anti-miracle viewpoint is seen of that of questioning the veracity and the validity of the miracles performed with the New Testament. The credibility of the eyewitness accounts is brought under scrutiny. The eyewitness account to miracles is argued by Richard Bauckham and holding to the following view, that scepticism to miracles appearing in genuine eyewitness accounts and that the credibility of the eyewitnesses must be brought under scrutiny (Keener 2011:14).

Regarding the pro-miracles' arguments, we see a perspective of those believing in miracles, holding to their belief that miracles are credible and real. In Beckwith (1989:7), David Hume defines miracles as 'a violation of the law of nature,…a transgression of a law of nature a particular volition of a Deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent', this view is contrary to the belief of those who hold to miracles are credible and real.

The central theoretical argument of this article is that miracles are true in the light of Scripture in the New Testament. It intends to clarify the misguided truths that nullifies that miracles are true and still happening in this day and age. The factors in today's context of miracles cause the debate whether miracles are true and from God.

The evidence of Scripture and the interpretation of the different miracles accounts in the New Testament will provide answers through to this study, proving that miracles are real, and it is still happening today.

3. Methodology

In this article the use of a literary analysis of the arguments in favour of pro-miracles views and the literary analysis of the arguments in favour of the anti-miracles' views. This method will allow the researcher to determine and evaluate carefully what the viewpoints of each group expressed through their beliefs.

Another method that will help us to answer these questions will be to utilize exegetical applications through the grammatical-historical method and the use of hermeneutics of how the scriptural references are interpreted in answering these questions.

Then finally, the last question will be answered through the collection of data, which through analytics is selected, arranged, interpreted and synthesis.

These are the following methods:

1. The study and evaluation of the arguments of pro-miracles views, through a literature analysis which is conducted in determining and evaluating past and present perspectives of these groupings.

• The literature analysis focus on the literature structure, author's purpose, and editorial responses for this method.
• This will allow the researcher to carefully weigh the arguments in favour of the pro-miracle view.
• In this study, the following sources will be made use of, academics writings and journals, academic textbooks, and research summaries in textbooks.

2. The study and evaluation of the arguments of anti-miracles views, through a literature analysis which is conducted in determining and evaluating past and present perspectives of these groupings.

• The literature analysis focus on the literature structure, author's purpose, and editorial responses for this method.
• This will allow the researcher to carefully weigh the arguments in favour of the anti-miracle view.
• In this study, the following sources will be made use of, academics writings and journals, academic textbooks, and research summaries in textbooks.

3. Locating various evidence in Scripture about the distinct aspects of miracles, those parts of Scripture which are found are exegete. The exegesis method that will be applied is the historical-grammatical method. This will be formulated through hermeneutics by which Scripture is interpreted.

• Where relevant through Scriptural interpretations, descriptions of the different perspectives should suggest how to interpret the Scriptures, through their general approaches to Scripture and through their specific handling of important main pericopes.
• The sources that will be made use of is the Bible and various academic publications used in the hermeneutical studies, which is relevant to the topic.

4. To evaluate and conclude on miracles in the light of Scriptural evaluations, the collected data through analytics is selected, arranged, interpreted and synthesis.

• Once the relevant texts have been analyzed, all the data will be combined to form a comprehensive picture.

The exegetical data will be selected, arranged, synchronized, and summarised.

4. The Anti-miracle View

4. 1. Hume’s Argument

The primary argument against miracles for this article is founded upon the view on miracles and his stance against miracles of David Hume's 'famous essay on miracles is set in the context of the larger debate that was taking place in the eighteenth century about the nature of miracles and the ability of eyewitness testimony to establish the credibility of such events' (Earman, 2000:40).

This debate of Hume's 'Of Miracles' essay, offers the reader an original and authentic argument against miracles. The argument forces one to be careful in accrediting miracles only on the basis that it is said to be a miracle. Hume's argument was set in the Enlightenment era. This era was set on reason and science, which can be seen and touched. Some of the cures and healings of that time were unexplainable, which allowed the miracles as a debate and many participants in the seventeenth century entered into this great debate, for example 'they drew on the methods of the new philosophy and suggested that the evidence and testimony were the most vital components in assessing the credibility of a miracle claim' (Shaw, 2006:15).

The essay of Hume was regarded not as a substantial argument, especially regarding the total disregard of evidential the testimony. The theologian Robert Fogelin wrote a response to this disregard of evidential testimony. He, in turn, suggests a criterion that must be put in place to decide whether to regard or discard it as a miracle. 'We can do this by replacing testimonial weaknesses with testimonial strengths:

1. The witnesses concur with one another, rather than contradict one another.
2. The witnesses are many, not few.
3. They are of unimpeachable, rather than doubtful, character.
4. They are disinterested, not interested, parties.
5. They present their testimony in measured tones of confidence, rather than with hesitation or too violent asseveration.

To these marks of excellence, we might add that these witnesses have special expertise relevant to the matter at hand; they are not gullible; they are not visually impaired; and so on' (Fogelin, 2003:9).

When a criterion is set in place, all the evidence supplied by those witnesses of miracles has a measuring tool by which it can decide the strength and weakness of the witness account, whether it is true or false. Fogelin's theory and application of a criterion tested the view of Hume of rejecting miracles based on eyewitness and evidential accounts.

Keener, (2011:143) counter argues the claim made by Hume that 'no evidence in principle can be sufficient to compel belief in miracles, his claim might succeed to the extent that the evaluator of the evidence held tenaciously to antimiraculous presuppositions, but is not logically necessary if the evaluator is genuinely open-minded on the question'. None of the counter-arguments made against the arguments of Hume has successfully persuaded his stance that miracles do not exist.

5. The Pro-miracle View

5. 1. New Testament Miracles

The ministry of Jesus was known for the various miracles performed during His time here on earth. He was synonymous with being the miracle-working, who cured the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, and so much more. The Gospels gives us great insight into all the recorded accounts of the miracles of Jesus which has been an integral part of the Gospels. In the rest of the Books of the New Testament, we also find miracles and references to what is the source of the miracle-working power. One of the Books of the New Testament that we will investigate, apart from the Gospels, is the Books of Acts. We will investigate some of the Pauline letters, as the Apostle Paul writes extensively about miracles and in particular the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12, where he explains these phenomena of the workings of the power of the Holy Spirit. Without miracles, the New Testament would have been different and unfulfilled.

5. 1. 1. Miracles of the Gospels

The first miracle that Jesus performed is recorded in the Gospel of John.

'On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, 'They have no more wine. ' 4 'Woman,[a] why do you involve me?' Jesus replied. 'My hour has not yet come. ' 5 His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you. ' 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. [b] 7 Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water'; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. ' They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, 'Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best till now. ' 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. '

John 2:1 – 11 (Bible, 1997).

Investigating this specific miracle that was performed by Jesus, there are a few things that can be concluded. One, the miracle was at a wedding celebration. Was it coincidental or reason behind it that this miracle, also being the first one, was performed at a wedding celebration? This was the launch of Jesus' ministry. There are two trains of thought that the researcher wants to highlight. Firstly, Jesus reveals to us that He honours and blesses those who enter holy matrimony. Secondly, the miracle He was a demonstration of His power over nature and revealing the direction He was about to go in His ministry. When we notice verse eleven, we see the reason for this miracle, '11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him'. The miracle was an instrument which God made use of so that they could believe in Jesus. The unbeliever was drawn with to the omnipotence of His power. His last miracle was performed at the graveside of Lazarus, but His first was a celebration. Few would have believed that He was the Son of God if He would have first raised the dead. Jesus allowed everyone at the wedding celebration to experience the power of God, by turning the water into wine.

Feeding the five thousand

In Matthew 14 we find the account of Jesus feeding a crowd of five thousand men besides the children and women. This miracle reveals a certain aspect of Jesus' life, which carries a significant weigh why He is Christ the Messiah.

'Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, 'This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. ' But Jesus said, 'They need not go away; you give them something to eat. ' They said to him, 'We have only five loaves here and two fish. ' And he said, 'Bring them here to me. ' Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. ' Matthew 14:13–21 (Bible, 2007)

This was the first account of feeding the multitude, five thousand, in the next chapter, Matthew 15:32 - 39, we read of the second account of feeding the multitude, this time it was four thousand men, besides women and children. The significance of this miracle was the compassion Jesus has for the people. When He saw them, He had compassion on them. This characteristic of the compassion of Jesus is recorded in both accounts where He fed the multitudes, reveals the attitude of Him. The feeding of the five thousand account shows us that the compassion of Jesus led to Him healing the sick apart from performing the miracle.

In the Old Testament we see God in Exodus 16 feeding the whole nation of Israel while they were in the wilderness, God provided for them after they grumbled against Moses and Aaron,

'11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 'I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight, you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God. '' 13 That evening quails came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. ' Exodus 16:11 – 15 (Bible, 1997)

In another reference to the feeding of the multitude, we see the Prophet Elijah again feeding one hundred men, 2 Kings 4:42 – 44, '42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. 'Give it to the people to eat,' Elisha said. 43 'How can I set this before a hundred men?' his servant asked. But, Elisha answered, 'Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: 'They will eat and have some left over. '' 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. ' (Bible, 1997).

Again, in the preceding miracle account of the multiplication of the loaves was in accordance with the Word of God. In the miracle of the five thousand, we see Jesus looking up to heaven and said a blessing, proving that the Father is always involved when miracles are performed.

Poythress (2016:181), takes the miracles of multiplication to another paradigm when 'even though Matthew has not been as explicit about the fact that Jesus is the bread from heaven. Instead, the implicit connections in Matthew lead to a greater prominence for the fact that Jesus is the messianic shepherd over Israel'. This brings the attitude of Jesus to light that as the messianic shepherd, He is compassionate in providing for the need of His people.

Jesus and Peter walk on the water

The miracle of walking on the water is recorded in three of the four Gospels (Matthew 14:22 – 33, Mark 6:45 – 52, John 6:17 – 21). For this investigation, we will look at the account of Matthew.

The narrative takes from where Jesus went out to meet His disciples on the Lake, Matthew 14: 25 – 26 '25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. ' (Bible, 1997). The disciples were terrified because they have just seen Jesus and now, He is approaching them, the mere fact that Jesus is on top of the water and not drowning is a miracle in itself. He had to calm the emotions of his disciples. Peter decided to test whether this individual conversing with them is truly Jesus by requesting to do the same as He is doing, Matthew 14: 28 – 29, '28 'Lord, if it's you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water. ' 29 'Come,' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'

Peter was able to do the same act that Jesus did. It was only through the command of Jesus and the step of faith by Peter that this phenomenon could have occurred. In Peter's own strength and ability, this would not have happened. The drowning is evidence that it must have been something miraculous that happened in that space of time. It was not a usual occurrence that happened in their everyday life, seeing someone walk on water and for Peter himself to have partaken in this unorthodox miracle must have been surreal. There must have been a supernatural hand in all of this. The is also in partial fulfilment when Jesus at a later stage tell His disciples that they will do the same and even greater miracles than He did, John 14:12 '12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ' (Bible, 1997).