Why Trust the Bible?Sample

What about the miracles of the Bible?

The final question we’re asking is, How can any educated person believe in the miracles of the Bible? Matthew’s gospel alone records Jesus healing a man with leprosy, a man who was paralyzed, two men who were blind, and one who was mute. He raised a girl from the dead, instantly healed a woman who had been sick for twelve years, and cured a boy of seizures.

Ancient historians, including those sceptical about faith, agree that Jesus Christ was known as a healer and exorcist. This is one of the most widely attested and firmly established of the historical facts about Jesus’ life. One historian admitted, ‘Even when strict critical standards have been applied to the miracle stories, a demonstrably historical nucleus remains. Jesus performed healings which astonished His contemporaries.’

This begs the question: Were Jesus’ contemporaries fundamentally suggestable or naïve compared to us? Today’s passages illustrate why the answer to that question is likely no. Jesus’ followers and onlookers were always shocked, afraid, awestruck, or amazed when they witnessed His supernatural acts. These are normal, to-be-expected reactions – the same that you or I may have. Even when Jesus specifically tells people not to talk about the miracle they’ve seen, they can’t help it. They tell everyone! His miracles were as out-of-the-ordinary then as they would be today.

Author C.S. Lewis and mathematician John Lennox made the case for miracles by explaining that the laws of nature describe the regularities on which the universe normally runs. Yet God, who created the laws of the universe, isn’t a prisoner to them. God can, if He wills, do something supernatural. Miracles aren’t illogical nonsense but make sense if God does exist, as a way of showing us who He is.

Philosophical materialism – the adamant belief that miracles are implausible – is wholly flawed. This philosophy is based on an insistence that things must be scientifically provable, yet this theory in and of itself isn’t scientifically provable. It fails its own test.

A person who is cynical about the possibility of the miraculous should start by reading the gospels. Many sceptics assume they’re full of otherworldly, mythological creatures and happenings. Yet remarkably, the miracles of the Bible happen in everyday circumstances we recognise, to people like us (no more or less suggestable) who have expected reactions to something unexpected happening. After all, it’s only in an ordinary world that miracles are extraordinary.

As we conclude our look at the Bible, may you carry God’s peace with you as you continue to discover the timelessness, infallibility, wisdom, and richness of His Word, which is trustworthy and true.

This plan was adapted from the book, Why Trust the Bible? and from the accompanying video series on RightNow Media. To find out more, visit: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/af/get-access