Psychosomatic Miracles?

Critics of the supernatural often speculate that alleged miraculous healings are instead naturalistic healings of a psychosomatic nature. But many types of healing and recipients of healing are poor candidates for that hypothesis. Craig Keener gives many examples in his book, Miracles (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011).

Infants presumably wouldn't be expecting to be miraculously healed. Yet, Keener provides many examples of healings among infants (294-295, n. 116 on 729-730).

In an earlier post, I addressed modern cases of raising the dead. How many skeptics of the miraculous would argue that dead people can be healed psychosomatically?

I've also discussed reports of the healing of amputees. Again, would skeptics argue that such healing can occur psychosomatically?

And it's not just an issue of what can happen anyway. The issue is what's the best explanation.

What about miracles among atheists, agnostics, deists, or Christians who aren't expecting a miracle to occur, for example? I gave some examples in an earlier post on hostile corroboration of modern miracles. Keener provides many other cases in his book: atheists and agnostics converted through the experience of one or more miracles (n. 171 on 677, n. 202 on 681), miracles that were sought, but occurred differently than expected (596), etc.

Keener writes:

"Since he [a critic of miracles] attributes nearly anything to psychological factors, an approach that attributes to supernatural factors only what one cannot attempt to explain otherwise will have few cases to work with. Despite his argument for psychosomatic cures, many who have been cured were not expecting it; some [at Lourdes] were not Catholic; and some had no faith in any religion at the time of their cure. Nor do the vast majority of doctors expect suggestibility to instantly cure organic lesions, as in some reported cases….Some skeptics about healing argue (beyond the evidence) that almost anything can be psychosomatic, whereas clearly organic restorations of limbs are never reported. Certainly there are not many such reports (including in the Bible), but they do appear occasionally…Those committed to disbelief that such miracles can happen will, of course, dismiss such claims; but while the rareness of such claims (hence limited possible analogies) does invite caution, one might also get the impression that some skeptics' demands for particular kinds of evidence become stricter whenever evidence of the demanded sort appears." (677, 746-747)