Thursday, August 09, 2018

Rebooting the argument from miracles

1. On the face of it, the biblical argument from miracles is circular. By that I mean, if you're using biblical miracles to prove the bible, that appears to be circular inasmuch as that presumes the veracity of the biblical accounts. But there are some mitigating factors:

2. The argument from miracles isn't confined to biblical miracles. There are many well-documented Christian miracles in modern times. And that in turn lends credence to biblical miracles. It demonstrates that miracles don't only happen in old "stories". Once you establish, independent of ancient records, that certain phenomena happen, that makes the ancient records more credible. 

3. In addition, these are linked. For Christian miracles fulfill biblical promises. 

4. Moreover, the unbeliever must provide an alternative explanation for the biblical reports. 

5. Unlike the Koran, the Bible isn't a one-man testimony. It consists of many independent books. Some miracles are multiply-attested. The showcase example is the Resurrection. But that has led to the neglect of some other dominical miracles that also enjoy multiple-attestation. There are miracles reported in two or more Gospels. The same miracle or the same kind of miracle. That's like overlapping accounts of WWII by Churchill and Eisenhower. It provides mutual corroboration. Moreover, there's other internal and external evidence for the historicity of the Gospels. 

6. A stock objection is that the Synoptics Gospels are not independent. Rather, Matthew and Luke copy Mark. That's true to some degree, but simplistic and misleading:

i) Assuming traditional authorship (which is highly defensible), Matthew, Mark, and Luke moved in the same circles, so there were many opportunities for information-sharing before they took pen to paper. For instance, Mark could get some of his material orally from Matthew, then Matthew is, in effect, quoting himself when he "copies" Mark. 

ii) The argument from undesigned coincidences (revived and refined by the McGrews) demonstrates that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have independent sources of information even when discussing the same event. And it's demonstrable that John has independent knowledge when discussing the same event. 

My aim is not to provide a full-blown argument, but to draw attention to a neglected argument from miracles, and suggest a strategy for making that case. 

Miraculous draught of fish

4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink (Lk 5:4-7).

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish...8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish (Jn 21:4-6,8).

Healing Centurion's servant

5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment (Mt 8:5-13).

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well (Lk 7:1-10).

46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants[b] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee (Jn 4:46-54).

Multiplication of food

15 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.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children (Mt 14:15-21).

36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men (Mk 6:36-44).

12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces (Lk 9:12-17).

 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten (Jn 6:5-13).

Walking on water

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mt 14:22-27).

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night[a] he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mk 6:45-50).

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid” (Jn 6:16-21).

Healing the sick at Gennesaret

34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well (Mt 14:34-36).

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well (Mk 6:53-56).

5 comments:

  1. I also find it somewhat important to note that those who opposed Christianity from the very beginning did not do so by claiming the miracles were fictional. Sometimes they attributed the miracles to demons, and other times to magic powers that Jesus may have had, but rarely did they outright deny the miraculous events happened. Thus, even reading those who opposed Christianity in the early days of the religion provides evidence for the factual basis of Christianity, because clearly *something* happened that needed to be explained.

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  2. "2. The argument from miracles isn't confined to biblical miracles. There are many well-documented Christian miracles in modern times. And that in turn lends credence to biblical miracles. It demonstrates that miracles don't only happen in old "stories". Once you establish, independent of ancient records, that certain phenomena happen, that makes the ancient records more credible."

    I don't mean to be argumentative, and I ask the following question with earnest sincerity: I'm not aware of any "well-documented Christian miracles in modern times." The fact that I'm not aware of them has no bearing on whether they exist or not, please don't think that I assert that my knowledge or lack thereof indicates anything but itself.
    In the interest of me better understanding your point of view, would you mind providing examples of what you're talking about? I would sincerely appreciate the time you take to do so.
    Whether you do or you don't, I hope you're well and remain so.

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    Replies
    1. Craig Keener has a two volume book on miracles.

      Robert Larmer has several accounts as well (e.g. The Legitimacy of Miracle).

      I've cited a few cases on my weblog (e.g. here, here, and here).

      Steve Hays and Jason Engwer have done a lot of work on this weblog, Triablogue.

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    2. Here's a series of posts about Craig Keener's book on miracles. The series provides examples of modern Christian miracles that are well documented.

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  3. Thanks, @Jason Engwer and @Epistle of Dude! I appreciate the references. I'll check 'em out.

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