Premise A: If miracles occur, they would require supernatural agency.
Premise B: Miracles occur.
Conclusion: Therefore, supernatural agency exists. This agency we call God.
A miracle is an extraordinary event that transcends natural law and is beyond human capacity to explain or duplicate. One scholar defined a miracle as “a work wrought by God’s power for God’s purpose by means beyond the reach of man.” The word “miracle” is derived from the Latin word mirari, which means, “to wonder.” In other words, a miracle is an event which causes “wonder.” If there is a God who is maximally great—all-good and all-powerful—the occurrence of miracles, however wonderful, would be reasonable and plausible. The question then remains: Do miracles really occur? Does God still do miracles today?
The answer to these questions is “Yes!” and these miracles prove that God is real. In a Newsweek Poll, 84% of Americans say they believe in miracles. 79% believe that the miracles described in Bible occurred. 63% claim to know someone who experienced a miracle and 48% claim to have personally experienced a miracle!
Miracles are an integral part of Christianity and of God’s interaction with people.
The Bible is a history of miracles because every interaction of God with humankind is a supernatural occurrence. The Bible records how God split the Red Sea so that Moses could lead the people of Israel through it on dry land. The prophet Elijah was fed by ravens who brought him food twice a day because God made them do so. Jonah records how he was swallowed by a big fish divinely appointed for the task. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were preserved unharmed in a raging fiery furnace, while those who looked on saw one, like the Son of God, walking in the flames with them. These and other miraculous events recorded in the Old Testament were preambles to the central miracle of Scripture: Jesus.
Jesus performed many miracles during His ministry, and in performing them, He proved He was none other than the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of sinful humanity. When the religious leaders of His day said that He could not forgive sins—because doing so was an act reserved only for God–Jesus healed the paralyzed man as proof of His ability to do what only God could do (Matthew 9:6). When John the Baptist asked for proof that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus referred him to the miracles he had done: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Matthew 11:4-5).
Not only were miracles an essential part of Christ’s ministry, but He was Himself a miracle. Jesus birth was miraculous: Mary, his mother, become pregnant with him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only was His birth miraculous, His resurrection from the dead after He died on the cross was even more miraculous. The resurrection of Jesus was well attested. He was seen by individuals, by small groups of people, and by as many as 500 people at once in the 10 days between his resurrection and His ascension to heaven.
When the Apostles of Jesus performed miracles after Christ’s ascension to heaven, they claimed the miracles were evidence of the resurrection and saving power of the divine Lord they preached about:
Peter…responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this [referring to the miracle of the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful]? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus…and His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong.” (Acts 3.12-16)
The Apostle John, in writing his Gospel, included the miracles of Jesus to convince his readers of Christ’s divinity: “…Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). If the miracles of the Bible are just myths and legends, then there is no true Christianity. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians of the church at Corinth: “If the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still dead in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15.16-17). Christianity rises and falls on the reality of miracles.
But miracles aren’t just for Bible times. God does not change—Jesus is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13.8). The God who did miracles in the Bible is still a miracle-working God. There are countless stories of modern-day miracles. You can read all about some of them by reading the biographies of Christians like George Mueller, Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, and Kathryn Khulman. These examples of modern-day miracles prove that God is real and that He cares for people who put their faith in Him.
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About the Author: Dr. Daniel King is a missionary evangelist who has traveled to over seventy nations in his quest for souls. His goal is to lead 1,000,000 people to Jesus every year through massive Gospel Festivals, distribution of literature, and leadership training. Because of his experience and research on evangelism, he is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in mass evangelism. As an evangelist, he has a deep interest in using apologetics to convince skeptics that God is real.
