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Essays on the concept of miracles
How miracles are influenced by faith and reason
Concept of miracles
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The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian text. They were categorized into four groups; cures, exorcisms, resurrection of the dead, and control over nature by Henrik Van der Loos. Many Christians and Muslims believe the miracles are real historical events. Liberal Christians consider these stories to be figurative. Modern scholars tend to be skeptical about miracles. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have performed seven miraculous signs that characterized his ministry.
Van der Loos described two main categories of miracles attributed to Jesus, those that affected people, called healings, and those that controlled nature. The three types of healings are cures, exorcisms, where demons are cast away, and the resurrection of the dead. The Transfiguration of Jesus is unique because the miracle happened to Jesus. Jesus delivered miracles freely and never accepted payment, unlike some high priests who charged those who were healed. The largest group of miracles in the New Testament involve cure. Sometimes it was necessary for Jesus to speak only a few words and other times use certain materials such as mud or spit.
During the time of Jesus, God’s and demigods were believed to have healed the sick and raised people from the dead. Some believed famous and virtuous men could calm storms, chase away pestilence, and abide by greetings as gods. Christian authors viewed the miracles of Jesus as works of love and mercy showing compassion for a sinful and suffering humanity. Each miracle involves specific teachings and they were an important component of Jesus’ divinity and the dual natures of Jesus as God and ...
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...sfiguration. The boy had involuntarily fallen into the water and fire. Jesus’ followers couldn’t expel the demon, the father of the boy asked if Jesus could heal the boy, so the father said he believed and Jesus healed him.
The accounts of the miracle of Jesus walking on water appear in three Gospels: Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus wanted to pray alone. He sent the disciples by ship to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The ship became caught in a storm at night and in the darkness the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea. They
Jesus’ healing ministry constructed a profound theological statement to Israel, similar to his selection of the twelve apostles and his eating with sinners. God’s promise one day to establish his kingdom and renew his people visible and available in preview to any who witnessed his deeds of the teacher from Nazareth.
God uses Jesus to help the population in all different ways. Jesus helps the blind see, he clothes the poor, and overall, can cure anyone who is worthy. God shows his presence through Jesus so the people of earth have someone to follow. Even today we see God work his wonders even without the presence of Jesus. God shows miracles which no one would believe if they were not reality. God’s presence in the world is mediated through nature and reality as seen in the readings of The Gospel of Matthew and The Book of Exodus.
Josephus, a non-Christian contemporary writer of the apostles, attests that, ‘at that time there was a wise man named Jesus, a teacher, who performed wonderful works among the Jews and Gentiles.’ (Powell/Attridge:P.492). The Jewish Talmud, C5thC.E., attributes Jesus' miracles to sorcery. Opponents of the Gospels do not deny Jesus performed miracles, they just give different explanations. (Twelftree:P.50).
...m in religious saints allows him to release the rigidity established from his childhood struggles. Similarly, Paul relies on the mystery and authority in magic to overcome with his rigid and powerless past. Goethe’s Faust portrays how religion interprets the common experience of good versus evil to excite a release of insignificance and pity. Eisengrim’s magical reenactment displays a different interpretation of this common struggle, which induces a catharsis of hope. As an allusion to Jesus, Paul uses magic to excite the ordinary lives of his audience and provoke a dark, fearful wonder. In contrast, Jesus is a relatable figure that provides a catharsis of love and hope in humanity. The popularity of religion and magic stemmed from the human need to be in awe. Humanity relies on this catharsis in wonder to accept the universe and man’s place in the world.
The book of Matthew talks about Jesus walking on the water. There are a few ways that people explain the passage. Some people try to explain away the miracle. We are going to discuss both these ways.
As we know, the Lord provided his people with many miracles throughout the Old Testament. These miracles date back to Moses, where God granted his people the ability to perform miracles and also interact with them. By interact, this means things like the parting of the Red Sea, or the tunnel of fire that allowed the Israelites to travel safely through the ni...
Jesus performs many miracles and still there are people who don't believe in him. First He turned water into wine(John 977-988). Second, Jesus healed the sick son of a Capernaum government official on account of his faith(John 981). The fourth miracle accomplished by Jesus was healing a man that had been sick for 38 years. After He healed him physically, He healed him spiritually and told the man to roll up his sleeping mat and go home. Jewish leaders became angry with Jesus for instructing the man to carry his mat, since it was considered working on the Sabbath(John 982). Fifth, Jesus fed 5,000 people using five loaves of bread and two fish. Even after this last miracle, many followed Jesus, not because they believed in Him, but because He had fed them(John 983).
...s full and to stop the spread of disease. But after the three days cleansing period, some of the disciples returned to find the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus missing. Grave robbing was a serious crime punishable by death and it would have taken a team to roll the stone. But Jesus had told his disciples many times that he would rise again on the third day, which they obviously did not comprehend. He spoke to them later on when he appeared to them and to show he was still human said “see my hands and feet, that it is I Myself; handle and see: For a spirit hath not bones and flesh; as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). He shows the apostles the obvious wounds he still has from his crucifixion, and then invites them to touch him, vanquishing thoughts of an apparition.
The Last four of the Eight Signs fall in this order: Jesus walking on water ( John 6:1-14 ) demonstrate Jesus, power over the natural laws. The healing of the blind man ( John 9:1-12 ) demonstrate Jesus, power over the physical laws. Raising Lazarus from the dead ( John 11:1-44 ) shows Jesus power over death. Last but not least the, Miraculous catch of fish ( John : 1-11 ) shows Jesus power, over all of the above. A wonder in itself that one man can have so much power to the effect of , changing the world.
In other words, it is a gap between faith and scientific reasoning. In modern medicine, a miracle is described as any occurrence where a higher power, God, for example, takes over and intervenes benevolently in the fate of the patient.3 The doctor, along with everyone else, can only marvel. As a generality, it can be said that miracles are modern examples of the continuing contradiction between faith and reason.
The Gospel of Matthew exhibits the plan of atonement and salvation for all people and the beginning of a new era. The Kingdom has come. Matthew’s Gospel is eschatological. Through the direct use of and allusions to the Hebrew scriptures, as well as fulfillment citations Matthew clearly connects Jesus’ life and ministry with Israel’s traditions and promised history.4...
As we read John, we see that the stories center around the concept of belief. In the second chapter of John, we are told of the miracle that Jesus did at a wedding: turning water into wine. This miracle was told so that we may believe. “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Through these miracles we are able to see signs of Jesus’s power and glory and how God’s presence is in him, leading many to believe in him. After this, Jesus went to Capernum, then Jerusalem to the temple, where he found people selling things
There are both examples of miracles in real life as well as miracles in the bible. One example of a miracle from the bible would be when Jesus walks on water. The story of when Jesus walks on water which was when Jesus sent the disciples by ship to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while he stayed behind to pray. Once it became nighttime the ship got caught in a storm in the sea and in the darkness and the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea. They thought they were seeing a spirit but Jesus told them not to be afraid, so they were no longer afraid. Once Jesus went on the ship he calmed the storm and the ship went to shore. The miracle of this story from the bible is the fact that Jesus walked on water, which cannot be done in everyday life. Natural or scientific laws can’t describe this event that took place because it is not possible for people to walk on water, which makes Jesus walking on water to be called a miracle. Christian’s believe that this event was a miracle that shows the importance of faith and the control that Jesus has over nature.
News of the coming of a Messiah spread all over Galilee, including to Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, where the residents had never known Jesus as the Messiah, or as a man who could perform miracles. To the residents of Nazareth, Jesus was merely a simple carpenter. For thirty years, the people of Nazareth had referred to Jesus as "The Perfect Man," but never had witnessed a miracle or anything that would prompt them to think more highly of Jesus (Gledenhuys 167). The residents of Nazareth had heard of Jesus' miracles at Capernaum and were eager to see if this man, whom they had known since birth, was what he claimed to be. Jesus began preaching to the Nazarenes, but as he spoke the residents began to grumble and question each other: "Isn't this Joseph's son?" (New International Version Bible, Luke 4:22). They did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, because they had not seen any physical evidence; they had not witnessed a miracle. Jesus, sensing their lack of faith, says to them, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb. Physician heal thyself" (New International Version Bible, Luke 4:23).
In this paper, I will examine Jesus’ resurrection from the dead because, according to many scholars, there is no other event in the life of Jesus that is as significant. In order to better comprehend the magnitude of this event, I will begin by looking at what can be discerned from the Resurrection of Jesus. Then, I will explore the two different kinds of resurrection testimony that there are: the confessional tradition and narrative tradition. For the confessional tradition, I will look at a few examples including St. Paul’s confession in First Corinthians which is composed of four parts: Jesus’ death, the question of the empty tomb, the third day, and the witnesses. For the narrative tradition, I will briefly examine the two sources of information
Jesus Christ was the light that came to earth to brighten the lives of the people. He taught phenomenal and meaningful lessons that changed many hearts and caused people to accept Jesus as their Lord. Jesus Christ is the life of Christianity; the Word of God in flesh. His life, his ministry, and his crucifixion where prophesied long before he was born and Christians believe that they were all fulfilled. He had so much love for human kind that he came to earth to die for the sins of the people, so that their souls would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Bible testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who taught memorable life lessons and performed astonishing miracles during his ministry.