Miracles
by Boustro

What is a miracle? I would define a miracle as something that happens by God's intervention. This would include (1) things that would have been impossible otherwise (an amputee instantly grows a new leg) and (2) things that don't violate any natural laws, but happened only because God made it happen (I get a nice raise). I'll call these type 1 and type 2 miracles.

Type 2 miracles are, unfortunately, indistinguishable from coincidences or events with natural causes. Maybe I simply earned that raise. (Don't laugh. It's possible!) But, oddly enough, it seems that type 2 miracles are much more common than type 1. I don't know of any research on the question, but it seems that the stories of parking places showing up "out of nowhere" or of lost keys being found right after a little prayer far outnumber the stories of leg regeneration and the like.

Type 2 miracles happen all the time, it seems. Just the other day, a friend was telling us about how God directed his eyes to a particular product in the store that he'd been looking for. God does this kind of thing a lot, for this fellow.

But what about type 1? We've all heard the stories, but how many of us have actually seen them happen, indisputably? The tumor that fell off someone's neck. Eyes appear in formerly empty sockets. A short leg stretches to match the other one. (Oh, wait. I have seen that one, a number of times. Too bad it's just a parlor trick.) Yes, the stories are quite impressive, until you notice the pattern. These stories 1) happened in a far away country, without credible documentation, or 2) happened a long time ago, again without documentation, or 3) are told by someone with, ahem, credibility problems.

Healing is the favorite miracle among Pentecostals, of course. And their teaching and practice in this area is one of the most insidious aspects of the Pentecostal monster. If you are sick, and you are not healed, guess whose fault it is. It's your fault! You didn't have enough faith, or you have hidden sin. (Never mind the scripture about the prayer of a righteous man! It would be unthinkable to blame the pastor who prayed for you!) The guilt trips are horrible.

Take the Assemblies of God, for example. Healing is one of their four "cardinal doctrines". They say healing is provided for in the atonement, together with salvation. Now, if you are a Christian, this has to be very disturbing, if you think it through (not a favorite pastime of Pentecostals). If there are two things provided in the atonement, namely salvation and healing, and one of the two things (healing) doesn't always happen, what about the other thing (salvation)? You can usually tell if the healing "worked", right away. But you can't tell if salvation "worked" or not until it's too late! Did you have enough faith? Did you fulfill all the requirements? You'll find out when you die. (And hope the odds are better than they are for healing!)

The Assemblies of God even has a position paper on this doctrine that admits that healing doesn't always happen. It says we don't understand why. It also says healing is a promise. It doesn't make the obvious and only possible conclusion that, if it is a promise, that promise is very often broken.

Now, though I happen to believe that miracles of either type probably don't happen today, I am open to the possibility. If you believe you have experienced a true miracle, that's great. But I think most would agree that, if miracles do happen today, they are very, very rare. And most would probably agree that the vast majority of stories of miracles are either bogus (or at least exaggerated) or are not really miracles. All type 1 miracles are suspect, in that regard. Type 2? I think the vast majority, if not all, are simply the result of using our minds as they were intended, or luck, or some other natural occurrence. But I do think prayer can play a role! If it moves the hand of God (sometimes, on very rare occasion), that's great, but more often, the very act of praying probably has some therapeutic or calming effect, clearing the mind and allowing it to function better. Then you remember where you left your keys. The human mind is capable of amazing things, and there are many ways of tapping its potential.

Come to think of it, there is at least one miracle that may need its own category (type 3?): the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeating the U.S.S.R. at the 1980 Winter Olympics!