Miracles, signs and wonders are amazing supernatural phenomena. There is no word for a miracle in Scripture; however, it does use “mighty work, signs and wonders”. Miracles are supernatural works not stemmed from external causes. A mighty work aims our focus to the points of the Bible that have supernatural acts of God. The word “wonders” directs our attention to the impression made by miracles. Sign is used frequently for miracles in the Gospel of John. More than likely this use of the word sign is meant to direct our attention to God. In fact, miracles validate the truthfulness of one sent by God. According to Louis Berkhof “it may be assumed that the miracles of Scripture were not performed arbitrarily, but with a definite purpose. They
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He expresses that “the laws of nature flow from the necessity and perfection of the divine nature. If some event contrary to these laws could occur, then the divine will and knowledge would stand in contradiction to nature, which is impossible.” One such example is, if miracles do violate the laws of nature then that would imply their needing to be two natures, one for the ordinary and one for the extraordinary. Moreover, that would be illogical to think that two natures are necessary because just as Spinoza has articulated “to say that God does something contrary to the laws of nature is to say God does something contrary to his own nature. Therefore, miracles are impossible.” Spinoza is absolutely right on this point that God cannot have two different natures vying for control; however, Spinoza is absolutely wrong in his view of denying that a miracle could ever occur. For example, in Matthews gospel the evangelist states “He then said to the paralytic ‘rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it they were afraid and they glorified God who had given such authority to men” (Mt. 9:6-8). Stated clearly by the evangelist is that the very instant Jesus commanded a paralyzed man to walk the laws of nature were prepared and ready to cause the paralytic man to walk. …show more content…
Miracles do validate the truthfulness of one being sent by God. For the miracle is a miraculous event that inspires awe in each and every one of us, but its primary role is to draw our attention to God the author of all miracles. As noted, the mighty work of raising Lazarus from death to life shows the creative power of Jesus Christ as a miracle worker. Next, the resurrection of Jesus Christ serves to show that He was the Messiah of the Old Testament. Spinoza attacked the underlying premise of miracles happening. Spinoza’s attack lacks the key insight of God’s omnipotence which renders His making of a miracle occur no less easy than making regular events occur. Lastly, in the book of Exodus God clearly states to Moses that the purpose of the miracles is to show to the Israelites that Moses is truly sent by God. Concluding, mighty works, signs and wonders may have many distinct names and point to many distinct instances; however, they all have one unifying theme and that is to prove that the people who perform them are gifted with the power from God and are sent by God to serve His purposes. The importance of these miracles are enhanced in the New Testament. For example, all kinds of teachers were around the New Testament Church such as scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Judaizers; however, the apostles preformed these miracles to validate themselves as true teachers of God.
He expresses that “the laws of nature flow from the necessity and perfection of the divine nature. If some event contrary to these laws could occur, then the divine will and knowledge would stand in contradiction to nature, which is impossible.” One such example is, if miracles do violate the laws of nature then that would imply their needing to be two natures, one for the ordinary and one for the extraordinary. Moreover, that would be illogical to think that two natures are necessary because just as Spinoza has articulated “to say that God does something contrary to the laws of nature is to say God does something contrary to his own nature. Therefore, miracles are impossible.” Spinoza is absolutely right on this point that God cannot have two different natures vying for control; however, Spinoza is absolutely wrong in his view of denying that a miracle could ever occur. For example, in Matthews gospel the evangelist states “He then said to the paralytic ‘rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it they were afraid and they glorified God who had given such authority to men” (Mt. 9:6-8). Stated clearly by the evangelist is that the very instant Jesus commanded a paralyzed man to walk the laws of nature were prepared and ready to cause the paralytic man to walk. …show more content…
Miracles do validate the truthfulness of one being sent by God. For the miracle is a miraculous event that inspires awe in each and every one of us, but its primary role is to draw our attention to God the author of all miracles. As noted, the mighty work of raising Lazarus from death to life shows the creative power of Jesus Christ as a miracle worker. Next, the resurrection of Jesus Christ serves to show that He was the Messiah of the Old Testament. Spinoza attacked the underlying premise of miracles happening. Spinoza’s attack lacks the key insight of God’s omnipotence which renders His making of a miracle occur no less easy than making regular events occur. Lastly, in the book of Exodus God clearly states to Moses that the purpose of the miracles is to show to the Israelites that Moses is truly sent by God. Concluding, mighty works, signs and wonders may have many distinct names and point to many distinct instances; however, they all have one unifying theme and that is to prove that the people who perform them are gifted with the power from God and are sent by God to serve His purposes. The importance of these miracles are enhanced in the New Testament. For example, all kinds of teachers were around the New Testament Church such as scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Judaizers; however, the apostles preformed these miracles to validate themselves as true teachers of God.