Atheists (or skeptics if you prefer) do not understand what a miracle is. If they did, their claims and refutations would take a different form. Clearly I am generalizing and some atheists do take the correct approach with their skepticism. However, it seems many cannot wrap their mind around the claim that a miracle makes. I am not saying they have to accept the claims, I just wish they understood the claim before they responded.
Sometimes an atheist will reveal they don’t understand miracles with questions like: Do you believe people can walk on water? Have you seen a talking donkey? Why are sick people not healed more often? How many resurrections have you been to? Do you believe in talking snakes?
These type of questions imply thinking along these lines:
- The bible casually claims a person walked on water
- I have not seen a person walk on water or acceptable evidence that it has ever happened.
- Therefore, People cannot walk on water and the bible is false.
Atheists imply they would believe miracles if they happened commonly around them on a day-to-day basis. If this did happen the Atheists would still find an objection to make. They would say, “that happens all the time, why are we even talking about this?”.
So what is the proper understanding of a miracle?
A miracle (biblical or modern day) is a claim that a supernatural being (God in most cases) has done something extraordinary, possibly a one-time event or an extremely rare event, to get someone’s attention because the event is …. Unbelievable… and does not make sense without a supernatural being taking action. At first, they do not believe their own eyes. So unbelievable that they have to tell other people and write it down. Some consider the presented testimony and evidence to be sufficient and believe, but not all do. Some deny it even after being a witness because it violates everything they know to be true.
When someone says they believe in miracles this is generally what they believe. Hopefully from that casual definition you can see why the questions asked by atheists reveal that they are arguing against a kind of belief in miracles that very few people have. They are showing their ignorance of what miracle-believers generally believe about miracles.
I also believe there are a lot of con artists and frauds claiming to have miracles happening around them often. Skepticism of miracles is the right approach. Asking for evidence is the right response. Rejecting the possibility of a miracle no matter the evidence is the wrong approach.
Is there modern day evidence for miracles? Like actual verifiable evidence? Yes.
https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Today-Supernatural-Modern-World/dp/B09HSLQY4R/
Evidence for life after death? Yes
https://www.amazon.com/Case-Heaven-Journalist-Investigates-Evidence/dp/0310259193/
Will many atheists read that book? No. Would they change their mind if they read the book? Maybe, but probably not. They can always find an excuse even if the excuse is highly unlikely. We only find Truth when we seek it wholeheartedly. If an atheist has reviewed evidence for a specific miracle and still does not believe, kudos to them for taking time to review the evidence. If an atheist rejects even the slightest possibility of miracles, then they are choosing to believe what they want, not to follow where the truth leads.
How many miracles have to be verified to prove that miracles are possible? Only one.
How many miracle claims have to be false to prove that the supernatural does not exist? All of them
If someone believes an infinite super intelligence (God) existing outside of the universe created the entire universe from nothing, then it is consistent for them to believe that the same being can create a miracle (a near unbelievable event) to get someone’s attention.
So, instead of asking “do you believe in talking donkeys?”, try asking “What evidence convinced you that miracles are possible?”
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