Many people struggle to believe the biblical accounts of Jesus’ miracles. The kinds of extraordinary miracles that are described in the Gospels just don’t sit well with people in a modern, scientific age. Walking on water? Multiplying food? Changing water into wine? Gatecrashing funerals and ruining them by raising the deceased to life, even days after their death? Can we really believe this stuff? Even some branches of Christianity have abandoned a literal belief in Jesus’ miracles, bowing to science and conceding that the biblical accounts must be myths or exaggerations.
Any discussion of the incarnation of Christ ought to address this issue of the veracity of Jesus’ miracles, because if we consign his miracles to the area of myth, all we are left with is a bloke who said some interesting things. The incarnation of Christ, as documented in the Gospels, is a miraculous life from start to finish. So how ought Bible believing Christians respond to doubts about the credibility of Jesus’ miracles?
I suggest that there are three complementary responses: Philosophical, Apologetic and Scientific/Theological.
A Philosophical Response
People who claim to believe in God but deny the miracles of Jesus need to be asked the question, “What kind of God do you believe in?” If God is the all-powerful God who created the entire universe from nothing by the power of his Word, he is clearly powerful enough to manipulate small ‘bits’ of his universe when he personally visited our planet. In comparison to the extraordinary miracle of the original creation, the miracles of Jesus are relatively simple. Surely there is a philosophical inconsistency in believing the former but doubting the latter.
An Apologetic Response
While we do not have the ability to forensically prove the miracles of Jesus from our temporal distance of two millennia, there is some historical evidence for their veracity involving extra-biblical references from the first century. The first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, refers to Jesus’ miracles, calling them “works of wonder”:
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of works of wonder—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.”[1]
In addition to this, there are several references to Jesus in the Jewish Talmud, a sacred text of Judaism that was being written during the period when Jesus was alive. He is recorded as working miracles and it accuses him of being a sorcerer. The Talmud was written by the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, the very authorities who eventually condemned Jesus to death, yet even they could not deny his miracles. Instead, they explained his miraculous deeds by claiming that Jesus performed them by the power of the devil; a claim which ultimately led them to condemn him to death. Thus, in the final reference to Jesus in the Talmud, we read:
“On the eve of the Passover Yeshua [the Jewish name for Jesus] was hanged. Before the execution took place, a herald cried, “He is going forth to be executed because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.”[2]
The ‘hanging’ that is referred to here was a common first century description of crucifixion because those who were crucified literally hung from the nails in their feet and hands.
These statements by hostile or disinterested witnesses attesting to Christ’s miracles are significant. They provide us with strong extra-biblical evidence for the miraculous nature of Jesus’ life and ministry.
A Scientific/Theological Response
A third response to doubts about Jesus’ miracles involves both science and theology. I have combined them in this response because, in the end, they are inseparable (contrary to the popular view that they are diametrically opposed!). Let me start with science and then show how this relates to theology. You will need to fire up your synapses, initially, because the science is necessarily technical.
In physics there are four fundamental forces which hold the physical matter of our universe together. From strongest to weakest they are the strong nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force and the gravitational force. (Yes, gravity is the weakest). For our purposes we will focus on three of these forces.
The weak nuclear force is the underlying force that enables nuclear fusion and fission. It is the force that powers the nuclear reaction of every star in the universe, without which our universe would be a cold, dark, lifeless place.
The strong nuclear force is the force that binds quarks (sub-atomic quantum particles) together to form protons and neutrons and also binds those protons and neutrons together to form the nucleus of atoms. Without the existence of this force, the protons in a nucleus would fly apart, being repelled by their mutual positive charges.
The electromagnetic force is the force that, among other things, holds electrons in orbit around their nuclei, thus enabling the stable existence of atoms. Without these two forces constantly at work – the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force – no atoms could exist and, therefore, no matter could exist. These two forces are what holds the atoms of our bodies together and prevents our bodies from flying apart. They literally hold us together.
The gravitational force does much the same thing at a macro level. It is the force of attraction that exists between all objects of physical mass in the universe. It is the weakest of the four fundamental forces but has an almost infinite range and governs the large-scale structure of the universe. It is the force that ‘clumps’ matter together to allow planets and stars and solar systems to form. It is the force that is currently holding you to the surface of this planet so that you don’t fly off into space, even though the planet is spinning at 1,670 kilometres per hour (1,037 mph).
These fundamental forces literally hold everything together. They hold atoms together. They hold matter together. They hold planets and the macro universe together.
Although scientists can measure these forces and write formulae to describe their strength, they cannot explain why these forces work or where they originate. All they can do is measure them and observe their effect. In the process of such observation scientists marvel at the precise elegance and finely tuned nature of these forces. Indeed, if the strength of any one of these forces were to be altered by even a billionth of one percent, all life and all matter would simply cease to exist.[3]
Furthermore, the ongoing existence of the universe is governed and controlled by more than just these four basic forces. There are up to 39 recognised physical constants that are the fundamental forces and strengths that undergird our universe and ensure its continued existence. Here are some of them, along with their measured values or strengths:
Similarly to the four fundamental forces, these physical constants are unbelievably fine-tuned and interdependent. If any one of them were altered in strength or size by even one billionth of one percent, the universe would no longer be life-permitting and, in many cases, would simply cease to exist.[4]
But here’s the thing. Although we can measure these forces and constants and observe their effect, we have no idea what is generating them or where they have come from. And when we consider the incredibly, unbelievably fine-tuned values of these constants and take into account their inter-dependant nature, we are left with the stunning realisation that blind chance and random processes could not possibly have conjured them up. Clearly, a vast intelligence lies behind the formation and ongoing operation of these beautifully precise forces and constants. As the late great Professor Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer and mathematician at the Royal Astronomical Society, once said:
“A common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has ‘monkeyed’ with physics as well as chemistry and biology, and there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”[5]
Similarly, Dr Paul Davies, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Adelaide University, states:
“The physical universe is put together with an ingenuity that is so astonishing, with physical constants that are so impossibly perfect, that I can no longer accept it as the product of brute chance”.[6]
With all this in mind, we turn to what I consider to be the most profound verse in all the Bible (this is where theology comes in!). It is a verse that I regularly refer to in my seminars but which is not well understood by most people. The verse is Colossians 1:17, but it needs to be quoted in the context of the previous two verses:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17)
Secular scientists point out that it is the fundamental forces and constants of physics that hold all things together. But they can’t explain where these forces come from or what holds them together in perfect balance. The Bible gives us the answer. Verse 17 tells us that it is Christ, the eternal Son of God, who holds everything together. He is the creator of “all things” including things that are “visible and invisible” (v. 16). Thus, the visible matter of the universe as well as the invisible forces that bind it all together were created by Christ, “and in him all things hold together” (v.17).
Scientists describe the fundamental forces of our universe as the forces of physics, but they aren’t really the forces of physics: they are the forces of Christ. Physics didn’t create them, God did. All that physics can do is measure these forces and marvel at them. It is the eternal Son of God who created these forces and who continues to ensure their ongoing perfect operation, so that our universe continues to “hold together”.
What has all this got to do with the miracles of Jesus during his incarnation? Simply this: If Christ is the architect and creator of the fundamental forces of nature, down to the atomic and sub-atomic level, and if he is the one who perpetually undergirds their continued operation, then it is a simple thing for him to manipulate those forces whenever he chooses to do so. Changing water into wine is a breeze for Jesus; just the addition of a few electrons to change the atomic structure of the molecules. Walking on water is no problem either; he could simply adjust the force of gravity and strengthen the surface tension of the water molecules at that precise location. If the fundamental forces of the universe continue to reside within Christ and are controlled by him, he is easily able to bend and manipulate them at will wherever and whenever he chooses. We call these events miracles, but from Jesus’ perspective they are simply temporary minor adjustments to the fundamental forces that he continually controls and “holds together”.
Who said science and theology don’t mix?
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Flavius Josephus, “The Antiquities of the Jews”, 18.3.3
[2] Babylonian Talmud, BT, Sanhedrin 43a, quoted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshu#Yeshu_the_sorcerer
[3] “Our Finely-Tuned Universe, Part 1: Fundamental Forces”, Steve Hurley, May 6, 2022, on Explaining Science website.
[4] “List of Fine Tuning Parameters”, Dr Jay Richards, Published on Centre For Science and Culture website, discovery.org
[5] Quoted in the article, “An Astronomer’s Take On God”, on the Philosophical Society website.
[6] Paul Davies, “The Mind of God”, New York, Touchstone, 1992, p.16