✨ How Can You Believe in Miracles?
🔍 Introduction: Wrestling with the Question
“How can you believe in miracles?” That’s a question that echoes through the halls of science classrooms, church pews, and late-night coffee conversations. For many skeptics, miracles seem like fairy tales—a relic of ancient superstition. But for Christians, miracles aren’t just believable; they’re essential. They testify to the reality of a living, active, and personal God who still intervenes in our world.
Throughout Christian history, ministers and theologians have answered this question with clarity, conviction, and compassion. From St. Augustine to Tim Keller, their voices affirm that miracles are not violations of nature but divine acts of grace that shine a light on God’s redemptive plan. Rather than ignore the miraculous, these thinkers press into it, recognizing that the Christian faith rests firmly on the most important miracle of all: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
✡️ Augustine: Miracles as Divine Messages
St. Augustine (354–430) argued that miracles do not break the laws of nature but rather our understanding of them. In City of God, he wrote:
“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
For Augustine, miracles serve a deeper purpose: they are signa, or signs, meant to confirm the truth of the Gospel and draw people to faith in Jesus Christ. They are not magical stunts but holy signals pointing to a divine reality. He connected miracles directly to the authority of Scripture and the person of Christ. When people encountered miracles, they were encountering divine instruction—a visual sermon that taught spiritual truth through extraordinary means.
Augustine also warned against obsession with miracles. He believed they were temporary tools to help unbelievers believe and to strengthen the faithful in moments of doubt. Once faith was firm, the signs would no longer be needed. Thus, miracles pointed not to themselves but to the ultimate miracle of transformation through Christ.
🧠 Aquinas: God’s Sovereign Acts
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) offered one of the most systematic theological treatments of miracles in his Summa Theologica. He described miracles as events that exceed the power of nature, brought about directly by God. Aquinas categorized miracles in three ways:
- Above nature (e.g., resurrection of the dead)
- Against nature (e.g., walking on water)
- Within nature but done more perfectly (e.g., instant healing)
For Aquinas, miracles affirm the authenticity of God’s messengers and ultimately of Christ Himself. He viewed them not as irrational disruptions but as super-rational revelations. Aquinas placed miracles within a broader framework of divine providence, reminding readers that God’s purposes govern all creation—and miracles are simply moments when those purposes burst visibly into our world.
His teachings helped establish a foundation for balancing faith and reason in the medieval Church, offering future theologians a structure to engage science and supernatural faith without contradiction.
📖 C.S. Lewis: The Grand Miracle
C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, confronted the modern worldview head-on. He argued that naturalism (the belief that nature is all there is) fails to explain reason, morality, and consciousness. Therefore, miracles are not irrational if we accept a supernatural Creator.
“The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle.”
That miracle is the Incarnation—God becoming man. For Lewis, if that miracle is true, then all others (healing, walking on water, resurrection) follow naturally. He compared miracles to a playwright stepping into his own play, or an artist entering the canvas. They are personal interventions by the Author of life.
Lewis also pointed out that miracles have a logic and consistency within Christian theology. They are not random disruptions, but deliberate signs with meaning. In Jesus’ life, every miracle told a story: water to wine signaled joy, feeding the 5,000 revealed provision, and resurrection conquered death. Each miracle was a declaration of the Kingdom of God.
🏛️ Alister McGrath: Miracles and Relationship
Alister McGrath, a former atheist turned theologian, blends science and theology. He views miracles not as “breaking” natural law but as revealing God’s presence in a personal, purposeful way:
“Miracles are not random acts. They are deeply relational acts of a loving God.”
To McGrath, miracles invite us to know the miracle-worker. They reflect a God who is not distant, but intimately involved in human life. As both a scientist and believer, McGrath stresses that miracles don’t stand against science but arise from a larger narrative that science alone cannot tell.
He sees miracles as consistent with the biblical theme of covenant. Just as God entered into covenant with His people in the Old Testament, miracles represent His willingness to act within history to redeem and restore. They are God’s way of saying, “I am still here, and I still care.”
⛪ Tim Keller: Restoration, Not Violation
Tim Keller (1950–2023) offered a compelling view of miracles as restorations of the natural order, not violations of it. In The Reason for God, he wrote:
“Miracles are not suspensions of the natural order, but the restoration of the natural order.”
When Jesus heals the sick or calms the storm, He’s not showing off. He’s restoring the world to what it was meant to be before sin broke it. For Keller, miracles are glimpses of the world as God intends it: whole, peaceful, and thriving.
Keller emphasized that miracles are foretastes of the Kingdom of God. They aren’t interruptions in God’s plan but signposts pointing toward it. They are like windows flung open to let in the fresh air of heaven, showing us what God has always intended for His creation. In a world full of brokenness, miracles whisper: “This is not the end of the story.”
🔥 John Piper: Glory Through Miracles
John Piper emphasizes that miracles are meant to display the supremacy and beauty of Jesus Christ. For Piper, miracles are not the goal but the signposts pointing to God. In his writings and sermons, he warns against miracle-chasing for entertainment or ego.
“Miracles are not about us. They are about the glory of Christ.”
Piper often connects miracles to mission. Just as the early apostles were accompanied by signs and wonders, so too can modern Christians trust that God still acts when His Gospel goes forth. But Piper cautions that the greatest miracle is the new birth—a transformed heart by the Spirit.
He argues that while physical healings and deliverances are powerful, they are temporary. The miracle of salvation, however, is eternal. Thus, believers are called not only to pray for miracles but to marvel at the miracle of grace each day.
🌍 N.T. Wright: New Creation Has Begun
N.T. Wright places miracles within the grand narrative of redemption. For Wright, miracles are not about breaking rules but about launching a new reality. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of a new creation, and miracles show that this new world is already breaking into the old.
“The point of the resurrection is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die. What you do with your body matters because God raised Jesus from the dead.”
Wright emphasizes that miracles are tied to the story of Israel, Jesus, and the Church. They are rooted in history, not mythology. The resurrection, in particular, is not merely a spiritual event but a historical one with physical consequences. It is God’s stamp of approval on Jesus and His promise of life to come.
For Wright, miracles awaken hope. They tell us that death is not the final word, and that justice, healing, and restoration are on the way.
🔮 Miracles and Modern Skepticism
The rise of scientific reasoning in the modern age has led many to dismiss miracles as myth. But theologians and ministers respond to this skepticism in several key ways:
- Science describes patterns, not possibilities. Just because something usually happens a certain way doesn’t mean it always must. Miracles are rare by definition but not impossible.
- Miracles require a theistic worldview. If God exists, then miracles are not only possible—they are to be expected. The natural world is God’s creation and He is free to act within it.
- History supports miraculous claims. From eyewitness testimonies in Scripture to modern-day conversion stories and inexplicable healings, miracles continue to leave their mark. Numerous accounts of answered prayer, healings, and spiritual encounters reinforce belief for millions worldwide.
- Miracles often happen in the margins. In areas of great persecution or poverty, reports of miracles are common. This aligns with the biblical theme that God often works through the weak and overlooked.
In sum, skepticism does not diminish the reality of miracles but challenges us to clarify our worldview. Faith, informed by reason, leads us to embrace both the seen and the unseen.
🌐 Common Theological Themes
| Theme | Insight |
|---|---|
| God is sovereign over nature | He created it and can work within or beyond it. |
| Miracles validate revelation | They affirm divine messengers and the Gospel. |
| Miracles are relational | God uses them to draw us closer to Him. |
| They point to the Kingdom | Miracles show a foretaste of the restored creation. |
| They lead to worship | Miracles glorify God, not man. |
| They confirm identity | Miracles demonstrate who Jesus is and what He came to do. |
| They inspire action | Faith in a miracle-working God leads to bold witness and prayer. |
📏 Key Scriptures
- John 20:30-31 – “Jesus performed many other signs… these are written that you may believe.”
- Acts 2:22 – “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs.”
- Hebrews 2:4 – “God also testified… by signs, wonders and various miracles.”
- Matthew 19:26 – “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Luke 7:22 – “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk…”
- 1 Corinthians 12:10 – “…to another the working of miracles…”
🕊️ Final Thoughts: Faith with Open Eyes
To believe in miracles is not to abandon reason—it is to place reason within a larger, divine framework. From the earliest Church Fathers to today’s leading voices, the consistent message is this:
Miracles are not about spectacle. They are about God showing up.
They stir faith, confirm truth, and restore creation. They show us that we are not alone—that the God who parted seas and healed the blind is still present and powerful. In the end, the greatest miracle is not walking on water, but the God who walks with us every day.
If we accept the resurrection as history and the incarnation as truth, then belief in miracles is not optional—it’s central. Miracles aren’t the fringe of Christianity. They are at its very heart, pulsing with hope and shining with the power of a God who still moves.
📝 Published by Mountain Veteran Ministries
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