Scientific Explanations of Natural Occurrences That Were Told to Be Miracles throughout the Bible - Research Paper Example

A scientific/natural explanation of the miracles as they appear in either OT or NT A miracle is an occurrence or consequence of non-explainable actions that defy scientific principles and the laws of nature. According to Cotter (2010), these occurrences can be credited to mystical powers, such as, God, miracle persons, saints or spiritual leaders. On the other hand, the term miracle is applied repeatedly on the incidents that describe distinctive examples of benefits, such as, overcoming a life-threatening disease or evading a death-defying mishap. In this regard, individuals can comprehend miracles presented in the Bible through factual and non-factual approaches. In particular, this paper utilizes scientific and natural explanations to proof that the "miracles" in the Old and New Testament book of the bible were really not miracles at all. This will entail analyzing examples of miracles of the bible, such as, the resurrection of Christ Jesus and the healing of the unclean woman. Individuals in the literary world normally uphold the events of the bible, merely as they perceive them. This means that, people develop trust and faith or conviction of the exclusive happenings of the bible, such as, the curing of the unclean woman and the resurrection of Jesus. Conversely, it is important to mention that every miracle highlighted in the bible is only plausible to its supporters. This means that these miracles were developed for the purpose of underpinning the faith to the supporters as opposed to initiating it to the non-supporters. “Redaction criticism emphasizes how the Gospel writers modified miracle accounts to further their theological agendas, and has long played a major role in the exegesis of the four Gospels” (Watson 2). In a period where occurrences with literal meaning are evident over liberal versions of occurrences, many people accept as true the miracles of the Bible. For example, Aquinas considers the miracles of Jesus as a dependable truth (Crook 596). However, if this is the set of circumstances, one wonders whether how it was proven that Jesus really resurrected. It is possible to inquire whether there was another person who pretended to be Jesus. Irrespective of this view, to the ardent supporter of the Bible, these miracles are meant to explain how God works together with the world and man (Crook 596). Additionally, they believe that miracles are a clear explanation of the theistic God, which is Christianity. Nonetheless, if this is factual we can inquire whether miracles are meant for everybody or possibly for one person and a curse to others. According to Watson (2012), Gerd Theissen regarded miracles in the New Testament and Old Testament as “structured forms, diachronically as reproduced narratives, and from a functional point of view as symbolic actions” (p. 2). It is, therefore, possible to reason that God, who conducts miracles to a specified number of people, is a one-sided God. This simply means that God works indiscriminately and still favors some people. This is apparent in the Bible, in the book of Exodus, where God drives plagues to the Egyptians and kills their firstborn sons while leaving out the children of the Israelites (Cotter 78). If this reasoning can be scientifically proven, then the Christian fraternity may face unfavorable consequences. For example, the Christians may begin to realize the inconsistency of the subject that God loves everyone in the same way and without measure. According to Shiell (2011) “preachers and readers speak the word and perform orally…early Christian writers wrote their works to be delivered orally” (Shiell 3). This means that the practical nature of God’s miracles in the Bible is lacking. In particular, it is hard to believe that a “good” God can perform constructive and destructive miracles, at the same time, and to different groups of people. In the case that God certainly loves everybody in the same way, for sure by this reason, He will act equally towards everyone and conduct miracles without preferential treatments. In particular, Christianity and the Bible regard God as an omni-benevolent being. On the contrary, this is complex and hard to accept as true, considering that, with a critical eye, it is possible to establish that God is either un-loving, uncaring, prejudiced or His miracles are not true at all. Shiell (2011) states that the “New Testament reflects the Hellenistic rhetorical categories: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery” (Shiell 3). This means that it is difficult to believe the New Testament even with God’s miracles perfectly highlighted in the texts. It is, therefore, possible to see that explanations of God’s miracles in the Bible are behind the times, with researchers claiming that the Bible was composed approximately 3500 years ago by a varying number of authors. It is also clear that the Bible was initially written in Hebrew and some parts in Greek. Wire states that (2011) “before Mark was written, it was already told in Greek…it is possible that the text we read could be one instance of a firm yet flexible performance tradition that spread and took form in more than one language” (p. 60). In this regard, it is rational to claim that the translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek and later on to English and other foreign languages turns the Bible into an inaccurate compilation of religious texts. Irrespective of the way the Bible is alluring to a number of supporters, it is incorrect and unreliable, on the subject of the frequent number of translations. There is a possibility of errors of omission and commission in the Bible, in connection with attempting to entice a specified group of supporters, such as, the devoted Christians. The curing of the woman, who was considered unhygienic, can be reasoned as a psychological occurrence. Considering that there are a number of scientific facts that prove the inaccuracies in the Bible, it is possible to reason that the unclean woman became cured psychologically. For example, at the point that the unclean woman met with Jesus Christ, stories about the son of God had already spread widely. Therefore, it is possible to claim that the woman was psychologically persuaded that she was cured by touching the cloth of Jesus Christ – one who was associated with numerous and workable miracles (Cotter 43). It is also possible to believe that the woman could have reached her menopause and coincidentally was the day of her healing. The stage of menopause (associated with a complete end of the menstrual cycle) can be proven scientifically, whereas it is not possible to provide proof for the miracle of healing against heavy menstruation. She could also have taken a natural fruit that stops menstruation, on the same day, but not a miracle as supposed by the Biblical texts. Watson (2012) indicates that “miracle stories were intended to demonstrate Jesus’ Messianic authority or divine power and could take the form of healing miracles (including exorcisms) and nature miracles” (p. 86). In conclusion, this paper has presented an analysis of a number of miracles in the Bible in order to establish whether they were true or false. It is apparent that the practicability of the miracles of the Bible relies mainly on the supporters as opposed to initiating it to the non-supporters. Additionally, miracles are believable to the people with literal thinking contrary to the open-minded and rational individuals of the present day. For a critical person, it is possible to reason that it is either the bible is incorrect, inaccurate and inconsistent or that God is not caring, loving and non-partisan as manifested in the Bible. Most of all, with the established reasoning and literature, it is possible to conclude that the miracles in the bible are not true at all. Works Cited Cotter, Wendy. The Christ of the miracle stories: Portrait through encounter. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010. Print. Crook, Zeba. Honour, shame and social status revisited. Journal of Biblical Literature 128 (2009): 591-611. Print. Milavec, Aaron. Salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22): Saving grace in Judaism and Messianic hope in Christianity. Artarmon, NSW, Australia: Liturgical Press, 2007. Print. Shiell, Wiliam. Delivering from memory: The effect of performance on the early Christian audience. Eugene, Oregon, USA: Pickwick Publications, 2011. Print. Watson, Duane. Miracle discourse in the New Testament. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012. Print. Wire, Antoinette. The case for mark composed in performance. Eugene, Oregon, USA: Cascade Books, 2011. Print. Read More