Miracles

The first problem with the modern understanding of rules and exceptions, of ordering and miracles, is that the notion of order is wrongly attributed to nature rather than to a creator. Thus it takes on the character of an absolute universal rather than as a strong generality. Only when nature and natural laws are viewed as eternal and immutable (note the characteristics of divinity) can exceptions to them be so roundly and vehemently denied. If, instead of thinking in terms of “natural law” and “miraculous exceptions,” we think in terms of “normal behavior” and “irregular behavior,” we will certainly have bridged the epistemological gap between the ancients and the moderns

The English word miracle, did not arise until the 12th century. It came from the late Latin miraculum meaning a wonder, or a marvel. This word came from the Latin Mirari, to wonder at. There was no sense of violating natural law, or of being impossible.

The notion of the impossibility of miracles arose at the same time nature was being defined in terms of inviolable mathematical rigor, and humanism was becoming the new kid on religion street. Hence, today we have a British definition of miracle as “an event that is contrary to the established laws of nature and attributed to a supernatural cause.” This could never have been the definition in the Ancient Near East, including Israel at the time of Jesus. Nor should it be so now! - Todd