Criticism of Christianity - Miracles

Miracles

Further information: Miracle, Faith healing, and Exorcism

For most Christians, the miracles represent actual historical events. Without the resurrection, Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, "our preaching is useless and so is your faith." The Roman Catholic Church requires a certain number of miracles to occur before granting sainthood to a putative saint, with particularly stringent requirements in validating the miracle's authenticity.

Philosopher David Hume argued against the plausibility of miracles:

1) A miracle is a violation of the known laws of nature; 2) We know these laws through repeated and constant experience; 3) The testimony of those who report miracles contradicts the operation of known scientific laws; 4) Consequently no one can rationally believe in miracles.

Hume's argument against the plausibility of miracles produced by humans is challenged by Jesus' own admission of the human impossibility of miracles. Instead, Jesus said that miracles are acts of God that are "impossible for men" but "with God all things are possible". When Jesus asked Peter to walk on water, Peter's own fear of the waters of the seas led him to fall after a brief period of success (Hume postulated that past experiences led to predictions based on reason), with Jesus characteristically rebuking Peter for having little faith.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church reject Hume's argument against miracles outright with the teachings of St. Gregory Palamas, who postulated that Reason alone was not sufficient to understand God's energies (activities such as miracles) and essence, but faith was. In the Eastern Churches the "miraculous" transubstantiation is described as a "mystery", claiming that any human attempt to understand the scientific process leads to confusion.

Miraculous healings through prayers, often involving the "laying on of hands", have been reported. Reliance on faith healing alone can indirectly contribute to serious harm and even death.

Christian apologists including C.S. Lewis, Norman Geisler and William Lane Craig have argued that miracles are reasonable and plausible.