Ask the Pastor 25

Are Miracles Credible?

We may come to the point where we are willing to admit that miracles are possible but then decide not to believe in them. David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher with a degree in law. He believed that a miracle was a violation of the laws of nature and the laws of nature were the only truth as they were proved through ongoing experience. Miracles are not a violation of the laws of nature, they are an exception to what usually happens. The laws of nature do not tell us what must happen, they tell us what usually happens given certain circumstances. To say that the only truth or reality is what usually happens is absurd. This leads us to the law of probability, for example, for a person to win the Mega Millions lottery they have odds of almost 1 in 176 million. Each time a person buys a lottery ticket, the most common and usual experience is they will lose, so if they win, they should turn in their ticket and say that is not possible and give up the prize. The most usual experience for most people is that they will die and stay dead. Our Lord broke the usual experience by raising up people from the dead and then raised Himself from the dead. Such an exception to what is usual is possible because all things are possible with the God in whom we have believed.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.