Do you believe in miracles? And are miracles in violation of natural law?
You may use outside resources to support your opinion.
Here is some music for inspiration
Choose a quote from at least one of these songs and include it in your argument
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjdbXdTt48E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gu4M2rz5Cw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKNl0WJB57g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6MYfKuYrNQ
ReplyDelete“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” , Jesus expressed these words in john 5:17 as a way to show us that God will always be here with us on earth in his creation. God intervenes in such mysterious ways. This is why I becomes hard for people to open up to the fact that miracles are a genuine way of God's nature. To not believe in miracles is to reveal that there is not enough evidence for you to comprehend the situation. With God, as cliche as this sounds, seeing is not believing.
A miracle is defined as an event that occurs in nature but has a cause lying outside nature. A miracle should not be known as violation of natural law. With scientific knowledge there is power to make conclusions of whether or not a miracle has occurred based on natural means. God created this earth and will live around it for eternity. It's God's natural power to include miracles into the lives of people worthy enough to encounter his great love. There will obviously always be doubts to the topic of miracles really being true to reality. God holds all power and to believe in him is to believe in all his actions put forth. It may be difficult to often comprehend, but that's really part of his beauty.
"You ever seen a brother or sister who could cure a disease? I hadn't but I wanted to. Show the world that nothing's impossible if they can believe.", the lyrics expressed by the Newsboys in their song "Miracles" explains the true love of believing in God even without the expectation of finding all his answers. God is a mystery to his people, and the people are willing to face his confusion to gain his great love.
I think you did a good job of comparing miracles to a violation of the natural law. You had definitions to back up your argument, which was helpful.
DeleteI concur, the definitions you utilized in your arguement were extremely helpful to the reader. I also love how you expressed the difficulty intertwined with understanding God's mysterious ways and now those ways have their own sort of beauty.
DeleteI agree that there will always be doubts on miracles. Your definition of miracle made it so that we can understand that they must come from God. Good lyrics.
Delete"What is impossible with man is possible with God." Jesus Christ spoke these words describing miracles. Christ performed many miracles during his divine life on earth. These miracles shocked people because no man could do such things. But Jesus was not just a man, he was the Devine Lord. So these people who witnessed a miracle then in tern believed that Christ was truly the son of God. It is known a miracle is a work of the divine. It is an event that occurs in nature that was caused by something outside of nature, God. God is the creator of life and the producer of miracles. Most mass miracles performed by Christ were done to show the power of God, and to make more people believe in him. This does not mean miracles do not happen today, because they do in many different ways. I believe in miracles. If there was no miracles our Catholic faith would not be real. Christ himself came to us by means of a miracle, and his whole life was a miracle. Many saints are also known for performing miracles. People are miraculously healed form disease, intense burdens are lifted, beautiful things happen in relationships; these are examples of modern day miracles. Many people of all sorts believe in miracles, some may not even believe in God. There is a song by Coldplay entitled Miracles for example. "Send your storm and your lightning to strike right between the eyes." He could be saying this to ask God to send something beautiful in the form of a miracle. It could also be a general stated belief in miracles without asking God in particularly. Amongst the billions of people in this world many believe in miracles, and those who don't may one day see one first hand and witness the power of God. Miracles still do happen in small ways most every day, just maybe not the huge magnificent world changing events that some people think miracles are and have to be.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job tieing in God's role in miracles and that Jesus came to us through a miracle and continued to preform them. Also, I think that it was important that you showed the quote you chose could be interpreted in many different ways.
DeleteGreat opening! Outstanding quote! I agree that Jesus could perform miracles at will because he was half man half divine. Great connection.
DeleteI also liked the quote in the beginning to open up your blog! You did a great job incorporating god into the different miracles.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe is miracles? I think that the answer to this question could be yes, or no. Miracles happen everyday and we don't even noticing them happening. Big or small they are always happening every second of everyday. I often wonder why people have such a hard time believing in miracles, I believe that it is because it shatters our perception of reality and it confuses our natural comfort zone. Their are many different things that can be considered a miracle. I know that my parents believe that I was a miracle baby. I was born 2 months premature. I had to say in the ICU for a little over a month because my lungs were not fully developed and I couldn't breath on my own. I was the in the ICU with all the cords hooked up to me laying in the crib. For 30 long days my parents had to drive to see me everyday. When I was finally able to come home, I had to be put on a machine for about 8 weeks because I had sleep apnea, and I would forget to breath. I cannot even begin to imagine the stress and pain that I put my parents through during this time of my life. Now is that really actually a miracle, no probably not, but it was to my family. "Did you know you're everything I prayed for?" All my family did while I was in the ICU was pray pray and pray, and obviously it was of worked and God answered my families prayers and here I am today healthy as can be. I believe that miracles are not violations of the laws of nature. The way we know if an event is a miracle is by seeing if it could have been caused by natural forces. As C. S. Lewis pointed out In his book "Miracles" he tells us an example of a real miracle could be the Virgin Birth it is only perceivable as a miracle if one first knows the law of nature that virgins don't normally give birth. As it says in Matthew 1:19 "Joseph understood this law of nature. When he discovered Mary was pregnant, he initially suspected her of unfaithfulness. It took a visit from an angel of the Lord to convince him of the miraculous nature of Mary's pregnancy." "Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you."
ReplyDeleteI like your use of personal experience. It really helps to put the idea of a miracle into perspective.
DeleteYour personal experience really strengthens your views. Your example of the Virgin Mary strengthens your argument that miracles are not violations of nature.
DeleteI like how you used biblical texts and current-day literature to strengthen your argument. Also, I must agree that your mention of personal experiences gave your arguement some spice that worked very well. Nice job!
DeleteI believe in miracles. As a Catholic, I believe that God can do anything. God created this world and everything in it, so He can choose to create situations which cannot have an explanation that follows our human logic. I believe that miracles happen every day, to very different people. I also believe that miracles are not always obvious. Certain miracles, ones of which are spoken of on the news or in books, are very obvious. However, I believe that many of the blessings granted to us each day are little miracles that could never happen without God. I think that God intervenes in our lives when he feels it necessary, sometimes just to give us a little boost, and sometimes to fix problems that can have no other solution.
ReplyDelete"If miracles had chemical equations then everyone would believe." This idea by Cecelia Ahern seems to sum up the way that a lot of our society views miracles. Especially in the science world, miracles cannot happen, for everything is explained by science. There are, to some, only rare phenomena. But sometimes, these rare phenomena cannot be explained, leading us to believe that miracles exist. As far as we know, miracles do violate the natural law, for they cannot be simply explained using ideas from human nature. The band newsboys shares the idea that in miracles, "It's more than metaphysical." While science may be able to define some miracles, they are still such an odd phenomena that they could not occur without a force outside of the metaphysical.
I believe that miracles happen for many reasons, in many ways, for many purposes. Without miracles, our salvation would not be attainable. Without miracles, Jesus would just have become a regular person of the time and would not have been the Son of God. Everything Jesus did, from His conception to His death and resurrection, consisted of miracles. Jesus proved to people through miracles that He was the Son of God and that He would bring salvation to all those willing to follow Him. Without the miracles, Jesus wouldn't have died on the cross or rose from the dead to save us. Without miracles and divine intervention, our world would be much worse that it is today. Without faith and miracles to shatter the doubts of the unfaithful, we would be lost in a society in which no one knows what life is for or why things happen (Newsboys, Miracles). We would be lost without the miracles of God.
The way you tied in small miracles in the beginning and then build up to larger miracles such as the ministry of Jesus helped build your point up. I also think it was important to show the small miracles that happen everyday and that they can happen to anyone. Many people, including myself, my overlook those little things and only think of miracles as ones documented by the church or huge medical miracles.
DeleteThe human race has been evolving since the beginning of time. This evolution is also apparent in all fields of study, advancements in writing, science, and better understanding more and more history clearly show that we are continually expanding the vastness of what we can comprehend. With that being said, it is clear that there may be some "misdiagnosed miracles," because at the point in time when the event occurred we did not have an explanation for the situation, so at the time they could be considered miracles, but now there is an explanation that is does not rely on supernatural forces. The word "miracle" is over used today, and I think that the abuse of the word has lead people to not believe in them. The Church is a great example of how many miracles there have been throughout history. The Bible depicts many times when Jesus performed miracles. Some people may think that the authors of the Bible made up miracles or that His ministry was more of a large scale magic trick, but that is simply not the case. If Jesus' life is looked at like a crime scene then He would be found guilty of many miracles. He always carried out His miracles in front of a crowd, therefore, thousands of eye witnesses. The Gospels, accounting Jesus' life, were written by four different people and the similarities between all of them are striking. It would have been impossible for the four of them to write the same thing if it was fabricated. If that is not enough to prove the existence of miracles, than take into account the numerous examples in the modern day. In 2001, The Miracle of Chirattakonam took place in India, in 1991, the Eucharistic Miracle of Betania occurred in Venezuela, and there are so many other documented miracles in the modern world. Both of these miracles were totally unexplainable if we only looked at it from a scientific point, but when looked at through the Church it is apparent that a miracle took place. Miracles are not some abstract idea, but rather they are real and do happen and the evidence is available all around us. NewsBoys put it into perspective by singing "It's more than metaphysical." Natural law can be defined as "an observable law relating to natural phenomena," which contradicts miracles. There is no way to understand miracles except through God, whereas humans have the ability to understand natural law and know exactly what should happen and when. Medical miracles are a perfect way to describe why miracles violate natural law. There is not logical reason, from a medical standpoint, why people sometimes recover from things that, in theory, they should have died from, or why they are pain free when all medical evidence points toward a life of pain and suffering. Therefore, these miracles are in a total violation of natural law, or what should have happened based on scientific research.
ReplyDeleteShowing specific examples of when and where certain miracles took place strengthened your argument. Also, your explanation of the Bible stories and saying that their were thousands of eye witnesses helps to prove that the stories are not fabricated.
ReplyDeleteBy definition, a miracle is a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency. I believe that God works in miracles in our world today. A miracle cannot be explained by any science that is known. For example, there are instances of people diagnosed with a terminal disease and the doctor says nothing can be done to help them. In some way they are healed— unexplained by science. There are many of these medical miracle stories that we hear about. A Christian band called Tenth Avenue North wrote a song called " You do All Things Well." The story behind this song is about their friend Travis who went to Africa and he contracted malaria. When he came back the doctors said he was not going to make it through the night. His family and friends prayed all night and the next morning Travis woke up with no traces of malaria and the doctors could not explain this occurrence. God had performed a miracle. There are many examples of medical miracles which prove the existence of miracles. As Catholics we believe that God performs a miracle every time mass is celebrated. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, God turns the bread and wine into his Body and Blood, just as he had done at the Last Supper. Jesus performed a miracle at the feeding of the 5,000 and through many other stories in the Bible. Mary conceived Jesus as a virgin which is also a wonderful miracle and it can only be explained by God. In the song "Miracles" by the Newsboys, they sing, "it is more than metaphysical." Miracles are beyond what one can see and have proof of. It is faith in God and knowing that he can do the impossible. I would say that miracles do not violate natural laws because they cannot be entirely explained by science. Natural laws are what is known to occur through natural forces that can be explained. Miracles can only be explained through God which makes me believe that they could be in accordance with the law, but it may not be known at the time. When a medical miracle happens many doctors cannot explain how or why. A person that is going to die and suddenly is healed without an explanation is a miracle that cannot be understood, but it may not violate natural law.
ReplyDeleteI believe starting your argument off with a definition was beneficial in helping the reader further understand your point in the grand scheme of things. Nice job incorporating our catholic views into your arguement as well!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDo I believe in miracles? To put it simply, my answer would be a soft yes, for I could not hope to understand something that is far beyond the reach of our human knowledge. Just as miracles are often connected directly with our Heavenly Father, we can only expect to understand either when we leave this earth. It is only when we meet God that we could understand his whole self and all his almighty gloriousness, at least, that's what I've been told in my childhood. Furthermore, I personally view "violation" as a rather strong word for such a airy topic. Miracles are generally not viewed as laws, and no miracle I am aware of has ever been considered a negative event, as most would associate a "violation" as being. To be more specific, no, the standard idea of a miracle is no violation of natural law in my book.
ReplyDeleteBesides, from a Catholic point of view, God's law is the ultimate law. God created each and every element of this intricate world we live in, so the question remains. Why would God create something as wonderful as a miracle, only to contradict the concept with the idea of "natural law"? Using the information provided above makes the answer quite simple- he wouldn't. Natural law and miracles go hand in hand, they're one in the same, only one is viewed differently because of its mystifying proportions.
Some might argue that miracles and natural law contrast in the sense that one is more constant than the other, the constant being natural law. Although, if one were to take a moment to truly ponder deeply about this hypothesis, they'd likely soon realize it's not entirely true, perhaps not at all. "There's something that's missing if we can't recognize that our own existence is a miracle before our eyes," the Newsboys belt it out plain and simple, for the message is just that. Our lives are miracles, just the thought of our mother's organs being pushed out of place just to make room for a new, growing life is astonishing. So I'd like someone to tell me how miracles are not a constant, concrete element when we live off of them every waking moment. A miracle, in a sense, was our springboard into the world.
I really like how you argue on more of a skeptical approach. You want to flat out say yes, but you believe that their is so much we do not know about God. Therefore, we cannot be certain about miracles. Good work.
DeleteWhen asked the question, "Do you believe in miracles?" The only way to truly understand this question and answer it with the most sincerity, one must first describe what a miracle is. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the definition of a miracle is "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency." However, some believe that there is a better definition of a miracle, a slight tweak to the term's explanation. It is just to keep the introductory of a "surprising and welcomed event" and also the ending implying the need of divine grace. However, natural law and even scientific law can work in harmony with the miracle. In order to prove this, here is a quote from the famous Christian band the Newsboys. "Our own existence is the miracle before our eyes." If we look to this line, we can begin to understand so much about miracles. To me, miracles do not have to be the ability to walk on water or the ability to fly. Rather, as the Newsboys stated, simply being alive is a miracle. The fact that two people can unite to make a unique and functioning individual is nothing short of a miracle. This very reality of our existence explains how miracles can occur under the grace of God, yet still apply to the parameters of natural and scientific law. For example, look at the processes of conception and birth again, both processes have been scientifically explained and fit in with the human morals applied through natural law. However, this example needs God to bring forth life. Without God, there is no life. Life, our very existence, can all be explained scientifically, just like every other thing we do through our lives. This includes the miracles got grants upon us. For us being alive is a miracle, therefore we should be filled with enough grace to have the capacity of performing miraculous deeds. Not all can control this. Therefore it cannot be explained through natural law, but it most certainly does not contradict. In conclusion miracles are very real, it just takes a little faith to comprehend what you cannot understand.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you started out your blog, and in your second sentence you give the definition from the dictionary and your fully describe what a miracle actuality is. Good work!
DeleteThe multiple definitions of one word helps to show how there is controversy over the topic of miracles. I like the part when you said without God, there is no life.
DeleteI do believe in miracles. There are many websites on the internet that you can read stories on that show proof of miracles. Many of these things have been tested by scientists and have been proven to be impossible to occur without a supernatural force acting on them. I do fully believe that these things come from God. In the Bible it self it says that people would walk up to Jesus and touch him and be healed of their sickness. Not believing in miracles is not believing in the Bible. Many people have also died and seen God and their body on earth was resuscitated and they came back to life. Those people have actually seen God and that is why I believe he performs miracles. Many people refuse to believe that they are real and when something is shown to them that is impossible to have happened without God they just refuse to believe it. Because of this I chose the quote "If only you believe like I believe, baby we'd get by" from the song Miracles by Jefferson Starship. If this statement was true then all people could realize that God is capable of these things. If all people believed in miracles then we could all get along with God guiding us. Some people also think that miracles are big things that happen and only occur in special circumstances. God grants miracles in very small ways every single day. Even though we might not notice these miracles taking place, God never leaves us on our own. He always answers us, the way he answers is not always as large as others but he works miracles for every person everyday. I do not think that miracles violate natural law. They are things that do not come from humans therefore they are from God and natural law is something that only humans deal with. God created nature, so all of the things he does, including miracles, go hand in hand with his creation. God knows what is right and just and would never violate human trust or nature. Miracles are real, they come from God, and they are a blessing that supports all people and the rest of Gods creation.
ReplyDeleteNatural law is something that people need as a baseline to figure out exactly where the line is between science for good and science for evil. The dictionary.com definition of natural law is a principle or body of laws considered as derived from nature, right reason, or religion and as ethically binding in human society. This is a difficult topic because where is the line between the good and evil of ethics? Where do you draw the line between using animals for good of the whole and using them solely for yourself? I don’t understand how miracles could be unethical. In the time of Jesus, he went about, saving people and helping them to lead better lives. There are countless accounts of different miracles preformed around the world, most of them never thought to be possible. Saint Januarius’ blood is kept in a vial and every year on his feast day, it is turned liquid again. There have been countless people looking into this, trying to find out just why this blood can turn liquid for a day. There are saints out there whose bodies are completely preserved. They look like they did the day they died. Their body fluid in them is still in the same place, not rotting or fermenting. Many physicians have looked at these bodies and cannot explain why this is happening, or how it could. There is no possible explanation for this except that there is a God out there, looking over us. This God that loves us gives us these people who will bring this needed faith and help to get through the time of need. They are usually looked down on, and hated, because they are a beacon of light in a time of hatred. They are so pure, that the people hate them. Sometimes the good people take on the qualities of the other people, as the song Miracles from Coldplay states, “Sometimes the stars decide to reflect the puddles in the dirt,” which is irony, when you think about it. The puddles are the things that are the bad, reflecting the good they find in others, while the stars are the good always shining out. But there is also that thought that the stars would never shine so bright for the puddles to reflect if there was no darkness. In reality, there is a need for the darkness in everyone’s life, so they appreciate the light. When it talks about the stars reflecting the puddles, which bring up the thought that the pure, shining, good people are taking on the qualities of the other people, because they are standing out, and not looking normal. They are needed to shine and show their miracles, that good does come out of bad, and sometimes you only need some light to see this. It seems like miracles always seem to show up whenever there is a lack of faith in our God. This could be explained by the fact that He is always watching over us, and loves us. Whenever he sees us doubting, he will send a little something that has no other possible explanation than that He is watching over us.
ReplyDelete