The Case for Miracles
Page 27
18. John Polkinghorne, Science and Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998), 38.
19. Richard Swinburne, Is There a God? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 68.
20. John Leslie, Universes (New York: Routledge, 1989), 198.
21. Quoted in Strobel, Case for a Creator, 109.
22. Quoted in Strobel, Case for Faith, 77.
23. Quoted in Paul Copan et al., eds., Dictionary of Christianity and Science (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 66.
24. Isaiah 55:8–9 reads, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
Chapter 11: The Miracle of the Resurrection
1. See Richard Whitehead, “Forensic Statement Analysis: Deception Detection,” Law Enforcement Learning, undated, www.lawenforcementlearning.com/course/forensic-statement-analysis.
2. This is a paraphrase of the C. S. Lewis quote, “One must keep pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance” (1970; repr., God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014], 102).
3. See Luke 1:1–3.
4. See 1 Peter 5:1; 2 Peter 1:16–17.
5. 1 John 1:1.
6. Acts 4:20.
7. Acts 10:39.
8. See 1 Corinthians 15.
9. Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists: The Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984), 34.
10. See Michael R. Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? What We Can Learn from Ancient Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
11. John 20:2. “Beloved disciple” (“the one Jesus loved”) is the way the apostle John refers to himself.
12. Luke 24:24 reads, “Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
13. Licona quotes are from “Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? An Interview with Michael R. Licona,” Bible Gateway, June 27, 2017, www.biblegateway.com/blog/2017/06/why-are-there-differences-in-the-gospels-an-interview-with-michael-r-licona, emphasis added.
14. See J. J. Blunt, Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings of Both the Old and New Testament: An Argument of Their Veracity (1847; repr., London: Forgotten Books, 2017); Lydia McGrew, Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts (Chillicothe, OH: DeWard, 2017).
15. See Matthew 4:18–22.
16. See Luke 5:1–11.
17. Matthew 26:67–68.
18. See 1 Corinthians 15:17.
19. Surah 4:157–158 in the Qur’an: “That they said (in boast) ‘We killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’—but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not—Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is exalted in Power, Wise . . .”
20. Josephus, Tacitus, Mara bar Serapion, Lucian, and the Talmud.
21. See Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004).
22. Bart Ehrman, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (New York: HarperOne, 2014), 7, 157, italics in original.
23. Craig A. Evans, “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right,” in How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus’ Divine Nature, ed. Michael F. Bird et al. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 73.
24. Evans, “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right,” 76.
25. Evans, “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right,” 89.
26. Evans, “Getting the Burial Traditions and Evidences Right,” 93.
27. See 1 Corinthians 15:4. Wallace also noted that a 2007 documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, claimed to have found the family tomb of Jesus, including an ossuary labeled in Aramaic “Jesus, Son of Joseph.” Subsequently, scholars have undermined the film’s credibility. However, said Wallace, embrace of the movie by skeptics at the time shows their inconsistency. “Often skeptics deny the fact Jesus would be buried in a grave—until, of course, it serves their purpose to claim there is a grave of Jesus. You can’t have it both ways.”
28. Jodi Magness, “Jesus’ Tomb: What Did It Look Like?” in Where Christianity Was Born, ed. Hershel Shanks (Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 2006), 224.
29. Acts, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Ignatius, Dionysius of Corinth (quoted by Eusebius), Tertullian, and Origen.
30. See Sean McDowell, The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus (New York: Routledge, 2016).
31. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
32. See Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 187–201.
33. See Stan Telchin, Betrayed! (Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1982).
Chapter 12: Embarrassed by the Supernatural
1. Asked in my interview how he defines an Arminian, Olson replied, “An Arminian is a Protestant Christian who believes that God grants us free will to accept or reject his offer of salvation. He does not make that decision for us, but he does give us the ability to decide, which we don’t have on our own.” He added, “I consider anyone an Arminian who fits that profile, even if they don’t call themselves an Arminian.”
2. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, “Embarrassed by God’s Presence,” Christian Century 102 (January 30, 1985): 98–100.
3. Hauerwas and Willimon, “Embarrassed by God’s Presence,”100.
4. Hauerwas and Willimon, “Embarrassed by God’s Presence,” 100, emphasis added.
5. Hauerwas and Willimon, “Embarrassed by God’s Presence,” 100.
6. For more detail about this health episode and the spiritual lessons I learned from it, see Lee Strobel, The Case for Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 163–70.
7. Bill Hybels, The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 16.
8. Hybels, Power of a Whisper, 16.
9. Hybels, Power of a Whisper, 17.
Chapter 13: When Miracles Don’t Happen
1. Douglas Groothuis, Walking through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness—A Philosopher’s Lament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2017).
2. James F. Sennett and Douglas Groothuis, In Defense of Natural Theology: A Post-Humean Assessment (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2005). The book’s thesis: “Natural theology is alive and well in contemporary philosophy; the supposed Humean refutation of the enterprise is a myth whose exposure is long overdue” (p. 15).
3. See my interview with philosopher Peter Kreeft of Boston College in The Case for Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 30–54.
4. Matthew 27:46; see Psalm 22:1.
5. Bernard Schweizer, Hating God: The Untold Story of Misotheism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
6. See John 11:1–44.
7. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6 reads, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens . . . a time to search and a time to give up . . .”
8. See Paul Tournier, To Resist or to Surrender (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1964).
9. See John 6:67–68.
10. Catherine Marshall, Adventures in Prayer (New York: Ballantine, 1975), 62–63, italics in original.
11. Marshall, Adventures in Prayer, 70–71.
12. See Romans 5:3–5.
13. Matthew 5:4 reads, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
14. Mark 12:30 reads, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Conclusion: Reaching Your Verdict
1. Matthew 13:58; see Mark 6:1–6.
2. See Matthew 17:14–16.
3
. See 2 Timothy 4:20.
4. 2 Corinthians 12:7.
5. Tricia Lott Williford, “When Everyone Else Is Getting Their Miracle: How to Deal with Feeling Overlooked,” Ann Voskamp blog, July 10, 2017, www.annvoskamp.com/2017/07/when-everyone-else-is-getting-their-miracle-how-to-deal-with-feeling-overlooked.
6. Nancy Guthrie, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2009), 19, emphasis in original.
7. Harriet Hall, “On Miracles,” Skeptic 19.3 (2014): 17–23. All quotes from Hall in this chapter are from this article.
8. See John Earman, Hume’s Abject Failure: The Argument against Miracles (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
9. See 1 Corinthians 15:12–19.
10. Ephesians 2:8–9 reads, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
11. Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 10:9–10: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
12. Proverbs 2:3–5, paraphrase.
Guide for Group Discussion and Personal Reflection
1. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason: The Definitive Edition (Grand Rapids: Michigan Legal Publishing, 2014), 54.
Index
Abraham, Alex, 111
accidents, auto, 20–21
Acts, book of, 73, 197, 219, 224
Acts 26:8, 110
Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (Keener), 75–76
Adolph, Harold P., 101–5
Adventures in Prayer (Marshall), 250–51
affirmative prayer, 130–31
Africa, 228
afterlife, 63–65
agnosticism, 47, 87
Allah, 60, 150
alternative religions, 130
amputees, 51, 113–14, 263
And Life Comes Back (Williford), 259
angel dreams, 156–57, 214
anomalies, 49–52
Anthropic Cosmological Principle, The (Barrow), 181–82
anti-supernaturalism, 117
aphasia, 238, 243
apologetics, 91, 129, 130, 164, 236, 253
Archives of Internal Medicine, 127–28
Arminianism, 215
atheism, 21–23, 47, 175, 237–38, 247
and beginning of the universe, 169–71
and Hume, 87
and Keener, 77
and miracles, 29
and Wallace, 190
atoms, 177
Augustine, 27
authentication, 142
Bacon, Francis, 48–49
Baker, Heidi and Rolland, 134–35
Baptists, 224
Barna Research, 30
Barrow, John, 181–82
Bauckham, Richard, 74
Beddoes, Tyler, 20–21
Berlatsky, Noah, 29
bias, confirmation, 54
Bible
and cosmology, 187
dreams and visions in, 142, 153
and miracles, 57, 220
and miracle-working God, 187
and natural law, 167–68
and supernatural events, 218
big bang, 62, 169, 170–71, 174, 180, 184–85, 186, 194
biodiversity, 180
biographies, 84, 199
black holes, 182
blind faith, 183
blindness, 110, 114, 134–37
Blomberg, Craig, 73–74
Bock, Darrell L., 76
Borde-Guth-Velenkin theorem, 171, 183
Borg, Marcus, 57
“born again” intercessors, 127, 128–30
Boza, Mirtha Venero, 111
Brazil, 115, 137
Brief History of Time, A (Hawking), 169
broken ankle miracle, 106
Brown, Candy Gunther, 121–38, 262
concerns about STEP, 126–32
introduction, 123–24
miracles in Brazil, 137
miracles in Mozambique, 133–36
Brown, Derren, 22–23
Brown, Raymond, 86
Buddha, 60, 247
Bugh, Rob, 144
Burge, Gary, 75
burns, 111
Byrd, Randolph, 126–27, 128
Byrskog, Samuel, 76
Cambridge Companion to Atheism, The, 172
carbon, 178, 180, 185
Carson, Benjamin S., Sr., 15–16
Case for Faith, The (Strobel), 142
Celsus, 86
cessationists, 24
chance, random, 66
charismatics, 132, 137
chemistry exam miracle, 15–16
China, 115
Christianity
in Africa, 228
and evil, 248
and God, 186–87
historical underpinnings of, 23
invitation to investigation, 264–65
and Islam, 150–52
Muslims’ access to beliefs of, 152–54
Muslims converting to, 141–43, 145, 154–56
and science, 35
secularity of modern Western, 217–19
in Third World countries, 115–16, 227–29
Wallace’s conviction about, 190
circular reasoning, 88–90
Clement, 205
clinical studies, 125–26
Cocherell, Carl, 106
coincidences, 233
cosmic, 179
vs. miracles, 26–29, 30
undesigned, 200–202
Cold-Case Christianity (Wallace), 191
Collins, Robin, 182
confirmation bias, 54
conspiracies, 204–6
conversions to Christianity, 115, 141–43, 145, 154–56
cosmic inflation, 176–77
cosmology, 61, 167, 176, 187, 240
Counterfeit Miracles (Warfield), 228–29
Coyne, Jerry, 48–49, 93
Craig, William Lane, 164, 171–72, 174, 182, 185–86
Crandall, Chauncey, 108–10
creatio ex nihilo, 164
creation miracle, 61–63, 163–74, 240, 263
and atheists, 23, 169–71
crucifixion, 204, 205, 247, 263
cults, 130
dark energy, 173
Davies, Paul, 176, 179
Dawkins, Richard, 37, 46
Dawson, Matthew, 111
deafness, 99–101, 134–37
dementia, 237, 242–53
demons, 220
direct-contact prayers, 133
distant intercessory prayer, 132, 133
divine intervention, 105, 262
Dominong, David, 110
doubt. See skepticism
Doyle, Tom, 139–60, 262
dreams, 15–16, 139–60, 262
about angels, 156–57, 214
about Jesus, 145–48, 149, 150–52, 155–56, 158–60
in the Bible, 142, 153
and Muslims, 154–56, 159, 262
Dreams and Visions (Doyle), 143–44
Earman, John, 91–92
Earth-like planet, 180–81
Eastern religions, 187
Ecclesiastes, book of, 249
education, 30, 222–23
Egypt, 148
Ehrman, Bart, 202, 204, 205
Einstein, Albert, 169
electromagnetic force, 178
elements, 170, 177, 179, 180, 185
Elisha, 86
elliptical galaxy, 179
Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding and Concerning
the Principles of Morals (Hume), 53
entropy, 172, 178
epilepsy, 111
Equatorial Africa, 16–17
eternal life, 65, 249, 259, 265
ethics, 224
Ethiopia, 115
evangelical Christians, 31
and prayer, 220–21
and respectability, 221–23
and supernatural events, 219–21, 221–23, 229–30
evangelical scholars, 83
evangelism, 78, 115
Evans, Craig A., 76, 205
evidence, 49, 55, 89, 92, 93
evil, 42, 248
evolution, 43
exorcisms, 220
expectation, power of, 54
eyewitness gospels, 195–98, 201, 206
discrepancies in, 198–200
and Jesus’ resurrection, 205–6, 207–8
eyewitnesses, 85, 92, 197, 198, 201, 261
faith, 251, 259, 265
blind, 183
and miracles that don’t happen, 44
and science, 122–23
Shermer’s definition of, 54–55
fake miracles, 22–23
fibromyalgia, 235–37, 241–42
Fillmore, Charles and Myrtle, 130
1 Corinthians 15:17, 59
Fitch, Mary Ellen, 112–13
forensic statement analysis, 190, 193
forgiveness, 195, 209, 265
free will, 42
Friedman, Alexander, 169
friendship evangelism, 78
galaxies, 170, 179
Gardner, R. F. R., 99–101
Genesis
1:1, 61
50:20, 240
Global Medical Research Institute, 137
God
anger at, 247
asking for healing from, 25–26
character of, 87
compassion of, 257
cosmological proof of existence of, 179
evidence of, 167–68
as fine-tuner of universe, 184–86
goodness of, 246
grace of, 157, 195, 209, 210, 265
hatred for, 246
kingdom of, 60
and love, 153
and medical healing, 229–30
as miracle worker, 24, 187
reaching out to Muslims, 155
and scientific evidence, 186–88
submission to his will, 259
transcendence of, 188
where he came from, 62, 165, 185–86
whispers of, 230–33