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The meaning of Miracle in the Bible
(From Easton's Bible Dictionary)

an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to authenticate the divine commission of a religious teacher and the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matthew 12:38). It is an occurrence at once above nature and above man. It shows the intervention of a power that is not limited by the laws either of matter or of mind, a power interrupting the fixed laws which govern their movements, a supernatural power.

  • Semeion, a "sign", i.e., an evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine message (Matthew 12:38,39; 16:1,4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11,18,23; Acts 6:8, etc.); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power.

  • Terata, "wonders;" wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).

  • Dunameis, "might works;" works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Romans 15:19; 2th 2:9); of a new and higher power.

  • Erga, "works;" the works of Him who is "wonderful in working" (John 5:20,36).

    Miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of his divine mission (John 5:20,36; 10:25,38). Thus, being out of the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of God. Where miracles are there certainly God is. The man, therefore, who works a miracle affords thereby clear proof that he comes with the authority of God; they are his credentials that he is God's messenger. The teacher points to these credentials, and they are a proof that he speaks with the authority of God. He boldly says, "God bears me witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles."

    The credibility of miracles is established by the evidence of the senses on the part of those who are witnesses of them, and to all others by the testimony of such witnesses. The witnesses were competent, and their testimony is trustworthy. Unbelievers, following Hume, deny that any testimony can prove a miracle, because they say miracles are impossible. We have shown that miracles are possible, and surely they can be borne witness to. Surely they are credible when we have abundant and trustworthy evidence of their occurrence. They are credible just as any facts of history well authenticated are credible. Miracles, it is said, are contrary to experience. Of course they are contrary to our experience, but that does not prove that they were contrary to the experience of those who witnessed them. We believe a thousand facts, both of history and of science, that are contrary to our experience, but we believe them on the ground of competent testimony. An atheist or a pantheist must, as a matter of course, deny the possibility of miracles; but to one who believes in a personal God, who in his wisdom may see fit to interfere with the ordinary processes of nature, miracles are not impossible, nor are they incredible. (See LIST OF MIRACLES, Appendix.)


    See more on the meaning of Miracle in the Bible:
    Miracle {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

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