Renewal Apologetics

The Argument from Modern Miracles

Christopher J. Wilson

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781532651946, 9781532651953
• eBook ISBN: 9781532651960
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Why do you believe in God? Why do you believe in the Bible? Why do you believe in miracles? These are questions that Christians are often asked by sceptics. The field of apologetics attempts to provide rational answers to these and other questions. Unfortunately, apologetical answers to these questions are often abstract and philosophical. However, the Christian apologist/evangelist has a much more powerful argument in their arsenal: the argument from miracles. Miracles are the original Christian apologetic. It was through the witnessing of miracles that Christianity was originally spread. By applying modern tools of philosophical inquiry and scientific methodology, Wilson is able to establish a core set of miracles which defy naturalistic explanations and strongly point toward occurrences of Special Divine Action (SDA). However, once these occurrences are proven to be genuine miracles, several questions remain. Why does God sometimes perform miracles? Why does he often answer no? How do these random acts fit into his overall plans of redemption? By answering these and other questions, Wilson develops a comprehensive apologetic for both Christianity in general and the Renewal Movement in particular.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Relevance of Study

1.1.1 Importance of the Renewal Movement

Renewal theology is an umbrella term for the various Pentecostal and Charismatic movements throughout the world. The twentieth century saw the rise of the Renewal movement with the 1906 Azusa Street Revival in the United States and various other revivals throughout the world. Within one hundred years, the movement claimed 600,000,000 adherents (25% of all Christians), and is currently the fastest growing segment of Christianity.1

The Renewal movement places a heavy emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12: 7–11; Isa 11:1–2) and the immanence of God. Miraculous healings from various medical ailments are an accepted/expected aspect within the various strains of Renewal. Healing miracles are consistent with the biblical witness of the power given to all Christians (Mark 16:15–18).2

1.1.2 Centrality of Signs and Wonders to Christianity

God’s direct interaction with humanity is one of the defining motifs of Christianity. This interaction often occurs through supernatural occurrences such as healings and other signs and wonders. It can be argued that one particular sign and wonder (The Resurrection of Jesus Christ) is the central tenet of Christianity. As Christian apologist/theologian Norman Geisler concluded: “The central claims of Christianity are dependent on the apologetic value of miracles. If miracles have no evidential value, then there is no objective, historical evidence to support the claims of historic, orthodox Christianity.”3

However, claims of miracles are not unique to orthodox Christians, nor is the discussion of miracles limited to religious circles. A 2003 Harris poll found that 84 percent of Americans, and 74 percent of physicians, believed that miracles still occur today. Fifty-five percent of American physicians claimed to have personally witnessed a medical miracle. This is of importance as orthodox Christians represent a minority in both groups.4

1.1.3 Lack of a Renewal Apologetic

Despite the central importance of miracles to the Christian faith, and the persistent belief in modern “post-Christian” America; the scholarship remains sparse in many key areas. For instance, the majority of the existing literature is written by Christian academics relaying testimonials and anecdotal stories of the miraculous. The remaining is written by skeptics such as the New Atheists (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris) who attempt to discredit any possibility of the miraculous due to their naturalistic presuppositions. In recent years, Christian scholars such as Craig Keener and Candy Gunther Brown have attempted to rectify this deficit in the academy. They have produced scholarly texts aimed at providing objective studies of the miraculous examining such issues as the problem of defining the miraculous, scientific and philosophical implications, and medical evidence for miraculous occurrences.

However, what has yet to be developed, is a thorough systematic argument for belief in Christianity due to the occurrence of modern miracles: a Renewal apologetic. While the texts by Cranston and Duffin are a step in the right direction, as they detail the Catholic authentication process including scientific verification; they serve merely as reference books of these occurrences. Keener’s compendium serves as an excellent bibliographic resource and addresses many issues involved in the study of the miraculous within the academy. Keener’s assertion is that it is more plausible to believe that some instances of Special Divine Action have occurred (based upon the sheer volume of unexplainable occurrences); rather than to believe in Hume’s epistemology, or some other highly implausible, naturalistic argument. This assertion is the very start of an apologetical argument based upon the miraculous. However, Keener’s assessment is very brief, only two pages. What is needed is a full 200–300-page book in order to fully answer the question: “Are modern miracles of evidential value in the development of a Renewal apologetic?” That is the purpose of this text.

1.2 Critical Review of Literature

This review will summarize the current study of the miraculous within the academy and the various difficulties and issues involved. Methodologically, this will be accomplished by first examining the skeptical views of the miraculous contained in the writings of David Hume. Despite being nearly 300 years old, Hume’s writings continue to serve as the foundation for the majority of skeptical arguments about the miraculous today.5

Next, an examination of the current status of the study of the miraculous within the academy will be given. This will be done by examining the recent comprehensive survey produced by Craig Keener, as well as the texts by Duffin and Cranston on Catholic miracles. Keener’s text is of importance as it is very insightful and thorough in its description of numerous possible occurrences of Special Divine Action (events which defy scientific explanation). Duffin’s and Cranston’s texts are also valuable resources as they reveal occurrences of Special Divine Action which have withstood the Vatican’s rigorous authentication process.

The final section (developing an interpretive framework of miracles) will show how the works of Jon Ruthven and Jeffrey John provide ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Epistemological Concerns
• Chapter 3: Overview of Special Divine Action Scholarship: Confronting Hume
• Chapter 4: History of Signs and Wonders
• Chapter 5: Documented Cases of Modern Special Divine Action
• Chapter 6: Interpretive Framework
• Chapter 7: Apologetical Significance of Modern Miracles
• Conclusion
• Bibliography