The Nature Miracles of Jesus

Problems, Perspectives, and Prospects

Graham H. Twelftree, Twelftree

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781498218283
• eBook ISBN: 9781498218290
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

The nature miracle stories of Jesus--walking on the water or feeding thousands with a small amount of food, for example--are so spectacular that many find them a problem, whether historical, philosophical, or even theological. This is the first book to tackle this problem head on. Do the stories reflect events in the life of the historical Jesus, or are they myths or legends? Or, perhaps they grew out of parables or from more ordinary events into the incredible stories we now have. Or, again, perhaps this the wrong approach! A group of high-ranking biblical historians, philosophers, and theologians with very diverse views set out to provide possible answers. Contributors: - James Crossley- Eric Eve- Craig S. Keener- Michael Levine- Timothy J. McGrew- Scot McKnight- Graham H. Twelftree- Ruben Zimmermann

Part I

Problems

1

Nature Miracles and the Historical Jesus

Graham H. Twelftree

Miracle working looms large in the portraits of Jesus in the Gospels.1 However, in their descriptions of this activity the Gospel writers do not use words that have the same semantic range as the English word “miracle,” a term that has come to be dominated by the idea of a breach of nature.2 Instead, the Synoptic Gospel writers most often use “deeds of power” (δυνάμεις).3 Luke also uses “remarkable (or strange) things” (παράδοχα; Luke 5:26) and “doing good” (εὐεργετῶν; Acts 10:38), as well as “sign” (σημεῖον; Luke 23:8) and “wonder” (τέρας).4 The Fourth Gospel also uses the term “sign,”5 as well as “signs and wonders” (σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα; John 4:48) and “work” (ἔργον) of the Father6 for what we would call miracles.7 The Gospel writers and their peers may not have been working with a notion of miracle that involved a breach of the natural order.8 Instead, the range of words the Gospel writers used suggests they were working with a shared notion of miracle as a special, often surprising, act of God.9

Of the various kinds of miracle stories, the Synoptic writers distinguish between exorcisms (casting out unwanted spiritual beings from people)10 and other healings such as of the blind or lame.11 These constitute most of the miracle stories, the nature miracle stories not being directly related to them. The Fourth Gospel neither carries exorcism stories12 nor distinguishes between healings and other miracle stories traditionally called “nature miracles.” Rather, the evangelist has selected stories that are all stupendous.13

§1.1 Nature miracles?

This project uses the term “nature miracles” for the New Testament stories, mostly confined to those associated with Jesus in the Gospels,14 of a large catch of fish (Luke 5:1–11; John 21:4–14), a coin found in a fish’s mouth (Matt 17:24–27), stilling a storm,15 feeding many people with little food,16 walking on the sea,17 a fig tree quickly withered,18 and a large quantity of water turned into wine (John 2:1–12).

However, the term “nature miracle” is contested. As the action in these stories is not requested but spontaneous or initiated by Jesus they have been called “gift miracles.”19 However, this term and its associated understanding of the stories are misleading. On the one hand, Jesus’ mother brings to his attention the shortage of wine (John 2:3), and the storm-tossed disciples plead for help.20 On the other hand, in a number of healing and exorcism stories Jesus also takes the initiative.21 The term “anomalous,” used by Eric Eve for a number of the miracle stories, is helpful in that it draws attention to scientific anomalies involved in the stories of interest to us.22 However, for this project the term is of limited value for it could also be used for describing a story of the curing of a near-dead boy seventeen miles away (4:46–54), or the instantaneous curing of a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years (5:1–9), or the raising of a long-dead person (11:1–57). In other words, not only the so-called nature miracles, but also some of the healing stories can reasonably be seen as scientifically anomalous.

The solution John P. Meier offers is the alternative of a number of categories: gift miracle, epiphany miracle, rescue miracle, and curse miracle. However, this categorization is of little help to our understanding of these miracle stories. For, as he points out, aside from the gift miracle category, in which Meier places the stories of water being turned into wine...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contributors
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Part I: Problems
• Part II: Perspectives
• Part III: Prospects
• Study Questions
• Bibliography