What do the doctors think about miracles?

Published by 1c15 on 14th March 202014th March 2020

Nearly two out of five US adults (38 percent) said they have had such an experience of a miracle—which means that as large as 94,792,000 Americans are convinced that God has performed at least one miracle for them personally. But what about doctors? The medical experts? What do they think?

A national survey of 1,100 physicians, conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe that they still occur today. The poll also indicated that American physicians are surprisingly religious, with 72% indicating they believe that religion provides a reliable and necessary guide to life. Doctors would not be considered unintellectual to say the least.

Dr. Alan Mittleman, Director of The Finkelstein Institute, says that: 

“The picture that emerges is one where doctors, although presumably more highly educated than their average patient, are not necessarily more secular or radically different in religious outlook than the public.” 

Dr. Alan Mittleman, Director of The Finkelstein Institute

Perhaps the most surprising result of the survey is that a majority of doctors (55%) said that they have seen treatment results in their patients that they would consider miraculous (45% do not). Thus, of the 1100 physicians examined, 605 claimed to have witnessed a medical miracle. Most physicians pray for their patients as a group (51%). Even more, 59% pray for individual patients.

37% physicians believe that the Bible’s miracle stories are literally true while 50% believe they are metaphorically true. 12% indicated that they did not believe in the Bible’s description of miracles, 9% believe the Bible was written by God, 58% believe the Bible was inspired by God and 34% consider it human ancient literature and 55% believe that medical practice should be guided by religious teaching (44% do not)

So not a bad turnout religiously for an intellectual bunch. We aren’t saying the Jury is out, but things look like they’re shifting. Double-blind prayer experiments are great, but this isn’t a done deal, but it would mean materialistic naturalism is out of the game.

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