6.1 Accusation: Miracle claims in other religions count against Christian Miracle claims

Published by 1c15 on 14th December 201914th December 2019

Some critics say Christians need to disprove all other miracle claims for ours to be valid, or that non-christian claims make christian ones less likely.

1. Genuine miracles could happen among non-believers and still be entirely compatible with Christian belief, thus the christian has no obligation to disprove miracle claims in other religious traditions

Even amongst scripture, God acted supernaturally in non-believers such as healing Naaman’s leprosy. If scripture is correct, even demons can perform actual supernatural wonders or counterfeit illusions designed to confound people.

2. Miracles in other religions are poorly attested

Their questionable factuality as historical events cannot rule out the possibility that a real miracle with good attestation could occur. Miracles involving founders of world religions such as Buddha or Krishna, appear centuries after the events they are said to record. In cases like Confucius and Lao-Tzu, there are no serious miracle claims. Historian Edwin Yamauchi, one of the foremost scholars on ancient world cultures and religions, argues that the reports relating to miracles by Jesus and the accounts of his resurrection are unique.

3. Miracles in other religions usually can be dismissed with a plausible opposing theory

Whereas we have seen that opposing theories fail to answer the facts regarding Jesus’ resurrection.

Sources

•  Naaman’s leprosy 2 Kings 5
•  Yamauchi — See Edwin Yamauchi, Jesus, Zoroaster, Buddha, Socrates, Mohammad, Revised Edition (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1972), esp. 4–7, 18, 38–41.