What evidence exists for post-Biblical miracles?

Question

I think any Christian will agree that real-life miracles happened at the time of the Old and New Testament. I've also heard that modern day miracles are more common in developing countries than they are in western cultures. But in these places, verifiable evidence is usually much harder to come by.

What evidence exists for miracles that occurred after the Bible was written?

I'm interested in miracles on par with those performed in the Bible, especially the New Testament--changing water into wine, healing of the obviously and terminally ill, feeding of the 5,000, someone being raised from the dead, walking on water, etc.

I'm not interested in stories of the healing of a fever, or finding $20 "just in time", etc. These may well be miracles, but they're easily debatable, so I'm more interested in obvious miracles.

Answer 1

"Evidence" is a difficult word to work with in this context. It implies scientific evidence, which requires independent reproducibility and verifiability, and if you had that, it wouldn't really be a miracle.

However, you mentioned feeding the 5000, and that reminds me of something I read several years ago. A preacher's wife wrote about an experience that she had one time. Her family lived on a mountain, near a ski resort. It was Thanksgiving when a huge snowstorm rolled in and stranded a bunch of people on the mountain. They understood it as their Christian duty to take in people who couldn't get home and give them shelter for the night.

They had a Thanksgiving day feast prepared, and they shared their food freely. But they had only made enough for their own small family. Nonetheless, all the refugees (she said it was a few dozen, if I recall correctly) ate their fill and there was somehow enough for everyone.

These sorts of things still happen today, but not in the sort of patterns that leave easily-examinable "evidence". Rather, the Lord gives us what we need when we truly need it.

Answer 2

I see miracles all the time. there's a secret though: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for those who come to God must believe that HE is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." - Hebrews 11:6. Allot of people seem to think that faith is just believing God exists, and aren't quit sure that He will actually reward them for seeking Him, they think things like He'll only reward you if it's His will at the time. But having faith is defined as believing God will reward you for seeking Him.

Some of the miracles I have personally seen:

• Cancer healed. (prayed for a few people who were given an expiration date, they went back to the doctor and were cancer free)
• Irreparable nerve damage healed (instantly). There was a woman staying with my parents who had been shot in the leg. The bullet just missed one of her arteries, but it did do nerve damage. her specialist doctor said she would never have use of that leg again. When I came home to visit she started saying how she just can't take it any more. Me and her friend prayed, God instantly healed the nerve damage, she took of the brace and put down the crutches and started walking around praising God and dancing. My mom took her back to her doctor, while they were walking back to the office the woman ask the doctor if he noticed anything. He looked stunned for a moment and said, your off your crutches? that's not possible, he took her back an examined her and said, well I'm not sure what I can do for you, you're completely better.
• Missing knuckle bone replaced and repaired. I was out in the park with a group that feeds and ministers to the homeless. One guy started talking to me, and mentioned that his knuckle had been smashed when he was a child, and showed me that it was gone. I asked him if he wanted it to be healed. He looked at me puzzled and said 'There's nothing to heal, my knuckle is missing, there's nothing there!' I told him, well originally before God created the world there was nothing, and then God spoke everything into existence. He thought about and said well I guess your right. I prayed for him, he felt something, and then a few weeks later I see him again. He comes running up to me all excited and pointing to his brand new knuckle. I later found out he had several other problems, like a bad leg, a plate in is head, and severe dyslexia so that he could only read a page a in a day. Other people ministered to him, all those problems where solved. He got off the street, stopped using his 'medical marijuana' and started leading a bible study at the mission(when before he couldn't read more than a page of text all day).
• Missing breastbone grown back. A lady came up for prayer after a church service and explained that due to either a birth defect or childhood illness (I don't recall which) she did not have a breastbone, and that her ribs where stitched together with wire that needed to be checked and changed every few years. I prayed for her, next day she came back and reported the bone was there.
• Met someone raised from the dead after being dead and locked in a morgue. I was with a group of people and God impressed upon us to stop at a certain house and ask if we could pray for the person. So we knocked on the door and asked and the lady that answered the door. She thought we had come for her to pray for us, she then explained that people from all over the world had been drawn to her house to hear her testimony. She explained how she had died, explained in great detail the sights of heaven, all matching Revelation's description, and how Jesus had sent her back because it wasn't her time yet. She then woke up in the morgue and started just as the coroner came in and saw her sitting up and of course was scared silly. She had been clinically dead since the day before.

The mother of one of my classmates has seen a small pot of spaghetti multiplied to feed many hundreds of people on several occasions in Africa, when they didn't have enough to feed the people they were ministering to.

People who travel to 3rd world countries do tend to see more miracles than they do in the states mainly because people tend to be more hungry for supernatural activity there. There is usually a lot of blatant demonic activity in those countries so people are used to the supernatural. In the west there is hardly any demonic activity comparatively because the enemies strategy is to make people think he doesn't exist. and there are many churches in the west that claim God stopped doing miracles because we have the Bible, so we don't need them anymore. They think this is faith, just believing what the bible said happened and not needing any proof. Miracles aren't about needing proof, Miracles are about God demonstrating His extravagant love. That's why when Jesus was walking around doing mighty works, he didn't do them for the pharisees. The pharisees were questioning Jesus identity as the Son of God, when they said show us a sign, Jesus had been showing signs all along by healing people, but the pharisees where asking him to prove He was God. So Jesus didn't indulge there unbelief. I see it all the time, God will allow someone demonstrating unbelief to be completely blind to something that really can't be argued with. So in closing, To me this is all about Hebrews 11:6. Faith is not just believing what God said, without any tangible proof(but that is a requirement), it's believing that God will reward you for seeking Him, if you don't meet both requirements, it's not pleasing to him. That doesn’t mean your damned for it, it just means your not fully trusting Him.

Answer 3

William David Upshaw was born on October 15, 1866, near Atlanta, Georgia. He served in Congress during the late 1910's and throughout the 1920's, and ran for the office of the President for the Prohibition Party in 1932.

When he was 18 years old he fell onto the crosspiece of a wagon frame and fractured his spine. He spent 7 years in bed, and was a cripple until the age of 66, when he could stand for only minutes at a time. At the age of 66 he was miraculously healed in a healing campaign and was able to walk perfectly for the rest of his life.

Shortly before his death at age 86, William Upshaw published his testimony in a tract which he sent to every Senator and member of the House of Representatives, as well as President Truman, Winston Churchill, King George, and Joseph Stalin.

William Upshaw Testimony Tract

Voice of Healing 1951 (see Page 2)

Answer 4

The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in Portugal is a good example. The Sun danced around and plummeted toward earth in front of 70,000 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun

Answer 5

The abortive Communist attempt to make the gates of Hell prevail against the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe bled many martyrs and tortured many confessors, and subsequently many miracles have turned up. The books on Father Arseny follow an exemplary zek, and the miraculous comes to the fore every now and then. For instance, Fr. Arseny and a friend survived a night in deadly cold weather through a miraculous divine liturgy. The still incorrupt relics of saints also may constitute miracles for you, as well as the Holy Fire at Christ's Tomb. There was a recent saint in Alaska---not formally venerated yet, but the locals regard it as only a matter of time before Matushka Olga will be formally canonized. At least one person has had dreams of Mat. Olga treating her for illness, having never known of her beforehand. The real miracle in each of these stories, however, is the transformative power God manifested in them for bringing others closer to God, and their own personal holiness as well. For instance, if I remember correctly, Mat. Olga bore twelve children, and never rose her voice. Think about that. That is scary holy. Also, Fr. Dan Skvir of the Chapel of the Transfiguration at Princeton is married to (I think) the granddaughter of a miracle-worker. A blind woman came to Paschal liturgy, and upon communion regained her sight.

Of course God has seen fit to bless those outside the Orthodox Church with miracles. Princeton Faith & Action (the Princeton branch of Christian Union) has borne witness to miracles. Ask Mike Vincent about the time he fasted and saw a vision of light. Also ask the Knapkes about their visit to Fiji, and the healed land, specifically the river anomaly. Mike Vincent also has miracle stories originating from a Christian summer camp somewhere in California, I think.

Answer 6

Benjamin Dehkurdi broke his neck falling from a trampoline on May 23, 2005. On the way to the hospital, as Benjamin's father followed behind the ambulance to Langley Memorial Hospital in British Columbia, he phoned their pastor and they prayed together. When the extent of Benjamin's injuries was discovered he was transferred to Vancouver's Children's Hospital.

A photograph of the May 23rd x-ray showing what is known as a "Jefferson Fracture" is shown below.

The following day, May 24th, a CT scan was taken. In contrast to the previous day, it showed no break or fracture. Benjamin was discharged from the hospital with a normal spine, as indicated by the medical report.

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