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Reading through Exodus and seeing that some of the miracles God told Moses to perform, pharaoh's magicians also performed them; I began to have these line of thoughts, that the acts of miracles may be based on supernatural laws to be discovered similar to how God set in natural laws that were there to be discovered (knowing God is consistent)? Revelation says the antichrist is going to perform the miracle of calling fire from heaven, which looks similar to what Elijah did in the old testament. I think Elijah did it at will and had the know how, but he must have done it within God's parameters for the use of such knowledge which God originally made for them to be used. I believe satan cannot produce anything, he only copies from God, he didn't create any power or authority (for signs or magic) by himself, Scripture says he comes to steal and destroy (he stole the power from man when man fell, but already knew the know how for some signs and wonders before he fell from heaven). Knowing his previous position before he fell, I tend to believe he gained a limited knowledge of how signs and wonders are performed (he knew the potentials man had better than Adam did before the fall, which Jesus has restored to Christians today), he knows some spiritual laws that man is still understanding and he reveals them to his own in a bid to counter God, that is, for evil and to make man his slave. I have imagined that God may have made such laws discoverable and operatable by anyone who discovers, but did not intend that sin will come in through lucifer who I believe has now harnessed these for evil because they were freely available to him before the fall, in quite a similar way the tree of life was freely available to Adam and Eve and all mankind before man fell. I am drifting to believe that Magic should be a classification of sign and wonders (miracles) worked by the devil (not by powerful demons the way many Christians see it today because the devil cannot create any power for himself, rather by legitimate power he lost when he fell and stole after he fell) to use for his glory and against God, but can never equal, supercede or reverse that done by God who is the Creator, as the magicians could only produce some of the miracles but could not reverse it. I know the Holy Spirit has a place in the working of miracles promted by God. But Elijah's case of calling fire to devour the army that were sent to arrest him seems like he was working it at his own will and it took an angel to prevent him from devouring the last group of army with fire. Elijah and Elisha, Moses, Jesus performed other miracles that some of us may refer to as magic if they reoccur today. I know my comments are complicated and most probably not well organized, I wish I can make it better. But I will appreciate if any wrong line of thought here can be corrected. I will be glad to receive your comments and clarification.

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    Hi David! Welcome! There are interesting things going on here, but also a couple of problems: First, you seem to be asking a few different questions. This is a Q & A site, and we can only address one question at a time. You may need to pick one question to focus on. Second, different groups labeling themselves "Christian" may have different opinions on the answers to these questions. We need to be able to focus on one set of beliefs to answer for. If you edit the question, it could be answerable; but not now. Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 12:47
  • Thank you Matt, I have edited the question, please let me know if it is well structured now.
    – David W.
    Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 13:24
  • Thanks! It looks like you are now focusing on one question, "Are the acts of miracles also to be discovered [like, for example, laws of physics]? "Again, the issue remains that different groups may have different opinions, or this may be considered simply a general philosophical question rather than one asking about a church doctrine (see this question that was closed). We prefer to focus on the latter type of question - is there a way for you to do that? Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 13:28
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    You may need to ask what a specific group/denomination of Christians teaches on this. Alternatively, since there are no doubt groups on both sides, you may want to ask what arguments (scriptural/non-scriptural) the Christians in favor of a "Yes" answer use in support, or what arguments those in favor of a "No" answer use. If you want both sides of the argument, make two separate questions. If you like, I can run through it after you've made the additional edits :-) Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 14:03
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    Maybe try asking on the different perspectives of how miracles are actually done. This is called an "overview" question. Try editing this to: "What is an overview of the perspectives on how a miracle is actually done?" Then in the body, expand on what you think, what you've heard/read, etc. Keep to short; no longer than it is now.
    – user3961
    Commented Sep 23, 2017 at 0:04

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