Chapter 1 Review-Miraculous Claims and the Critical Mind (Can Intelligent People

Chapter 1 in Review

In the this chapter we considered five points the authors make to those who reject the account of Jesus because the Gospels say he performed miracles or supernatural feats. The points in brief were:

1. An absolute rejection of miracles  is an unwarranted assumption of a naturalistic worldview.
2. "Laws of Nature" describe what scientist generally find to be true, and should not be used to dictate what we must happen. There is much yet to be learned .
3. Just because a person has not experienced a miracle doesn't mean that they have to reject historical evidence of miracles. (The principle of analogy)
4. If one  looks outside of western culture they will find that there are many people in the past and present throughout the world that have reported supernatural or miraculous events.
5. Western scholars are starting to take accounts of supernatural events seriously, instead of rejecting them based on the view that the western naturalistic worldview is superior to all others. (Ethnocentrism)

The authors conclude by pointing out that if possible, events in the past or present should be explained by naturalistic principles, but we should not dogmatically reject evidence that suggests that an occurrence can only be explained by supernatural forces. " They hope that the reader will "remain genuinely open to the possibility the the Jesus story is generally rooted in history,..." even though the story includes miracles.

What are your thoughts, do you think supernatural events are possible? Please post your comments.

Next time we will start chapter 2 and consider whether first-century Jews were influenced by the Greeks and Romans to create the story of Jesus as a legend.