Biblical Miracles Are Rational, Not Just Possible

Editor’s note – Many believers quietly wonder whether it’s intellectually respectable to believe the Bible’s miracle accounts at face value. In this piece, the author makes a case worth taking seriously: if the God of Scripture exists as He is described, miracles aren’t a leap away from reason but a natural extension of it. She walks through the logic patiently, from a Creator outside time and matter to the specific reasons Scripture’s miracles were rare, purposeful, and never performed on demand. We think this argument deserves a careful reading, especially by anyone tempted to treat faith and reason as enemies.

One of the main barriers to belief in the Bible is its records of miracles. Indeed, liberal scholars do their best to eradicate miracles from the Bible, perhaps in an effort to make it more ‘palatable’ to our modern tastes. Some Christians may even be slightly embarrassed to admit that they believe that a donkey spoke, a whale swallowed a man and spat him out again, or that the Red Sea parted down the middle.

If you have not swallowed the irrational postmodern idea that logic doesn’t apply everywhere at all times, you might still hold that rational thinking is a good thing. Non-Christians who adopt a more rational or ‘scientific’ approach to the world should accept a rational case, yet few or none of them think that Christians can present such a case for miracles. Many Christians do not even attempt to make a rational case, explaining that miracles require faith and therefore should not be subject to logic.

If God, then miracles

Yet if the God described in the Bible really exists, then miracles are not only possible, but probable. Believing that they occur is therefore not irrational. A Christian who believes in miracles is being more logical than an atheist who believes that life is ultimately meaningful.

Let’s unpack that first statement. The God described in the Bible created matter, time and energy from nothing. This fits well with current scientific findings that the universe had a beginning, and ultimately came from nothing.

Science can’t tell us how the universe popped into existence from nothing, but the Bible has a good explanation. An eternal Spirit who does not consist of matter or energy is the kind of Cause that could do the job. Such a Spirit has the intelligence and power required for the task without being subject to the physical properties of the universe, including time.

If a powerful Being exists that created the laws of nature, then it is logically possible that such a Being could override the laws of nature at will. This logic plays out on a much smaller scale in our daily lives. If I make something – a work of art, a pot, or even a written essay like this one – I can also change it or destroy it. I do not need to break the laws of logic to edit my essay or drop a clay pot.

The God of the Bible isn’t only presented as powerful and intelligent, however; He is revealed to be personal and interested in the lives of human beings. As a result, miracles are not only possible in the course of human history, they are probable. If a supernatural Being wants His created beings to know about Him, He is likely to do so in unmistakeable ways. He is also likely to ensure that such pivotal events are recorded for posterity. This record is called the Bible.

Editor’s note – This move from God’s existence to the possibility of miracles is basic Christian logic, but it’s worth pausing on. Once you grant a Creator who stands outside the laws of nature He authored, denying He could ever act outside them becomes the harder position to defend, not the easier one.

Why are miracles rare?

God’s touch doesn’t always involve what we would call a ‘miracle’ – i.e., when the laws of nature are suspended or overridden in some way. If God did miracles in our lives every day, we would cease to ascribe them to God and consider them to be ‘normal’ aspects of how the world works. We already overlook the astonishing miracle that life exists or that mathematics works. Miracles of the nature-stopping kind must therefore be rare to have the desired effect of shaking us awake and pointing to God.

As a Christian, I therefore logically expect miracles to be probable, but rare. More often than not, God will use things that we think are mundane to work in our lives. This may include our friends giving us comfort or timely advice, medicine that improves our health, or things that we read in the Bible or elsewhere that provide insight into our lives. The God I serve ultimately created all of these things – my friends, my physical body, and my mind. It therefore comes as no surprise that He works within His creation more often than He sees fit to work above or beyond it.

We cannot dictate when God will do ‘miracles’ and when He will use these more ‘natural’ means for His work. Even though Jesus worked many miracles while on earth, when people demanded a miracle to ‘prove’ that He had the authority to back up His bold teaching, He refused. Instead, He pointed them back to the Bible (which at the time consisted of the Old Testament only) and forward to His resurrection:

But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:39-40)

Instead of the instant party trick that they demanded, Jesus spoke about a prophecy that He would fulfill. Today, we have both parts of this prophecy – Jonah’s experience and Jesus’ resurrection. If you want God to do a party trick for you, His answer will most likely be the same today as it was then: read the Bible.

Editor’s note – The point about Jesus refusing to perform on demand is one modern readers often miss. He offered a sign, not a spectacle, and pointed skeptics back to something they could verify rather than something they could merely be dazzled by.

That said, there are moments in history – whether in our personal life history or the history of nations or peoples – when God sovereignly decides to do something spectacular. The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, the pinnacle of God’s miracles. For that reason alone, no Christian should be ashamed to say that they believe in miracles.

God also uses miracles to achieve particular goals – to call people to do a special task (e.g., Moses and the burning bush [Exodus 3]), to prove that He is not like other gods that people make to worship (e.g., Elijah calling down fire [1 Kings 18]), or to confirm the identity of His prophets or His Son (e.g., the miracles of Jesus and the apostles in the Gospels and Acts).

If you have the Bible, why do you need a miracle?

Missionaries to countries and peoples that are dominated by other religions report miracles happening for these same reasons. This is especially true when the Bible is not readily available to those people. This does not mean that God no longer does miracles in places where Bibles are readily available, or that Bible translation and teaching is not important for reaching people in those lands. Rather, it reveals one of God’s principles:

For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48b)

If you have the Bible available to you in your language, then you have been “given much.” Even more so if you have heard the gospel preached. What is “required” in this case is that you respond to the gospel by surrendering to Christ as Lord. Thousands of people have done so without the Red Sea parting in front of them, or being miraculously healed from disease.

Perhaps you still feel cheated by if you have never witnessed a nature-stopping miracle. “If those people get to see a miracle, why can’t I see one?” Yet this neglects the many thousands who have experienced miracles and still rejected God.

Over 600,000 men (and likely just as many women, plus their children) walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, watched water pour out of a rock, and ate food that came from Heaven. The vast majority of them still did not trust God and refused to obey His clear instructions (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). Similarly, thousands of people ate food that Jesus multiplied from a few fish and bread loaves, saw Him heal people of every kind of disease, and yet shouted “Crucify Him!” in the end.

God knows the heart of every person. He knows that some people will respond to miracles with faith and others will stay hardened. Some will read a few verses of the Bible and fall down on their knees in full surrender, while others will spend their whole lives listening to preachers and still resist God’s call. Belief in God is not about miracles; it is about the state of your heart.

Editor’s note – This is a sobering reminder. More evidence rarely produces more faith, because the problem miracles are meant to address is never a shortage of information.

Jesus called the people who demanded that He perform a miracle for them on demand “evil” because He knew that they had no intention of believing in Him or surrendering their hearts to God. They must have been among the crowds watching Him heal, and yet this wasn’t enough of a ‘sign’ for them. They wanted something special, tailor-made to make them believe. But God knew that no special sign would make them believe. He had given them enough evidence already. Now, they needed to surrender.

Editor’s note – Notice the order here: evidence first, then surrender. That sequence matters, because the demand for a sign is often a way of postponing the decision the evidence already calls us to make.

Moving beyond rational to wonderful

As a Christian who has never personally witnessed a miracle of the kind that suspends or overrides nature, I am nonetheless unashamed of the records of such miracles in the Bible or those in the stories of missionaries. If the God who created the laws of nature, the universe, and life itself really exists, and He wants us to know that He does, then miracles are probable. Since this same God is sovereign and does not perform on demand like a genie, He alone chooses when and where such miracles will occur.

Further, while I know that God hears and answers prayer, I do not expect to see answers that defy ‘natural’ explanations. Nature-stopping miracles are rare events by definition and we do not need seas to part or bushes to spontaneously combust to know that God is real. He expects us to look around at nature and to look into His Word (provided we have access) to come to that conclusion using the very ‘natural’ (yet astonishing) process of thinking for ourselves.

Once we recognize the evidence for His existence, the next step takes us beyond rational arguments. Will we surrender to Him as our Lord, begging for forgiveness for our rebellion up to this point, or will we reject His invitation? Choosing to surrender to the God of the universe who genuinely loves you is not merely rational, it is wonderful.

A Word from the Editor
Miracles were never meant to manufacture faith out of thin air; they point to a God who is already there, waiting to be trusted. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). The invitation Jesus gave the crowds demanding a sign is the same one He gives us: stop asking for proof and start reading what He has already given.

Editor Comment: Turning to Jonah's sign before Christ's own resurrection sharpens the point that God authenticates His work on His timing, not ours.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.