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There are several instances in the Bible where miracles performed by Jesus have been mentioned. I was wondering what are the arguments for and against these accounts.

Did Jesus actually perform miracles or are the events mentioned just exaggerated stories?

Dan
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achillez16
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    Perhaps others will cite extensive references, but it ultimately boils down to this: the arguments for the miracles come from the Bible, and the arguments against come from observation of the natural world. – George Cummins Jul 11 '13 at 21:05
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    @GeorgeCummins 98% sure that't not exactly true. And while I don't know the docs offhand, I'm reasonably confident Jesus was described as a miracle or "wonder" worker by contemporary secular historians. But maybe more convincing is the fact that all of His close followers were prepared to die in His Name. Not something you'd expect if it was all a bunch of exaggeration. And that's not exactly evidence "from the Bible." More like historical + psychological evidence. – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:09
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    You may also find these questions and answers interesting: Do miracles violate the laws of physics? and Do Catholics really believe in contemporary miracles?. – Dan Jul 11 '13 at 21:13
  • @svidgen I encourage you to try to find credible non-biblical accounts of that nature. There are many documents of dubious credibility that mention miracle workers both before and after the time of Jesus (Simon Magus, Apollonius). You can even find people that claim the likes of modern-day preachers such as Oral Roberts as miracle workers. As for the willingness of the disciples to die for the cause, there are many people willing to die for many causes (I'm thinking of the 19 firefighters who recently died for the sake of others). That's not necessarily evidence of "truth." – George Cummins Jul 11 '13 at 21:17
  • @GeorgeCummins Credibility is largely in the eye of the beholder, unfortunately. And it's absurd to gloss over all forms of self-sacrifice so hastily. Martyrs for Christ explicitly attest with their lives to a Truth. That's evidence. Convincing to you personally or not; it's evidence. Firefighters who lose their lives saving others attest to something (still a Truth, mind you) in a very different way. – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:41
  • @svidgen Credibility is at the core of the question. The Bible (and people talking about the Bible) say Jesus performed miracles (things which are impossible according to the observable order of things). It would appear that the OP is asking for a way to establish the credibility of the Biblical account. To dismiss it as something that exists primarily in the eye of the beholder is to dismiss hundreds of years of research and study. And (though the discussion of martyrs is in danger of ranging widely off-topic), isn't it less sensible to raise one form of martyrdom above all others? – George Cummins Jul 11 '13 at 21:48
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    @achillez16 You may be more likely to elicit an answer if you narrow this question down to either evidence for (apologetics?) the miracles or for common arguments against them. But not both. That seems like a bit much to cram into one comprehensive answer. – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:49
  • @GeorgeCummins I suspect we'll have to take this into chat soon ... but, I don't mean to dismiss the need to establish credibility at all. Only the need to establish the credibility of each resource independently. ... If there's any objective measure of the credibility of historical documents it's corroboration. You don't determine the credibility of sources A .. Z independently. You line them up and look for overlap. Hence, anything that agrees with the Biblical accounts necessarily increases the credibility of both sources simultaneously. – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:55
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    @GeorgeCummins Ha ... it had to happen sooner or later! – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:55
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    And in that regard (speaking of corroboration again), the Bible is already a fairly credible resource in itself -- because it's not one source. It's a collection of corroborating sources. If it didn't deal with "meaning of life" stuff and "hard to believe" stuff, it would probably be the most credible collection of works on the planet. – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 21:56
  • let us continue this discussion in chat – svidgen Jul 11 '13 at 22:01
  • If I could, I would vote to close. This seems tantamount to asking, "Is Christianity correct, or is it just a made up fairytale?", which, although a legitimate question in some other venue, seems to be a) a "truth" question (in that certainly there is, by definition, no doctrine of Christianity that says it is false!), and b) completely out of accord with the purpose of the site. – Chelonian Jul 11 '13 at 22:59
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    related: http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/15263/do-any-independent-sources-exist-mentioning-jesus-miracles-performed-and-the-pe – David Stratton Jul 11 '13 at 23:18

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If they were exaggerated stories, the Gospels should describe them wildly different.

If you see the gospels as testimonies, then the fact that there is a harmony between them, especially considering the time difference between when they were written and the backgrounds of the people writing them, is a strong indicator that they were describing something as real.

Don Nickel
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