Miraculous Intervention

A fellow blogger has posited an interesting hypothesis about whether or not miracles of God violate the laws of physics. Though I find his view thought-provoking, I don't agree with all of it, thus this elaboration on the topic.

Let me say up front that I see no reason why God cannot choose to work within the framework of laws fashioned for the Creation's functioning. I just don't believe that He has any reason to do so with exclusivity, since these laws don't apply to Him, but to mortal beings.

As an example of possibly staying within the realm of physics, let's take the multiplication of loaves and fishes from the Gospel. The site held all of the needed elements for this miracle. Manipulating present matter into the desired form was the next step. This offers no explanation of how God did it, or whether man will ever acquire the same ability through scientific and technological advancement. Still, I admit the possibility that Jesus confined Himself to natural laws in the act.

Resurrection, I think, is another basket of fish, so to speak. Bringing someone back from the dead requires much more than making a corpse get up and boogie; it demands the return of a spirit being existing in a different state to its earthly abode, namely, the body. Humans are not biological machines. We are not the sum of our parts. We are unique creatures who exist forever after our initial birth--first on this mortal coil, then in the fires of Hell or the gold-paved streets of Heaven with God; the latter of which is dependant on our acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ's free gift of salvation, accomplished in His redemptive act of dying horribly on the cross for our sins and returning to life everlasting. Resurrection, as I see it, is not a purely physical process; by definition, it involves reaching beyond this world and into the next one.

If miracles have natural explanations, then given enough time and development, man can duplicate them. Doing so calls into question God's power and perfection: is He the sovereign, omnipotent Creator of the universe and all its constituent parts, or just a being on a higher plane of scientific complexity? Remember that the act of Creation detailed in Genesis was a supernatural occurence. Through His divine will, God created ex nihilo--out of nothing--everything in existence. So, too, are the very laws that govern this Creation tangible cogs in a supernatural machine, with God's presence and life-giving power sustaining them. The birth of a child is an event that transcends natural laws. Instilling a spirit within a piece of clay is more than a rearrangement of atoms.

I believe that miracles are the singular province of God. His orderliness isn't defined by adherence to laws written for the governance of others. It's revealed in his consistency and goodness.