Metaxas Interprets Miracles for a Skeptical World
Eric Metaxas. 2014. Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life. New York: Dutton.
Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra
It is often assumed that pastors have a special relationship with the numinous, but in this materialist age there are too many distractions to make that a good assumption. The number one reason given at an inquirers weekend I attended at a leading seminary went something like this—I really enjoyed youth group in high school and would like to make a career of it. At the other end of the spectrum are the charismatic pastors that see angels and demons everywhere. A more traditional view is to observe that the spiritual world and the physical world are mirror images of one another where miraculous events just break through from time to time
Introduction
In the introduction to his book, Miracles, Eric Metaxas writes:
“In considering what form this book should take, I felt a large part of it should be miracles stories themselves, since they are perhaps the best evidence we can have for miracles…I decided to limit the book only to the stories of people I knew personally.” (xi)
In defining the miraculous, Metaxas gives prominence to that of:
“The skeptic and philosopher David Hume [who] spoke famously against miracles but defined them as ‘a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent.’” (11)
Of particular significance in his discussion is the role of miracle as a sign pointing beyond itself to God (17). Miracles are not random, unusual events, but occur in context. Metaxas writes: “What makes a miracle is that God performed it specifically to make himself known, to communicate with human beings.” (21) The sign aspect of a miracle separates miracles from simple fantasy, storytelling, or delusion.
Background and Organization
Eric Metaxas (1963- ) is author, speaker, and frequent commentator who offers a Christian perspective. He graduated in English studies from Yale University (1984). His best-known book is a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (review), although his Veggie Tales is often cited in church circles.
Metaxas’ Miracles is organized in fifteen chapters, preceded by an introduction and followed by acknowledgments and a short biography:
PART ONE: THE QUESTION OF MIRACLES
Believing in Miracles
What is a Miracle?
Miracles and Science
Is Life a Miracle?
The Miracle of the Universe
Questions about Miracles
The Biblical Miracles
The Resurrection
PART TWO: THE MIRACLE STORIES AND AN INTRODUCTION
Conversion Miracles
Healing Miracles
Miracles of Inner Healing
Angelic Miracles
Varieties of Miracles
Touching Eternity
How Miracles Can Change Your Life (vii-viii).
Metaxas does two things that I did not expect. First, he related miracles to science. Second, he shared miracles experienced within his circle of friends.
Miracles and Science
Metaxas’ introduction to miracles by starting with a discussion of science offers an interesting line of reasoning. If miracles cannot exist in general, then they cannot exist in the particular, and vice versa. Hume’s definition of a miracle is a good starting point.
The general acceptance of the Big Bang theory has allowed scientists to date the universe to be fourteen billion years old, which limits to applicability of science to the last fourteen billion years. Science cannot account for what came before that point because it is unobservable (26). Where did the universe come from? Furthermore, Metaxas writes: “All the matter in the universe were set in place a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.” In fact, the universe is effectively a closed system limited by time and space. A miracle is merely an injection from outside this closed system, about which we know nothing from science (27).
This line of reasoning admits the existence of a miracle and effectively defines how it relates to science. To argue otherwise is to articulate a presupposition, not a scientific fact or discovery. Thus, if miracles can exist in general, then we cannot dismiss a particular miracle that we observe in our daily lives as inherently unreliable or a mere fantasy.
Miracle Stories
If a miracle is a sign pointing beyond itself, Metaxas goes on to argue that the universe is replete with examples of intelligent design, ergo God exists (29).
One such argument about intelligent design starts with the probability that a planet supporting life exists at all. In the 1960s, Carl Sagan argued that about one in ten thousand planets had water and were situated at the right distance from a star so as to have the proper temperature—two critical requirements. By 2001, the number of such requirements has exploded to about 150, making the probability of even one planet existing that could support life infinitely small—one in ten to the seventy-third power (43). In other words, a world—earth—was created, not by accident, but by design to support life.
Personally, I would say that examples of intelligent design offer sufficient reason to say that God exists. If we then go on to observe even one example of a miracle that clearly also points outside the space and time continuum of our universe, it confirms the hypothesis of God’s existence. Metaxas offers several hundred pages of miracle discussion at this point.
What is curious about Metaxas’ list of miracles observed by his friends is not that he perhaps travels with a crowd of friends residing at the lunatic fringe. Rather, it is that whenever you engage a small group of Christians in conversation about such miracles, you get a new list of miracles. God is not stingy in his dispensing of miracles. Metaxas simply reports on stories that he hears from trustworthy friends.
Anyone familiar with the life of Chuck Colson will understand what I am referring to. Colson was President Nixon’s “hatchet man” responsible for the infamous Watergate breakin in 1973. Conflicted of his crime and sent to prison, Colson had a conversion experience in prison and refused to be paroled. After he served his prison sentence, he founded Prison Ministries. He continued witnessing and serving in this role until his death (120). His conversion was unexpected and pointed to God’s gracious hand in his life.
Assessment
Eric Metaxas’ book—Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life—makes interesting reading. Metaxas writes in a journalistic voice, which makes his writing accessible to anyone willing to spend the time. His review of the role of science in thinking about miracles gives the book a strongly apologetic theme, which he handles well.
References
Metaxas, Eric. 2010. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy—A Righteous Gentile versus the Third Reich. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Footnotes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Me...
Metaxas Interprets Miracles for a Skeptical World
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
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