Are there ANY Bible Miracles you don't believe?

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I don’t know. Whether or not it is doesn’t change my view of the Book or the morale of the story.

Of course it’s possible. But there’s two ways we interpret scripture. The literal way and the spiritual way. Many prophetic books have a literal prophecy such as in Isaiah the prophecy of the child born to a woman whose kingship is of David. That literally could mean King Hezekiah whom was alive when Isaiah was king and did have children. Then there’s a future spiritual interpretation that connects it with the future birth of Christ.

We shouldn’t read the Bible as a history book as we know it. Of course there are historic books in the Bible and miracles in them. It is about faith.
What i am implying is sure the fish may have swallowed him. Or it could have been a metaphor to show what happens when God calls and you run from him. I don’t know. I love Jonah however the fish and whether or not it really happened just isn’t to big of a deal to me.
 
Its debating 101.
If it means something to your audience then use it for whatever message you wish to impart.
It doesn’t mean the preacher believes all truths in the story he builds on and which his audience may well believe erroneously.

Its simply a good foundation for his own truth which on close analysis is often not dependent on that part of the story being true at all.

When Paul on proving the Resurrection writes:
"What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf” (1 Cor. 15:29)?

Does that mean he believes in proxy baptism?
No it doesn’t, but some Corinthians obviously did.
So he uses this minor false belief to counter them on another major point he wishes to prove.
 
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jas84173 said:
What i am implying is sure the fish may have swallowed him. Or it could have been a metaphor to show what happens when God calls and you run from him. I don’t know. I love Jonah however the fish and whether or not it really happened just isn’t to big of a deal to me.
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There is some argument about the literary genre of the Book of Jonah. Generally it is agreed that it is a short narrative and prophetic, with probably an overlap of literal, allegorical and apocalyptic. Modern academics however tend to see it as objectively satirical or parody - an exagerration, though they agree that the message of Jonah’s lessons are real via the satire.

It is interesting that you said the reality of the big fish is not important to you. In other word, you do not categorically believe it is a miracle from God, perhaps very much like the modern academicians.

I cannot believe a person can survive three days in a fish belly. How would he do that? But the Book tells us that Jonah did.

The narrative mentions historical places though it may not that believeable. And Jesus affirmed the story (see Matt. 12:38-42; 16:1-4; Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:16, 29-32) to support it as a historical account.

As a believer, I think this is where it is called a miracle - something that is not possible in the normal scale of thing but made possible by God.

It is interesting how far then we believe in a miracle than trying to justify the Book according to our percieved reality?
 
Some scholars aren’t even sure of the context of the fish. Some believe yah so he was alive the whole time. Others believed he died and prayed from Sheoul which was the underworld in the Old Testament times prior to Christs harrowing of hell. It’s stuff the Church never has really affirmed.
Here’s another example of the Bible not being as a modern history book. Read Daniel or one of the other historical books in regard to King Nebuchdnezzar. He was the King of Babylon and took the Israelites captive right? It’s attested too many times in scripture and even in writings outside of the Bible.
Now read the opening passage of Judith. It claims he was the King of the Assyrians. That is false. However the Book is still inerrant. The fact that certain details may not match the historic or even scientific basis means nothing on which the Book represents the Faith. See I’m a history major and this stuff actually bothered me back in the day when certain historical events purported in the bible didn’t match the historic record. However it was when I realized that this is not what faith means. Knowing the Bible doesn’t mean you are a strong person of faith by any means. I have come to grips that the Bible is a collection of books written by the hands of many authors who did not know it but were being inspired by the hand of God as they wrote. They had free will as they wrote and it is their words however the message of the writing is inerrant and the word of God. However the nature that it still was written by mortal beings means the authorship will not always be perfect in the means of what we now know. The authors based their writings on what they knew to be true. In their surroundings. It’s a problem a lot of people have and I am just sharing my personal reflection on how I interpret it. You however seem to be well versed on this yourself.
 
I’m simply stating that the Bible has different genres of books. The Bible isn’t a book it is a collection of books which can be anywhere from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The books were by different authors through centuries and all have a certain message. Of course miracles occur in the Bible. I am not saying I don’t believe in them. I am just saying I have always wondered if Jonah is a literal book or a novella of some sort to show a deeper meaning. That’s all I am implying. Whether Or not the fish really happened does not altar my faith in Christ. That’s all I am saying.
 
There are purported miracles in the Gospels:
  • The changing of water into wine
  • The calming of the storm
  • The multiplication of two fishes and five loaves of bread
  • The ressurection
Probably the first two are easier to imagine, water and wine are not much different in appearance but the taste. The storm could just stopped.

But the multiplication. It didn’t say what actually happened other than the fact that they were enough for everybody with some leftover. It did not say that the bread expanded or multilpied into many loaves in the basket. If that is so, onlookers would probably be screaming and amazed. How did it happened?

The ressurection - of course, it was on circumstantial evidence as nobody did actually saw Jesus rising from the dead.

If we do not believe the literal meaning of these miracles, I would think it somehow affect the depth of our faith conpared to those who believe them as literal incidents.

Can they be just metaphors?
 
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Reuben_J said:
I cannot believe a person can survive three days in a fish belly. How would he do that? But the Book tells us that Jonah did.
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No, actually, “the Book” tells us Jonah was dead in the belly of the fish for three days and raised by God to go and preach to the pagans in Nineveh. That is why Jesus refers to the “sign” of the prophet Jonah to be the only sign that would be given because just as Jonah spent three nights in the belly of the fish (Sheol - the realm of the dead, also called “the Pit,”) so would the Son of Man, Jesus spend three nights in the belly of the earth. Notice that the word of the Lord came to Jonah and said, “ARISE!”
But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God. As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!” Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. (Jonah 1:17—3:3)

“An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! (Matt 12:39-41)
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The story [First rule of storytelling - all stories are true…some of them actually happened…] of Noah’s Ark is a faith story…told to teach the truth that God rewards good and punishes evil. An actual flood probably did happen locally in different places, but THE flood purported to have flooded the entire world…it is a retelling of a local flood, but on a massive scale…if the ‘number of ancient cultures’ had the story, this would prove that THE flood didn’t happen, since they wouldn’t exist.
The story of Jonah was a story told to the Chosen People to show them that, although they were the Chosen People, God also created all other races, and also loves them [so get off your high horse, Chosen People!!].
 
boldlygo said:
The story [First rule of storytelling - all stories are true…some of them actually happened…] of Noah’s Ark is a faith story…told to teach the truth that God rewards good and punishes evil. An actual flood probably did happen locally in different places, but THE flood purported to have flooded the entire world…
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Most ancient cultures didn’t have the technology to map out the entire globe. The myths generally use a term that means something like “the known world” or “the world as we know it.” Even Paul when he speaks of the Gospel being preached to “the entire world” means the entire Roman Empire. It is anachronistic to foist our geographical knowledge back on the ancients as if we know for certain that what they meant to imply is what someone today would mean by using the same general terms.
it is a retelling of a local flood, but on a massive scale…if the ‘number of ancient cultures’ had the story, this would prove that THE flood didn’t happen, since they wouldn’t exist.
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That would all depend upon when the flood happened and how far the human species had spread from its place of genetic origin. If these different cultures came from Noah and his descendants, they could all (or many) have retained some version of the story in their oral traditions.
The story of Jonah was a story told to the Chosen People to show them that, although they were the Chosen People, God also created all other races, and also loves them [so get off your high horse, Chosen People!!].
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That would be one reading of it from someone named boldlygo on an anonymous Internet forum. Another fella named Jesus Christ called it the “only sign” that would be given concerning his mission. He also called Jonah a prophet. So apparently, Jesus Christ has a slightly different take on the story from yours. I tend to trust Jesus over others when they tell me things about Scripture.

I will keep your ideas on the back burner regarding how some not named Jesus might read and nuance the story. It isn’t completely without merit and it is reconcilable with Jesus’ view since, as he pointed out, the Gospel would first be offered to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. He also had some things to say about those who were overly reliant on the fact that they have Abraham as their father.

So as a general theme your interpretation works. I wouldn’t, however, put yourself in the same boat as many of the Jews of Jesus’ time, relying inordinately on their “chosenness,” to restrict your reading of Jonah to just what you think about it.
 
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PJM said:
Are their ANY Bible Miracles you don’t believe?
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A miracle that is difficult to believe concerns a tree that miraculously grew up to heaven. It was so high that anyone on earth, regardless of where he stood, could see this tree. According to the Douay-Rheims Bible Daniel 4:11
The tree was great, and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.
 
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AlNg said:
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PJM:
Are their ANY Bible Miracles you don’t believe?
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A miracle that is difficult to believe concerns a tree that miraculously grew up to heaven. It was so high that anyone on earth, regardless of where he stood, could see this tree. According to the Douay-Rheims Bible Daniel 4:11
The tree was great, and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.
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Huh?

That was a dream of Nebuchadnezzar, not a miracle.
 
HarryStotle said:
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AlNg:
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PJM:
Are their ANY Bible Miracles you don’t believe?
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A miracle that is difficult to believe concerns a tree that miraculously grew up to heaven. It was so high that anyone on earth, regardless of where he stood, could see this tree. According to the Douay-Rheims Bible Daniel 4:11
The tree was great, and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.
Click to expand...
Huh?

That was a dream of Nebuchadnezzar, not a miracle.
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I just wanted to say that.
 
VERSE
AlNg said:
A miracle that is difficult to believe concerns a tree that miraculously grew up to heaven. It was so high that anyone on earth, regardless of where he stood, could see this tree. According to the Douay-Rheims Bible Daniel 4:11

The tree was great, and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth.
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. [7] This was the vision of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great. [8] The tree was great, and strong: and the height thereof reached unto heaven: the sight thereof was even to the ends of all the earth

This was a DREAM

A metaphorical story, not a miracle

God Bless you
Patrick
 
Nevet doubt any.
Never had doubts in miracles Jesus did.
 
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Perhaps more importantly, what does the english word miracle actually mean?

Ancient doctors and fathers understood them as “wonders”.
 
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I believe they all happened. The Bible is God’s inspired, written Word. God is the Author of the Bible and He doesn’t lie.
 
For my own perspective, I take a literal view also.

Since it’s a certainty at this present time that nobody can go back and experience those miracles for themselves, what most are looking for in its stead is plausibility. The next best thing after detectable evidence.

Whilst not proof, it’s easy to look at it in reverse.

If the premise that God exists is true, and it is taken from that he is the creator of the universe and all that exists; then the miracles of the Bible are modest at best. A mere flicker of power in an infinite pool.

Miracles are actually the last thing I bother to examine or care about. I’m not impressed by walking on water or feeding the many with next to nothing. Nor of plagues and splitting of the seas.

They won’t effect the moment we live in now in any great fashion, at least with regards to manifesting belief.

In fact the biggest miracle of all is the world and Jesus’ continued effect upon it long after his bodily passing.

If that is proven to be the case, that lives are being changed for the good of individuals and groups; then Jesus and God can have their miracles by association.

I realise it’s not the sole reason people seek miracle proof. But it does amuse me at times. They want to see water being split apart by divine command. Why? Are you running from Pharoah currently? Or will it be a bunch of crazed Jihadi’s?

Clearly the age of the great miracles is over. Not surprising considering the old covenant is also passed.

Why are we so bound by the search for Miracles, when we are stood on one - rocketing through space.
 
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