Do Catholics Have To Believe In Miracles?

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I went on a movie date night and somehow ended up watching Breakthrough. Not a great film, and inevitably preachy. Also didn’t like the atheist fireman, who seemed a caraciature of atheists in such films, just waiting for a gentle nudge from God to make them see how silly they were being.

But that wasn’t the part of the film that bothered me. It was the way the film insisted on the boy’s recovery being a miracle and danced around the issue of why that boy? The film itself makes clear that most, if not all people in such condition never recover, either dying or suffering severe neurological damage. So we’re left with a god that is both arbitrary and capricious. Apparently, if the subtext of the film is to be believed, the more people you have praying for you, the better your odds I guess if the boy had had fewer friends or was adopted by the wrong parents of the wrong faith (say Hindu or Zoroastrian), he would have been toast.

I guess it comes around to this. Does being a Christian you have to accept a version of God who seems so arbitrary? Does one have to accept the existence of miracles, and all the questions that entails? Would the God of Matthew 5:45 just wantonly intervene because of a desperate mother or because some mawkish soul singing?
 
In the sense that a miracle is an event which is supernatural in origin, something which defies explanation on the natural plane, the answer is yes. Jesus performed many so of course we believe.
 
I’m not questioning the Biblical narrative, I’m questioning the notion that God will intervene in such an event as that portrayed in the film, and yet let hundreds or thousands of young people who end up in the same condition die? Is this a requirement of being a Christian? Can one accept the Gospel accounts and yet reject such claims as the one in this film?
 
Most, by a vast degree, “Christian” films made after 1969 are bad. Yes, cartoon like characters preaching with sappy music. Please, do not judge the Catholic Church’s teachings on miracles by that flick.

Of course we believe in miracles. Every hour of the day around the world there is a Miracle taking place at Mass when wine and bread become the flesh and blood of Christ.
 
niceatheist said:
So we’re left with a god that is both arbitrary and capricious.
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How could you know that it’s arbitrary and capricious? Granted, I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know exactly how it is portrayed, but it seems like the issue is that if God saves one person through a miracle but not others, then it makes Him capricious. That seems awfully presumptuous, given that we obviously are lacking knowledge on His decision making.
 
And that’s the standard cover. Oh well, God picks winners for His own reasons…
 
I haven’t seen the film, but yes miracles do not happen to everyone. For example we know Jesus healed a paralytic and a few lepers among others but there were many around who were likely not healed. It takes great faith and trust in God to receive a miracle.
 
I guess my question is whether you have to believe such claims of miraculous healing to be a Christian? Is skepticism incompatible with Christianity?
 
I find the explanation that it’s a mystery so just accept the claim unsatisfying. I guess that’s my answer.
 
Skepticism of miracles in general is incompatible. Skepticism of a specific claim is of course possible, just like skepticism of private revelations.
 
niceatheist said:
Is skepticism incompatible with Christianity?
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Sure. Even some of the most famous Marian apparitions have their doubters among Catholics. I doubt you’d find too many Catholics who disbelieve in all miracles, though.
niceatheist said:
I find the explanation that it’s a mystery so just accept the claim unsatisfying. I guess that’s my answer.
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But why? Your reason for doing so seems quite arbitrary. 🙂
 
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Let’s imagine someone that accepted Jesus and the Apostles performed miracles, but felt that most claims made since them were dubious? Does one have to believe in Fatima, for instance?
 
Because it doesn’t fit with Matthew 5:45 which suggests that God isn’t in the business of saving the righteous on this Earth, any more than he’s in the business of earthly punishments of the evildoers.
 
Things are not always as they seem. In partaking of the media, you are entering into someone’s interpretation of reality - one which they desire you to agree with. However, you retain the freedom to investigate on your own and reach your own conclusions.

Miracles? They range from imperceptible to earth-shaking. Your creation is one of them. Being sustained in life each split second of that life is another. Visible only when focused upon, they remain miraculous.

A few are doubters and desire that you also doubt. Q: Are they truly happy, or do they simply seek company in their doubts? Millions can attest to miracles, and I am but one of them.

Look closely - you will see them.
 
The time of the Apostles was a special time when many extraordinary signs happened, since then there are fewer miracles sure, but none at all? that would be an extreme position.
 
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And yet could one be a Christian and not accept modern claims of miracles? Could one be generally skeptical of such claims, not imagine God as a picker of winners and losers, all justified because He’s a lot smarter than us, which just seems more an empty dismissal of skepticism.
 
niceatheist said:
Because it doesn’t fit with Matthew 5:45 which suggests that God isn’t in the business of saving the righteous on this Earth, any more than he’s in the business of earthly punishments of the evildoers.
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First, I’m really unsure of where you get “punishment” from, given that sun and rain can be either good or bad depending on the quantity and what you’re farming.

Edit: Actually, I can see that. I was thinking you were saying sun or rain indicated punishment, but either could be seen as such given the circumstances.

Second, that’s a different matter than indicating God is arbitrary or capricious. If the film presents matters as the good always prospering and wicked always suffering, then yes, that is a problem. However, that isn’t a presentation of God as arbitrary or capricious. That’s a very well-defined form of decision-making that is anything but arbitrary and capricious, but it is also at odds with reality.

Third, bear in mind that throughout the Gospels Jesus also attached faith to miracles. He apparently had no problem with that despite Matthew 5:45.
 
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It presents a situation in which a teenager suffers catastrophic injuries that are almost always either fatal or lead to castrophic and permanent brain injury, and yet, apparently, lots of prayer can convince god to take miraculous action. So the moral here is that if you don’t have people praying for you, God won’t help.
 
During a youth talk a few months ago , the deacon who was conducting the talk asked us if we believed in miracles … no one answered so then he started asking us by calling out our names …he called me out first and I was stumped and said what came to my mouth first… I told him that yes I did believe in miracles but the chances of miracles happening are very slim. After saying that I started panicking cause I said what I was thinking at that time without any filter and after saying it I realised that I kinda said that I didn’t believe in miracles too. It was a room filled with 50 youth, few teachers and few priests .
I expected to be reprimanded but instead he clapped hands and thanked me for giving him a raw and honest answer. I then realised that it’s not always necessary to believe everything blindly but try to reason stuff out and take ur time.
So regarding ur question …I’ll say catholic are supposed to naturally believe in miracles but take ur time and understand them properly and don’t blindly accept it . Btw happy Easter
 
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