How Do Evangelicals Explain Lourdes?

[ltwin]

patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/how-do-evangelicals-explain-lourdes/

I know there are all kinds of protestants. My experience from the ones I know is that Catholics are nuts, there are no apparitions, or they are demonic. If you try to tell them about it, they just look horrified, usually followed by them trying to get away from you as quick as possible. If they would look into the facts with an open mind, they might believe it. I think anti-Catholicism keeps them from doing just that. It seems even the Orthodox, who have plenty of apparitions of their own, look with skepticism on the Catholic apparitions.

Most that i know doubt the validity of any of the purported miracles. In and of itself skepticism is a good thing IMO since most miracle claims IMO are BS. Other evangelicals I know believe God can work miracles despite the misguided and theologically corrupt CC so they are open to it. Admittedly as a former evangelical I always lumped the stories into the Benny Hinn or other TV evangelists categories where people were always claiming miraculous healings and I doubted the truthfulness of any them. One thing is for certain, I have never met an evangelical that had any particularly high view of Mary which today as a Catholic I find very surprising considering their high view of Scripture.

There are two types of evangelicals: Continuationists and Cessationists. Many (but not all) Baptists are cessationists, meaning they believe that miraculous signs and wonders have ceased. They will be skeptical of claims of Marian apparitions and gifts of healing as part of their belief system.

Continuationists (such as Pentecostals and charismatic Protestants) do not dismiss miraculous claims outright. However, they would want the focus to be on Jesus Christ and would be uncomfortable with the focus on Mary–since the authenticity of such miracles is in part judged by fidelity to the Word of God, of which Christ is the focus.

 

[SalusaSecondus]

patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/how-do-evangelicals-explain-lourdes/

Is 69 a statistically significant number when looking at the millions of folks that went there as compared to the millions of folks that didn’t go there but still prayed for a miracle?

I am not sure there wouldn’t be 69 unexplained hearings if those millions had gone to Peoria instead of to Lourdes or any other place for that matter.

Seems like we are already looking for these miracles to confirm the belief that these miracles occur at this particular location.

 

[schaeffer]

Is 69 a statistically significant number when looking at the millions of folks that went there as compared to the millions of folks that didn’t go there but still prayed for a miracle?

I am not sure there wouldn’t be 69 unexplained hearings if those millions had gone to Peoria instead of to Lourdes or any other place for that matter.

Seems like we are already looking for these miracles to confirm the belief that these miracles occur at this particular location.

riding on the ideas of this post…some people believe it’s superstition. Events are attributed to something that may have only coincidental association, or that someone is predisposed to believe will cause some event to occur.

If some people break a mirror, they will start focusing on anything unlucky that happens and attribute it to the broken mirror, etc.

I am not claiming that is what is behind the miracles at Lourdes, but that is what some non Catholics believe is happening.