Philosophical question

[coolcatholicguy]

I saw an atheist youtube video that asked: Why can’t God heals amputees?

He means that when amputees pray, why doesn’t God give them a regular limb?

I am puzzled by this.

 

[GratefulFred]

The fact that God does not replace limbs does not prove that God cannot replace limbs.

God has His own reasons for doing and not doing as He pleases.

God has given us so many reasons to believe in Him that we need not say the the effect: “Unless God shows me that He can replace limbs, I will not believe.” which seems to be what the atheist seems to be implying.

I cannot recall the passage location, but I believe that Jesus said something like this,“If they did not believe all the prior signs, they will not believe yet another sign.”

 

[DianaCC]

He has. Google Miguel Juan Pellicer.

 

[karebear92]

Jesus replaced or repaired a man’s ear. It isn’t a limb, but it proves that Jesus CAN heal a limb. We must bear our crosses, and that is what a lost limb must be viewed as. Just because he doesn’t take our cross away doesn’t mean he can’t

 

[Rascalking]

The fact that God does not replace limbs does not prove that God cannot replace limbs.

God has His own reasons for doing and not doing as He pleases.

God has given us so many reasons to believe in Him that we need not say the the effect: “Unless God shows me that He can replace limbs, I will not believe.” which seems to be what the atheist seems to be implying.

I cannot recall the passage location, but I believe that Jesus said something like this,“If they did not believe all the prior signs, they will not believe yet another sign.”

OP-What about the dude with cancer? Can He (God) cure cancer? AIDS? Why stop at replacing limbs?

That God would tolerate short term pain in this world for a long term gain in the next seems very practical to me.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some solid, serious questions to raise about the existence/power of God. Almost any question can and should be asked.

 

[John_Paul_Jones]

If I remember right, I think there is at least one case that happen at Lourdes. And there is also the miracle that restored sight to Gemma di Giorgi.
"
Padre Pio
[/QUOTE]
"] Gemma di Giorgi was a child born without pupils in her eyes. Gemma was declared to be incurable by a number of specialists. At the age of seven (1947), Gemma’s grandmother brought her to meet Padre Pio.[lxxviii] About half way there Gemma began to see. Gemma’s grandmother and other friends marveled at this miraculous occurrence; they called it a miracle! When Gemma arrived, Padre Pio, although never having seen Gemma before, called Gemma by name in front of the congregation at church, and heard her confession. During the confession, despite the fact that Gemma mentioned nothing of her blindness, Padre Pio made the sign of the cross over each eye. At the end of the confession, he blessed her, and said: “Be good and saintly.”

Decades after this event, Gemma sees perfectly and still undergoes eye examinations by specialists who agree that there is no explanation for her ability to see. Gemma has no pupils, and it is a scientific fact that without pupils a person cannot see. Gemma’s grandmother also said: “Many eye doctors have arrived here in our home and all have declared the same thing: that without pupils in one’s eyes one should not be able to see and that, therefore, this is a miracle.”

 

[OvrlapnMagstria]

One of the purposes of the question of “Why doesn’t God heal amputees?” is to point out how the vast majority of claimed miracles are in line with what can happen without miraculous intervention. For example, many people will say that a cancer disappearing is a miracle, yet cancers are known to go into remission and can occasionally disappear (never mind that this usually happens with the addition of modern medical treatment.) Similarly, a car-crash survivor might claim that it was a miracle that they survived - but this is what we can expect to happen occasionally even with no miracle; not all crashes are fatal.
However, amputated limbs are not known to regrow. If there was a well documented case of an amputated limb healing, then this would be very good evidence for miracles. Instead we see miracles that may seem impressive at first glance, but are in reality what we would expect to see without miraculous intervention.

He has. Google Miguel Juan Pellicer.

I just did. Nice story, but it seems that although there is documentation that he did visit the hospital, there is no documentation that his leg was ever amputated or testimonies from other parties that he had no leg. Mostly just claims from Miguel himself where he says that others saw him (known as hearsay). And the leg was never found where it was said to have been buried, which is consistent with him never losing it in the first place. I think that it is more likely that Miguel was, regrettably, an attention seeker.