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Bible Miracles and the Information Age
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
Many religious leaders (and parents as well) complain about how our children our lost from "the faith" when they get older. I don't even pretend to be an authority on the matter, but it seems to me that there is at least one simple component to the reason -- and possible answer. Like it or not we live in the information age. The internet, smart phones, the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel (etc.) give instant access, opinion, and opinion disguised as fact to any and all viewers and users. Sunday school teachers either haven't grasped this fact, or have tried to sweep it under the rug, or have tried to ignore it hoping it will go away. It won't. Kids are savvy. They want and deserve answers. But what exactly are the answers? Well, this is just my opinion on the subject. The foundations of Christianity, and of Judaism, lie in faith -- the faith in things unseen. This includes the idea that God performed and performs miracles. But how does He do it? The old testament of the Bible was written thousands of years ago. The first 5 books, also know to Jews as the Tora was supposed to have been written by Moses himself. The culture at this time in history was simplistic. People were superstitious. They lived for the most part short, mean lives. They had no understanding of things like earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. They didn't know where the sun came from in the morning and where it went at night. They didn't know why the moon changed its shape. They didn't know where the wind came from. If lightning struck someone's home it was punishment from God (or the gods). The people who wrote the various books of the bible realized this and wrote in terms that everyone could understand. They may have even had trouble understanding some of it themselves. So how did they explain miracles? Some of these miracles have no better explanation other than to say "God did (insert miracle here)" In the New Testament recall the miracle of the loaves and fishes for example. But there are other times when God may have worked differently. Take Joshua and the Battle of Jericho for example. It is a geological fact that there is a fault line almost directly under the city. Could it have been a mere earthquake that made "the walls come tumbling down"? - Did God cause the earthquake -- on cue as it were?
- Did God simply know that there was going to be an earthquake and simply maneuver the Israelites to be at the right place at the right time?
- Did God smite the city ala Thor with a lighting bolt? We do know that God told Joshua to march his people around the city and to blow the trumpets. On the last day of marching around the city, when the trumpets were blown the final time, down came the city walls. Did the trumpets bring down the city walls? I do not pretend to know how this miracle took place, but here is a conversation I doubt very much happened: God: Well, Josh, I'd like you take the city of Jericho. Joshua: Okay. How? Have you seen those walls? God: Well, you see, Jericho is right over an earthquake fault. Now, and earthquake fault, geologically speaking is a fracture in the continuity of a rock formation caused by a shifting or dislodging of the earth's crust in which adjacent.....
Joshua: Huh???? God: Oh forget it! Just march around the city every day for 7 days. On the 7th day march around 7 times then blow the trumpets. The walls will come tumbling down. Then ya'll go in and kill everybody except that Rahab chick and her family. Kinda sounds like a Mel Brooks version of the event. The point is this: However God chose to do it, was it any less of a miracle to the Israelites? We are losing our kids because we don't explain the possible answers to their questions. We don't explain the possibilities. In the end it comes down to faith. But we can certainly give our kids the ammunition they need to fight in the information age.
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James, every belief is based on an unknown or a not-known circumstance, condition or fact. A belief is indeed an act of faith.
There is also knowing, beyond belief; the ability to know, or have certainty about, is inherent in each one of us
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks Ron for your comment. You are correct.
Regards,
Jim
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