Article August 7, 1978 Issue

What about miracles?

WILLIAM MILFORD CORRELL

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that Jesus brought his body out of the tomb after the crucifixion? Do you believe that he walked on the water? Did he heal as readily and as thoroughly as the Bible says? All these are common questions that engross human attention. What we call miracles have engaged the thought of theologians from the beginning of the Christian era. And they're here and now facing us with the questions of faith and understanding. Can we do the works that Jesus did and follow in his steps, as he commanded?

The materially-minded have scoffed at these demonstrations of spiritual power recorded in the Scriptures. There were scoffers in Jesus' time and they're here today. The question is, What is essential to understand these so-called miracles and to follow the Master's example in healing—at least in a degree? The basic requirement is to be spiritually-minded. We must be willing to establish our sense of existence in an entirely different frame of reference, to base it on the substance and reality of Spirit rather than on the belief in the reality of matter and material sense evidence. If we do this, the acts of Jesus become natural and expected. They're the outcome of an understanding of the nature of God as infinite Spirit and of man made in His image. We begin to see that there's a scientific basis for Jesus' acts and an understandable law underlying his ability.

But you have to be willing to challenge the supposed reality of matter and to see beyond the evidence of the material senses. This isn't as hard as it may seem. There are many instances where we know that the fact is quite different from the appearance. In Christian Science we let the evidence of Spirit be more real to us than the testimony of the material senses, and it overrides the false testimony of matter.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Life is not too short