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According to the canonical Gospel s, Jesus worked many Miracle s in the course of his ministry. The large bulk of them are various cures, though there are also a large number of Exorcism s, three instances of Raising The Dead , and various other miracles that do not fit into these categories. CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP AND THE MIRACLES OF JESUS Since the modern science of Biblical Criticism began in the 19th Century with the Tübingen School , scholars have examined the credibility of Jesus' life as depicted in the Gospels . Additionally, Naturalism , the argument that it is more rational to assume a scientific explanation or false reporting than it is to assume the existance of miraculous events, arose in the Age Of Enlightenment , and was later applied to the consideration of the Historicity of Jesus' miracles. Many scholars argue that miracles cannot be historically proven, and therefore are not Falsifiable , and consequently discussion of them is inherently unscientific, and so does not belong in a discussion of any possible Historical Jesus . The Jesus Seminar , a critical study by major Theologians of what aspects of the Gospel accounts are likely to be factual, held that while the various cures for diseases are probably true, since there were many others in the ancient world credited with healing power, most of the other miracles of Jesus are unfactual, at least in their ''literal'' interpretation from the Bible. The veracity of Exorcism s carried out by Jesus is particularly questioned among critical scholars, as according to modern science there is no evidence whatsoever for Demonic Possession , while there is a large amount of evidence that what ancient peoples attributed to demonic forces were actually the result of psychological disturbances and mental illness. Sometimes scientists speculate that the appearance of a miracle could have occurred, but that there is a naturalistic explanation for it. For example, a recent study has suggested that the ''miracle'' of Jesus walking on water could have been the result of a freak ice formation that is thought by Climatologists to have occurred on the Sea of Galilee during that time {Link without Title} . TYPES OF MIRACLE Curing disease The largest group of miracles is his various cures. The manner of his healing varies from one case to the next, according to the reports in the Bible. For instance, often he lays hands on the person to be cured, other times, only a word suffices to perform the cure. One notable cure of a Blind man involves the making of a paste of mud and spittle which is rubbed on the blind man's eyes and then washed off (Cf. Gospel Of John 9) in the Pool Of Siloam . The woman with a Haemorrhage was healed simply by touching the fringe of Jesus' garment. Expelling demons Belief in supernatural creatures was very common in the First Century Judea , as it was nearly everywhere in the world. According to a literal reading of the Synoptic Gospels , Jesus was present at multiple examples of Demonic Possession , while these incidents are not mentioned whatsoever by the Gospel of John. Most modern scholars dismiss these as simply being cases of Mental Illness and afflictions such as Epilepsy , which provides the same external symptoms without requiring the need for a supernatural force, and hence is favoured by Ockham's Razor . The accounts in the Synoptic Gospels are, at face value:
Scientifically, while many of these cases have an uncertain explanations, due to the minimal description of the ''possessions'' themself, the ''possession'' of the man at Gerasenes could be explained as simply being a case of Schizophrenia , while the ''possession'' of the boy, brought forward after the transfiguration, has symptoms more scientifically explainable by Epilepsy . Critical scholars typically see these ''exorcisms'' of such illness as allegorical, representative of Jesus' teachings clearing even the most troubled mind. Some critical scholars, however, have suggested that the events could have been real, though with the scientific explanation of the illnesses, and that the cures given were really just Psychological Drugs that Jesus, like many others in the era, would have been aware of; for example, Sage and Mistletoe were used in early times to treat epilepsy, and Snakeroot was used to treat schizophrenia. Nonetheless, many Christians accept these Exorcism s as having really happened as actual evictions of real Demons . The Roman Catholic Church maintains a detailed protocol of what is to be done to perform an exorcism, and most local denominations have an exorcism 'specialist' at hand, as does the Anglican Church Of England , which maintains an exorcist in each Diocese . Controlling nature Another group of Jesus' miracles reported in the Bible show his sovereign power over the created world. Jesus was reportedly able to feed large multitudes with very little bread (a miracle that took place in Tabgha ), and to change water into wine. With a word, he calmed a storm at sea, and himself walked on the surface of the sea. Catholics, Orthodox and some Anglicans would add the changing of bread and wine (the Transubstantiation ) into his body and blood to this group. Power over death The Gospels report three cases where Jesus calls a dead person back to life. In one, the daughter of Jairus had just died, and Jesus says she was only sleeping and wakes her with a word. Another case involves a young man being brought out for burial. When Jesus sees his widowed mother, he has pity and raises him from the dead. The third case involves a close friend of Jesus, Lazarus , who has been four days in the tomb. To these must be added Jesus' Own Resurrection from the dead, if the Gospels are to be taken at face value. Most Christians accept this as fact without question, indeed almost defining being a Christian with a belief in the resurrection. Others, like Rudolf Bultmann , claim that the resurrection was not a historical event, as did a large number of early Christians, known as Gnostics , at one point almost a majority. Most secular scholars would point to a lack of evidence and precedent and reject the resurrection. Power over the mind Historically, Scholastic Theologians argued that the act of Jesus' Casting Out The Moneylenders From The Temple was a miracle showing the power of Jesus over the minds of those in the temple. They reasoned that it would not be possible for one man to eject everyone from the premises without being attacked. In more recent times, hypnotists and magicians have argued against this, for example Derren Brown demonstrated mass conversion of Atheists to Theism (and subsequently unconverted them by explaining his trickery). LIST OF MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS It is not always clear when two reported miracles refer to the same event. An attempt has been made to indicate those that probably are related. In the canon, there are 44 miracles of Jesus during his life-time which were recorded in the New Testament, 37 of them are recorded in the canonical Gospels and 7 were recorded in other parts. EXTERNAL LINKS Apologist
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