I realize that atheists aren’t that much different than me…as documented in my very first book, Divine Evolution, I described how I very nearly became an atheist myself.
In a chapter titled “Personal Experience”, I talked about the time when I questioned whether the biblical Jesus was any more real than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.
Therefore, I can understand how many people become atheists — especially after struggling with serious issues such as the problem of suffering and death.
As my friend Frank Boccia wrote in his essay on rationalism in regard to his experiences during the Vietnam War, sometimes good people were killed and bad people survived. Hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis also claim hundreds or even thousands of innocent lives per year.
Bad things happen to everybody, sooner or later.
The harder truth to accept is that everyone’s days are numbered. We might see the sun rise in the morning, but we also might not. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. We’re all going to die, eventually.
And I’m obviously not just saying this in an effort to cheer you up…
Probably the biggest difference between the average atheist and me (aside from belief in God, of course) is that I will freely admit that I believe supernatural miracles have actually occurred, even though it logically seems to be a point beyond dispute.
For example, the creation of this universe from nothing — meaning the Big Bang anomaly — was a supernatural miracle. So was the animation of lifeless matter.
Yet some people infatuated with science think there are “natural” scenarios by which these miracles may have occurred which are perfectly reasonable and rational. By their reasoning, any hypothesis that does not require divine intervention is considered acceptable and more believable than the alternative, which is to say “God did it!”
Now when Dan Barker told Oprah Winfrey that he prayed for a man and that man was healed, my first instinct wasn’t to accuse him of lying. If anything, I found myself wanting to ask Mr. Barker questions to find out more about the incident in question — after all, it isn’t every day that a prominent, outspoken atheist claims to have prayed for and received a miracle performed in the name of Jesus Christ.
Dan’s firsthand account of alleged divine intervention hasn’t been the only one of its kind, either.
In his book Hope After Faith, recently converted preacher-to-atheist Jerry DeWitt claimed to have been the conduit for a miracle far more remarkable than the one described by Dan Barker.
Jerry told the story about the daughter-in-law of someone he referred to as “Brother Page.” She had been hospitalized with a brain aneurysm in Mobile, Alabama.
He claimed that despite the fact he had no idea where he was going, by putting his full faith in God to lead him, Jerry drove forty miles straight to the right hospital by a force like the “sort of invisible pull between magnets.”
Without asking anyone for help or directions, Jerry chose the elevator button for the right floor. Even more incredible, in a city with several hospitals and a population around 200,000 people, without any “misses” or false turns, Jerry DeWitt claimed that he walked straight to the right room, where he found Brother Page visiting his daughter-in-law.
Convinced he had been led there by God, Jerry later wrote,
I prayed for Brother Page’s daughter-in-law but it was not a prayer of supplication. I was so convinced by my connection with God that I made a declaration. “In the name of Jesus Christ,” I thundered by the hospital bed, “be healed.” Though there were no physical signs that Brother Page’s daughter-in-law was healed that day, I strode out of the hospital in complete confidence that she had been healed.
Hmm. A truly remarkable claim — but Jerry wasn’t finished telling his extraordinary tale.
After a long, unrelated anecdote about a church revival where he’d been preaching at the time these events took place, Jerry continued his story by saying,
After the spiritual high of the revival, which concluded with the astounding news that Brother Page’s daughter-in-law had been healed from her aneurysm, I was feeling depressed and enervated. It was mystifying to me that I could move the faithful at a revival and even be guided by the hand of God to heal a sick woman, yet I could not find steady work or even keep food on the table at home. I was beginning to resent my fellow evangelists: they were not demonstrating the signs and wonders that I felt like I was demonstrating, and their messages were extremely shallow. Yet they were all far more successful than me.
Now, in all honesty, I confess that I do not believe that Dan Barker or Jerry DeWitt were directly responsible for these alleged miracles.
However, I must admit that I believe that Dan and Jerry were telling the truth about what they saw. I also believe that both men witnessed phenomena truly inexplicable according to natural law.
As with Dan, I have a few questions I’d like to ask Jerry and the doctors involved, assuming there is no evidence that she underwent surgery for this condition:
- Does indisputable evidence of the aneurysm exist in this woman’s medical records?
- Can the attending physicians confirm that the aneurysm was healed without surgery?
- What is the rational “medical” explanation for the disappearance of this woman’s aneurysm?
- In other documented cases of the treatment of an aneurysm, what percentage of them were cured by spontaneous remission?
This is not to challenge the veracity of Jerry’s “anecdote” of an atheist witnessing to a miracle; this is how I would normally attempt to gather additional information — by asking questions.
More importantly, I tend to believe guys like Dan and Jerry far more than I would believe “liars for God” (that’s a joke!) like legendary phonies Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, or the infamous “Dr.” Mike Murdock when they claim to have witnessed a miracle. I’m willing to give Jerry and Dan the benefit of my doubt because they have no reason to lie.
Just like Jerry DeWitt, I deeply resent the wealth of Joel Ostend, Creflo Dollar, and others that I derisively call “prosperity pimps”, reaping millions of dollars in offerings by preaching a false gospel that claims God will reward those who give more than they can reward with earthly riches.
I’m not the least bit surprised that the supernatural creator of this entire universe would choose to perform a miracle through a future atheist over any of those charlatans who prey on the gullible poor.
Jerry DeWitt’s problem appears to be that he believed he “was guided by God to heal a sick woman.” But it sounds to me like Jerry has given himself glory reserved for God. Jerry didn’t heal anybody.
If his story is true, God performed the miracle of healing.
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