What constitutes a miracle?

Paul Wood says that the headaches were so bad that he couldn't walk down a hallway without using the walls for support. X-rays showed a malignant brain tumor was the problem, although his neurosurgeon thought an aneurysm might have caused bleeding on the brain. His surgery was abruptly canceled after new x-rays revealed the tumor had vanished. Medical professionals refer to this phenomena as "spontaneous remission." One day the patient is dying of some incurable malady, and the next day has completely recovered. Statistically speaking, survival is not the expected outcome. When a person has what is normally considered a fatal illness or injury, we should naturally expect that person to die within a relatively short period of time, or at least have surgery or other treatment to save that person's life. There is no natural explanation for a tumor (and all symptoms) to simply disappear. But rarely, it does happen. According to the pastor of Gravity Church, Paul had inspired his fellow congregation members by saying, "No matter what happens to me, I'm going to be okay. I trust God."  Nothing that anyone could possibly say would ever convince Paul Wood that he had not received a miraculous cure from God, facilitated by the power of prayer. Skeptics might argue that Paul's condition was inaccurately diagnosed and his doctors were incompetent, or might look for some other way to explain the inexplicable, but while Paul's recovery might be the exception and not the rule, it's hardly the only exception. Miracles appear to happen relatively frequently, once we start looking … [Read more...]