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Knowing Our God Advanced Exegetical Theology The Knowledge of God Series Book 10 God’s Miracles How Does God Supernaturally Reveal Himself? Kurt Jurgensmeier Copyright © 2012 Kurt Jurgensmeier Available online at www.trainingtimothys.org All parts of this publication may be used in any form if due credit is given. No part of this publication, except brief quotations, may be used in printed material that is to be sold, without the written permission of Kurt Jurgensmeier who can be contacted through the feedback section of www.trainingtimothys.org. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) 1994 edition unless otherwise noted. NIV is a registered trademark of the International Bible Society. ISBN: 978-1-300-11158-0 Dedication To my son-in-law Jon, whose commitment to God and love for my daughter are a great gift from God to me. Contents The chapters below are marked with the following categories in order to help you prioritize your reading:  Best: The most helpful, interesting and/or important chapters.  Essential: Important chapters to understand the topic of the book.  Specialized: The finer, more complex points of the topic of the book. Preface 7 Part I: Introduction to Miracles  10.1: An Introduction to Miracles: 11 A Critical but Confusing & Controversial Subject  10.2: The Attributes of Miracles: 25 Their Supernatural, Rare, & Awe-inspiring Nature  10.3: The Proper Expectation & Recognition of 61 Miracles Part II: The Myriad of Miraculous Deeds  10.4: Divine Miracles: The Direct Hand of God 101  10.5: Human Miracle Working: The Delegated 113 Power of God  10.6: Demonic Miracle Working by satan’s 155 Servants Part III: The Myriad of Miraculous Words  10.7: Biblical Attributes of Miraculous 175 Communication: Diverse, Discontinuous & Never “Inspiration”  10.8: Delegated Miraculous Communication: 193 God Speaking through Angels & Animals  10.9: Direct Means of Miraculous 207 Communication: From the Writing of God to Living with God  10.10: Physically Seeing & Hearing God: 229 The Voice & Apparitions of God  10.11: Mental Visions & Dreams from God 241 Part IV: Extreme & Unbiblical Views of Miracles  10.12: Miracles & Anti-supernaturalism: 279 An Attack on God’s Glory  10.13: Miracles & Super-supernaturalism: 313 A Monumental Delusion  10.14: A History of Super-supernaturalism: 337 The Making of a Monumental Delusion  10.15: An Evaluation of Super-super- 371 naturalism: The Fruit of a Monumental Delusion  10.16: The Dangers of Super-super- 413 naturalism: The Damage of a Monumental Delusion Resources from TrainingTimothys.org 477 7 Preface Helping the next generation of Bible Teachers Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15) These words were written to a young Teacher of God’s word. They are a reminder of the awesome privilege, responsibility, and accountability that comes with such a divine calling. Being a Teacher is God’s gift to a man, but what kind of Teacher he becomes is his gift to God. And God tells all Teachers something of what He is expecting in the verse above. First, the Teacher is to “present” himself “to God” when he teaches. When we teach it is not only humans that are listening, but Heaven as well, and God is our most important audience. We can be concerned with what people will think of our teaching, but we need to be much, much more concerned with what God will think. And God’s expectations can significantly differ from those of humans. People often expect eloquence and entertainment, God expects accuracy, “correctly” interpreting, teaching, and applying God’s word for God’s people. There is nothing in all the world more important than this because to do otherwise is to misunderstand, misrepresent, and eventually disobey the Author. As in all human endeavors, not even God expects perfection, but He certainly demands that we do our “best.” We need to remember that we do all of this under the watchful eye of the Author Himself, and will one Day be either “approved” or “ashamed” regarding how careful and diligent we were in working to understand, teach, and apply His word “correctly.” This book is offered as a help in obeying the Apostle’s command for those who have, or desire to have, the great responsibility of teaching God’s word to His people. It is part of a series of books written under the title of Knowing Our God: Advanced Exegetical Theology. These books are advanced in that they are an in-depth, scholarly study of very specific and often difficult theological topics. They are uniquely exegetical in that there is a special emphasis on interpreting the Scriptures applicable to the topic. While many 8 systematic theologies would not require much of a Scripture index, a large percentage of the current 5000 pages of Knowing Our God is commentary on Scripture. Finally, these books are theology, because it is in such an endeavor that we bring the pieces of God’s word into a harmonious whole in order to produce the full truth of Scripture. We believe Advanced Exegetical Theology is a great need in equipping Pastors today to defend the faith for this and future generations. Ezra the priest, of course, is our example, of whom it is written: “the gracious hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (Ezra 7:9-10). Obeying God’s word was obviously important to Ezra, but so was being “devoted . . . to the study” of God’s word, all so that he could be “teaching” it to God’s people. It is our hope that this book will help you do just that. Finally, a few practical points. First, while we are not aware of anything in it that would be contrary to the historical, Evangelical Christian faith, if you encounter something that differs from the beliefs of your Pastor(s), please discuss it with them if it causes serious questions for you. We desire to respect the pastoral authority God has in your life as much as possible. Secondly, studying God’s word is best pursued in community with spiritual peers, and we encourage you to read this with others and discuss the Gauging Your Grasp questions usually at the end of a chapter. Thirdly, we make an effort to make an organized study of God’s word not just theological but practical as well. So prayerfully consider the sections entitled Pastoral Practices along the way. Fourth, as you read you will notice several references to other writings. This reflects the fact that this book is an excerpt from a larger production entitled Knowing Our God. The entire collection of books on systematic theology that are currently available can be found at www.trainingtimothys.org. Finally, we would appreciate the reader visiting the site and emailing us any feedback on this book, including concerns, comments, and any proposed corrections. We too wish to study God’s word in community, and that community includes you. Pastor Kurt Jurgensmeier New Life Community Church, Cedar Rapids, IA Training Timothys at www.trainingtimothys.org Book 10 God’s Miracles Part I Introduction to Miracles  10.1: An Introduction to Miracles: 11 A Critical but Confusing & Controversial Subject  10.2: The Attributes of Miracles: 25 Their Supernatural, Rare, & Awe-inspiring Nature  10.3: The Proper Expectation & Recognition of 61 Miracles

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