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The Case Against Miracles
For as long as the idea of “miracles” has been in the public sphere, the conversation about them has been shaped exclusively by religious apologists and Christian leaders. The definitions for what a miracles are have been forged by the same men who fought hard to promote their own beliefs as fitting under that umbrella. It’s time for a change. Enter John W. Loftus, an atheist author who has earned three master’s degrees from Lincoln Christian Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Loftus, a former student of noted Christian apologist William Lane Craig, got some of the biggest names in the field to contribute to this book, which represents a critical analysis of the very idea of miracles. Incorporating his own thoughts along with those of noted academics, philosophers, and theologians, Loftus is able to properly define “miracle” and then show why there’s no reason to believe such a thing even exists. Addressing every single issue that touches on miracles in a thorough and academic manner, this compilation represents the most extensive look at the phenomenon ever displayed through the lens of an ardent non-believer. If you’ve ever wondered exactly what a miracle is, or doubted whether they exist, then this book is for you.
576 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2019
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126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 7, 2020
John Loftus knows how to put a book together. His anthologies are well thought out, with specific people in mind to tackle interesting and thoughtful topics. This anthology address miracles and whether or not it’s reasonable to believe that they ever occurred or can occur today. The miracle claims from Christianity to Islam to Mormonism to other religions I cannot pronounce are thoroughly and thoughtfully dissected and analyzed with the precision of a Surgeon. If these topics interest you at all, whether a believer or not, check this book out.
February 8, 2021
I give it five stars for content (the rating that matters), one star for copy-editing (the book has a frequency of typos resembling my social media first drafts - ironic for a book that goes full pedantic on the sloppily written bible; but then again no atheist claims to be inspired by an infallible God), and four stars for writing style (most entries are reasonably well-written, but "Chapter 17: Credulity At Cana?" is the glaring exception, reading like the "before" examples in a plain-language writing book (see for example Oxford Guide to Plain English), with convoluted sentence structure and gratuitous thesaurus flexing guaranteed to relieve insomnia).
As with the earlier Loftus anthologies, this book is nutrient-dense. A person would have to be pretty well-read to be comfortable with all of the wide-ranging content. And as with the others, this anthology leaves one wondering how there can still be any Christians or religious people in general. But then one recalls that hardly any believers have the courage to test their faith on a read like this. To a first approximation, functional illiteracy is a necessary condition for faith. (Where I define "functional illiteracy" as not reading many books, and especially not reading the books one needs to read to avoid making the catastrophic error.)
Even if the book is preaching to your choir, as it were, there is still value in plumbing the depths of religious error. Most people who leave religion do so for only a tiny subset of the reasons to leave religion. Inventorying the rest is a fascinating intellectual exercise. And then you can only wonder what it might take to get this information into the billions of faithful minds that willfully ignore it.
Moving on to some content quibbles, I noticed a possible error in Abby Hafer's chapter on evolution:
"However, bacteria, like all organisms, evolve. All natural populations have genetic diversity. This means that some bacteria will naturally be slightly more resistant to antibiotics than others. When antibiotics are applied, some bacteria will live through the first day or two of treatment, simply because they are slightly more resistant. So, if the person then discontinues their antibiotics (because they feel better now that most of the bacteria gone), the bacteria that remain are the ones with some natural resistance to the antibiotic. Those bacteria will breed back up, and this new population will not die off as quickly under another dose of the antibiotic. So the person who is sick will get sicker for longer, and may die."
But see chapter 2: "Finishing the Antibiotic Course Is Often Unnecessary" in Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far, in which Paul A. Offit says roughly the opposite, backed up by numerous studies. The notion of a "course" of antibiotics of arbitrary length is not based in evidence, but more in tradition. Continuing to take antibiotics after a bacterial infection has been knocked down to the level that the body's immune system can handle is another instance of overprescription. Exposing bacteria in the body to antibiotics for a longer time increases the selective pressure that leads to resistance.
Hafer also mentions the need for new antibiotics as bacteria continue to evolve resistance against the dwindling selection that still work:
"What has saved us thus far has been the development of new antimicrobial medicines as the old ones become less useful. Sadly, we have reached a point in which some bacteria are now resistant to all known antibiotics. This is predicted by evolution. The only ways for us to get around resistance is to develop new antimicrobial drugs and to put old ones on a rotation, taking them out of use for a period of time so that resistance in bacterial populations decreases over time."
It's odd that Hafer doesn't mention phage therapy here. This involves treating bacterial infections with viruses that are called bacteriophages for their habit of preying on bacteria, so gloriously and accidentally presaged by Augustus De Morgan's poem Siphonaptera. Phage therapy actually pre-dates the widespread use of antibiotics, but largely fell into disuse as antibiotics proved more convenient. Since phages are active biological entities, they are not exactly drugs. For more on this topic, see A Planet of Viruses.
In Chapter 14: "Science, Miracles and Noah’s Flood" the following appears:
"Even though the odds against scooping the jackpot are typically close to 300 million to 1, with enough tickets in circulation a winner will come up, just by chance. But we cannot prove thereby that God never puts a finger on the spinning wheel."
That may be true for a one-off lottery, but where we have enough trials to compile statistics we can in fact demonstrate that God does not interfere. See Chapter 7: Thank God from Rob Hyndman's book Unbelievable.
As with the earlier Loftus anthologies, this book is nutrient-dense. A person would have to be pretty well-read to be comfortable with all of the wide-ranging content. And as with the others, this anthology leaves one wondering how there can still be any Christians or religious people in general. But then one recalls that hardly any believers have the courage to test their faith on a read like this. To a first approximation, functional illiteracy is a necessary condition for faith. (Where I define "functional illiteracy" as not reading many books, and especially not reading the books one needs to read to avoid making the catastrophic error.)
Even if the book is preaching to your choir, as it were, there is still value in plumbing the depths of religious error. Most people who leave religion do so for only a tiny subset of the reasons to leave religion. Inventorying the rest is a fascinating intellectual exercise. And then you can only wonder what it might take to get this information into the billions of faithful minds that willfully ignore it.
Moving on to some content quibbles, I noticed a possible error in Abby Hafer's chapter on evolution:
"However, bacteria, like all organisms, evolve. All natural populations have genetic diversity. This means that some bacteria will naturally be slightly more resistant to antibiotics than others. When antibiotics are applied, some bacteria will live through the first day or two of treatment, simply because they are slightly more resistant. So, if the person then discontinues their antibiotics (because they feel better now that most of the bacteria gone), the bacteria that remain are the ones with some natural resistance to the antibiotic. Those bacteria will breed back up, and this new population will not die off as quickly under another dose of the antibiotic. So the person who is sick will get sicker for longer, and may die."
But see chapter 2: "Finishing the Antibiotic Course Is Often Unnecessary" in Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far, in which Paul A. Offit says roughly the opposite, backed up by numerous studies. The notion of a "course" of antibiotics of arbitrary length is not based in evidence, but more in tradition. Continuing to take antibiotics after a bacterial infection has been knocked down to the level that the body's immune system can handle is another instance of overprescription. Exposing bacteria in the body to antibiotics for a longer time increases the selective pressure that leads to resistance.
Hafer also mentions the need for new antibiotics as bacteria continue to evolve resistance against the dwindling selection that still work:
"What has saved us thus far has been the development of new antimicrobial medicines as the old ones become less useful. Sadly, we have reached a point in which some bacteria are now resistant to all known antibiotics. This is predicted by evolution. The only ways for us to get around resistance is to develop new antimicrobial drugs and to put old ones on a rotation, taking them out of use for a period of time so that resistance in bacterial populations decreases over time."
It's odd that Hafer doesn't mention phage therapy here. This involves treating bacterial infections with viruses that are called bacteriophages for their habit of preying on bacteria, so gloriously and accidentally presaged by Augustus De Morgan's poem Siphonaptera. Phage therapy actually pre-dates the widespread use of antibiotics, but largely fell into disuse as antibiotics proved more convenient. Since phages are active biological entities, they are not exactly drugs. For more on this topic, see A Planet of Viruses.
In Chapter 14: "Science, Miracles and Noah’s Flood" the following appears:
"Even though the odds against scooping the jackpot are typically close to 300 million to 1, with enough tickets in circulation a winner will come up, just by chance. But we cannot prove thereby that God never puts a finger on the spinning wheel."
That may be true for a one-off lottery, but where we have enough trials to compile statistics we can in fact demonstrate that God does not interfere. See Chapter 7: Thank God from Rob Hyndman's book Unbelievable.
May 21, 2020
The Case Against Miracles edited by John W. Loftus
“The Case Against Miracles” is an excellent anthology that examines miracles and the lack of evidence for them. Accomplished author and former preacher John W. Loftus provides readers with an excellent resource to debunk religious miracle claims. This 531-page book includes nineteen chapters broken out into the following three parts: 1. Miracles and the Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics, 2. Properly Investigating the Miracle of Biblical Revelation, and 3. Properly Investigating Key Biblical Miracles.
Positives:
1. Generally well-written, well-reasoned book and accessible for the masses.
2. An interesting topic, examining religious miracle claims.
3. A total of nineteen essays from reputable authors of diverse backgrounds covering the topic of miracles.
4. An excellent introduction that clearly defines miracles and the purpose of the book.
5. David Hume’s philosophy plays a prominent role in this anthology. His philosophy is analyzed and objections examined. “Accordingly, Hume says that “no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.””
6. Provocative concepts. “In fact, an infinite God would not perform miracles because miracles are below full-capacity for God, and God wouldn’t act in any ways that are below full-capacity. So even if one happens, we won’t be able to infer God’s existence from them because God would not perform miracles.”
7. Exposes would-be-paranormal investigators. “Part of the criteria that analysts use to determine a testimony’s credibility are the following characteristics: the presence of a logical narrative structure, a sizable quantity of detail, contextual embeddings (e.g. portrayals of the environment), the spontaneous nature of narrative plotlines, descriptions of interactions, unusual and superfluous details, unexpected self-corrections or self-interruptions, and admitting a lack of memory about certain features.”
8. Provides examples of assessing miracles.
9. Examines the methods of apologetics in defense of the Christian faith. “I would argue the actual task of apologetics is to help Christian believers who are already in the fold. Based on Anselm’s “faith seeking understanding” dictum, the task of apologetics has really been to validate what Christians already believe.”
10. Examines why people believe in miracles. “Matthew Hutson, in his book The Seven Laws of Magical Thinking, discusses seven magical assumptions that flow naturally from the structure of human information processing.”
11. Investigates miracles from the Bible. “It is clear from the works of early Christian scholars that they had no information about Jesus the man from any sources other than the Gospels.”
12. The fulfillments of prophecy. “This essay has argued that the seeming miracle of Jesus’ fulfillments of prophecy can be explained as the result of the ingenious literary labor of early Christian writers.”
13. Examines the prophetic failure of Christ’s return. “There are no prophecies of a crucified Messiah who ascends to heaven and subsequently returns.”
14. Falsifying biblical revelation. “Unless we’re offered a reliable, verifiable way to tell the difference between Bible verses that came from a god and those that came from the mind of the guy pushing the pen, the case for the Miracle of Divine Inspiration can’t be made.”
15. An excellent essay on evolution. “Yet in this case, why would God separately create the Zika virus, long after He supposedly created everything else, and then visit it on the unborn? Why would God create a virus that specifically tortures infants, who, according to many religions, are incapable of sin?” “Many medical breakthroughs are the direct result of using predictions made by evolution.”
16. Does the Incarnation doctrine make sense? Examined. “In conclusion, let me suggest that the real Incarnation of Jesus Christ was his historicization. Like all the other demigods and theophanies of mythology, he became as historical as he ever will be when his worshippers came to believe he had once been a historical figure.”
17. Magical numbers oh my. “Magical sevens abound in the spell books of the era as well as in the text of the gospels—there are seven signs in the gospel of John, seven witnesses who say Jesus is the Son of God or sent from God, and seven “I am” sayings.””
18. Examines the resurrection of Jesus, did it ever took place? “So not only do we not have any actual eyewitness testimonies, or eyewitness writings, we don’t have any original writings either. What were the original documents like before being copied and edited by the scribes for their own doctrinal purposes?”
19. Paul’s influence to Christianity. “Of the seventy-two occurrences of “gospel” in the New Testament, “the letters of Paul account for sixty of the total…and it is clear that his usage is proprietary and exclusive.””
20. An excellent appendix on Hume’s Proof and Mathematical Probability. Notes included.
Negatives:
1. Some editing issues which tells me the book was rushed.
2. A couple of essays from a neuroscientist on how religious beliefs and the brain correlates would have been welcomed. Valerie Tarico’s essay provides an excellent essay that looks at patternicity or search for patterns as a cognitive strength. I wanted more like that.
3. Inconsistency on the quality of the essays.
4. No formal bibliography.
In summary, this is a very solid anthology on miracles and a future reference. If John Loftus has his name associated it with it I’m interested. There is a good mix of essays and they are well reasoned. My only complaint is that oddly enough there were editing issues. If you are looking for a book to debunk miracles, you have found it in this one. I highly recommend it!
Further suggestions: Any book by John W. Loftus, “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” and “Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion” by David Hume, “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens, “Alpha God” by Hector Garcia, “The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture” by Darrel Ray, “Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible” by Jerry A. Coyne, “God and the Multiverse” by Victor J. Stenger, “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer, “The Soul Fallacy” by Julien Musolino, “Nonbeliever Nation” by David Niose, “Freethinkers” by Susan Jacoby, “Nailed” by David Fitzgerald, and “Think” by Guy P. Harrison.
“The Case Against Miracles” is an excellent anthology that examines miracles and the lack of evidence for them. Accomplished author and former preacher John W. Loftus provides readers with an excellent resource to debunk religious miracle claims. This 531-page book includes nineteen chapters broken out into the following three parts: 1. Miracles and the Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics, 2. Properly Investigating the Miracle of Biblical Revelation, and 3. Properly Investigating Key Biblical Miracles.
Positives:
1. Generally well-written, well-reasoned book and accessible for the masses.
2. An interesting topic, examining religious miracle claims.
3. A total of nineteen essays from reputable authors of diverse backgrounds covering the topic of miracles.
4. An excellent introduction that clearly defines miracles and the purpose of the book.
5. David Hume’s philosophy plays a prominent role in this anthology. His philosophy is analyzed and objections examined. “Accordingly, Hume says that “no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.””
6. Provocative concepts. “In fact, an infinite God would not perform miracles because miracles are below full-capacity for God, and God wouldn’t act in any ways that are below full-capacity. So even if one happens, we won’t be able to infer God’s existence from them because God would not perform miracles.”
7. Exposes would-be-paranormal investigators. “Part of the criteria that analysts use to determine a testimony’s credibility are the following characteristics: the presence of a logical narrative structure, a sizable quantity of detail, contextual embeddings (e.g. portrayals of the environment), the spontaneous nature of narrative plotlines, descriptions of interactions, unusual and superfluous details, unexpected self-corrections or self-interruptions, and admitting a lack of memory about certain features.”
8. Provides examples of assessing miracles.
9. Examines the methods of apologetics in defense of the Christian faith. “I would argue the actual task of apologetics is to help Christian believers who are already in the fold. Based on Anselm’s “faith seeking understanding” dictum, the task of apologetics has really been to validate what Christians already believe.”
10. Examines why people believe in miracles. “Matthew Hutson, in his book The Seven Laws of Magical Thinking, discusses seven magical assumptions that flow naturally from the structure of human information processing.”
11. Investigates miracles from the Bible. “It is clear from the works of early Christian scholars that they had no information about Jesus the man from any sources other than the Gospels.”
12. The fulfillments of prophecy. “This essay has argued that the seeming miracle of Jesus’ fulfillments of prophecy can be explained as the result of the ingenious literary labor of early Christian writers.”
13. Examines the prophetic failure of Christ’s return. “There are no prophecies of a crucified Messiah who ascends to heaven and subsequently returns.”
14. Falsifying biblical revelation. “Unless we’re offered a reliable, verifiable way to tell the difference between Bible verses that came from a god and those that came from the mind of the guy pushing the pen, the case for the Miracle of Divine Inspiration can’t be made.”
15. An excellent essay on evolution. “Yet in this case, why would God separately create the Zika virus, long after He supposedly created everything else, and then visit it on the unborn? Why would God create a virus that specifically tortures infants, who, according to many religions, are incapable of sin?” “Many medical breakthroughs are the direct result of using predictions made by evolution.”
16. Does the Incarnation doctrine make sense? Examined. “In conclusion, let me suggest that the real Incarnation of Jesus Christ was his historicization. Like all the other demigods and theophanies of mythology, he became as historical as he ever will be when his worshippers came to believe he had once been a historical figure.”
17. Magical numbers oh my. “Magical sevens abound in the spell books of the era as well as in the text of the gospels—there are seven signs in the gospel of John, seven witnesses who say Jesus is the Son of God or sent from God, and seven “I am” sayings.””
18. Examines the resurrection of Jesus, did it ever took place? “So not only do we not have any actual eyewitness testimonies, or eyewitness writings, we don’t have any original writings either. What were the original documents like before being copied and edited by the scribes for their own doctrinal purposes?”
19. Paul’s influence to Christianity. “Of the seventy-two occurrences of “gospel” in the New Testament, “the letters of Paul account for sixty of the total…and it is clear that his usage is proprietary and exclusive.””
20. An excellent appendix on Hume’s Proof and Mathematical Probability. Notes included.
Negatives:
1. Some editing issues which tells me the book was rushed.
2. A couple of essays from a neuroscientist on how religious beliefs and the brain correlates would have been welcomed. Valerie Tarico’s essay provides an excellent essay that looks at patternicity or search for patterns as a cognitive strength. I wanted more like that.
3. Inconsistency on the quality of the essays.
4. No formal bibliography.
In summary, this is a very solid anthology on miracles and a future reference. If John Loftus has his name associated it with it I’m interested. There is a good mix of essays and they are well reasoned. My only complaint is that oddly enough there were editing issues. If you are looking for a book to debunk miracles, you have found it in this one. I highly recommend it!
Further suggestions: Any book by John W. Loftus, “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” and “Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion” by David Hume, “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens, “Alpha God” by Hector Garcia, “The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture” by Darrel Ray, “Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible” by Jerry A. Coyne, “God and the Multiverse” by Victor J. Stenger, “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer, “The Soul Fallacy” by Julien Musolino, “Nonbeliever Nation” by David Niose, “Freethinkers” by Susan Jacoby, “Nailed” by David Fitzgerald, and “Think” by Guy P. Harrison.
May 12, 2020
“The Case Against Miracles” is the fifth anthology by John W. Loftus. Loftus recruits several authors to thoroughly debunk miraculous claims from a variety of angles. The book is divided into three parts:
* Part 1: Miracles and the Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics (Chapters 1-7)
* Part 2: Properly Investigating the Miracle of Biblical Revelation (Chapters 8-11)
* Part 3: Properly Investigating Key Biblical Miracles (Chapters 12-19)
Forward: On Miracles and Truth
Michael Shermer sets the stage here. He talks about things such as the definition of a miracle, highly improbable events in relation to miracles, and the importance of truth.
Introduction
This is where Loftus prepares everybody for what’s to come. I’ve read several of his books and he always does a great job of getting me excited for the following chapters. In this intro Loftus gives his definition of a miracle and gives the readers some good background information on them. Finally, he introduces the authors in the book and what they will be discussing. This is where I was hooked!
Part 1
Chapter 1: Miracles and the Challenge of Apologetics
This chapter by David Corner is one of a few that defends David Hume’s argument against miracles. The chapter discusses three hurdles that one must overcome in order to give credence to miracles.
Chapter 2: God Would Not Perform Miracles
A great chapter by Matt McCormick arguing that even if a miracle *did* occur it wouldn’t have been achieved by an omni God.
Chapter 3: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
Loftus writes this chapter and does a great job of defending Hume and the title of the chapter. I don’t know how anybody could refute what Loftus argues for after reading it.
Chapter 4: Properly Investigating Miracle Claims
Darren M. Slade goes into great depth talking about what methods need to be used when investigating claims about miracles. You’ll come to find out that this is not what the theists are doing. Not even close.
Chapter 5: Tidal Wave or Trickle? Assessing Keener’s Miracles
Edward T. Babinski writes this chapter to address a book by Craig Keener that documents miracle claims around the world. This essay refutes that book easily.
Chapter 6: The Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics
This is another chapter by Loftus and it’s one of my favorites. It exposes all of the different apologetic methods used and shows how they are problematic. If you’re interested in debates then this chapter will be very useful for you!
Chapter 7: Why Do Christians Believe in Miracles?
Valerie Tarico closes part one of the book by getting to the heart of why Christians have miracle beliefs. She discusses the psychology of humans and talks about the many magical elements of the Bible.
Part 2
Chapter 8: Why the Romans Believed the Gospels
R.G. Price gives a historical breakdown for why the Romans believed the gospels. This chapter goes well with the following one.
Chapter 9: How New Testament Writers Helped Jesus Fulfill Prophecy
Robert J. Miller exposes the myth of prophecies being fulfilled in the New Testament (NT).
Chapter 10: The Prophetic Failure of Christ’s Return
Robert Conner goes through the New Testament writings of Paul and the gospels. In this he shows how Jesus, Paul, and believers during this time period believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. 2,000 years later and we’re still waiting...
Chapter 11: Five Inconvenient Truths that Falsify Biblical Revelation
This is my favorite chapter. I love how David Madison debunks the idea that the Bible was inspired by God. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll let you see for yourself!!
Part 3
Chapter 12: Evolution is a Fact!
Abby Hafer does a great job here of going through the evidence for evolution. She also shows how this is in conflict with other ideas of creation miracles.
Chapter 13: Old Testament Miracle Genres as Folklore and Legend
Randall Heskett goes in detail here about the mythical elements of Old Testament stories. He shows things such as repeated stories and how they’re different. It’s hard to believe that I looked over so many of these when I used to read the Bible!
Chapter 14: Science, Miracles and Noah’s Flood
Clay Farris Naff’s chapter title sums up what’s covered but the most interesting part is Noah’s flood. Clay shows the absurdity of a global flood. This is a fun and unique chapter. You’ll see why!
Chapter 15- Jesus Christ: Docetic Demigod
Robert Price shows how Christians have never been able to show what it means for Jesus to have been both fully man and fully God.
Chapter 16: Miracles of the Christian Magicians
Robert Conner writes another great chapter here showing how Jesus and early Christians of the New Testament were magicians. Many of these so called “miracles” were just the work of magicians of the time.
Chapter 17: Credulity at Cana?
Evan Fales shows how the story of Jesus turning water into wine didn’t happen. He evaluates many of the possible scenarios that could have taken place here.
Chapter 18: The Resurrection of Jesus Never Took Place
Loftus doesn’t let us down in his last chapter. In it he goes into great detail showing why we don’t have a good reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He goes over what evidence we do and do not have. Then he shows how the evidence we do have for the resurrection is poor. He takes it a step further by showing some evidence that contradicts the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.
Chapter 19: “If we went crazy, it was for God,” Paul’s Christianity
Robert Conner’s third and final chapter makes a good case that Paul might have been crazy. If this is the case then Christianity is on poor grounds because Paul was the original Christian to help spread the gospel.
Epilogue
Loftus closes the book by giving us some examples of superstition in the Bible and why we shouldn’t believe in it today.
Appendix: Hume On Proof and Mathematical Probability by John Loftus
Loftus adds this section to review the book “David Hume On Miracles, Evidence, and Probability” by William L. Vanderburgh. Loftus and Vanderburgh have both done a great job defending David Hume’s critique of miracles. I wish more apologists would read this with an open mind.
* Part 1: Miracles and the Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics (Chapters 1-7)
* Part 2: Properly Investigating the Miracle of Biblical Revelation (Chapters 8-11)
* Part 3: Properly Investigating Key Biblical Miracles (Chapters 12-19)
Forward: On Miracles and Truth
Michael Shermer sets the stage here. He talks about things such as the definition of a miracle, highly improbable events in relation to miracles, and the importance of truth.
Introduction
This is where Loftus prepares everybody for what’s to come. I’ve read several of his books and he always does a great job of getting me excited for the following chapters. In this intro Loftus gives his definition of a miracle and gives the readers some good background information on them. Finally, he introduces the authors in the book and what they will be discussing. This is where I was hooked!
Part 1
Chapter 1: Miracles and the Challenge of Apologetics
This chapter by David Corner is one of a few that defends David Hume’s argument against miracles. The chapter discusses three hurdles that one must overcome in order to give credence to miracles.
Chapter 2: God Would Not Perform Miracles
A great chapter by Matt McCormick arguing that even if a miracle *did* occur it wouldn’t have been achieved by an omni God.
Chapter 3: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
Loftus writes this chapter and does a great job of defending Hume and the title of the chapter. I don’t know how anybody could refute what Loftus argues for after reading it.
Chapter 4: Properly Investigating Miracle Claims
Darren M. Slade goes into great depth talking about what methods need to be used when investigating claims about miracles. You’ll come to find out that this is not what the theists are doing. Not even close.
Chapter 5: Tidal Wave or Trickle? Assessing Keener’s Miracles
Edward T. Babinski writes this chapter to address a book by Craig Keener that documents miracle claims around the world. This essay refutes that book easily.
Chapter 6: The Abject Failure of Christian Apologetics
This is another chapter by Loftus and it’s one of my favorites. It exposes all of the different apologetic methods used and shows how they are problematic. If you’re interested in debates then this chapter will be very useful for you!
Chapter 7: Why Do Christians Believe in Miracles?
Valerie Tarico closes part one of the book by getting to the heart of why Christians have miracle beliefs. She discusses the psychology of humans and talks about the many magical elements of the Bible.
Part 2
Chapter 8: Why the Romans Believed the Gospels
R.G. Price gives a historical breakdown for why the Romans believed the gospels. This chapter goes well with the following one.
Chapter 9: How New Testament Writers Helped Jesus Fulfill Prophecy
Robert J. Miller exposes the myth of prophecies being fulfilled in the New Testament (NT).
Chapter 10: The Prophetic Failure of Christ’s Return
Robert Conner goes through the New Testament writings of Paul and the gospels. In this he shows how Jesus, Paul, and believers during this time period believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. 2,000 years later and we’re still waiting...
Chapter 11: Five Inconvenient Truths that Falsify Biblical Revelation
This is my favorite chapter. I love how David Madison debunks the idea that the Bible was inspired by God. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll let you see for yourself!!
Part 3
Chapter 12: Evolution is a Fact!
Abby Hafer does a great job here of going through the evidence for evolution. She also shows how this is in conflict with other ideas of creation miracles.
Chapter 13: Old Testament Miracle Genres as Folklore and Legend
Randall Heskett goes in detail here about the mythical elements of Old Testament stories. He shows things such as repeated stories and how they’re different. It’s hard to believe that I looked over so many of these when I used to read the Bible!
Chapter 14: Science, Miracles and Noah’s Flood
Clay Farris Naff’s chapter title sums up what’s covered but the most interesting part is Noah’s flood. Clay shows the absurdity of a global flood. This is a fun and unique chapter. You’ll see why!
Chapter 15- Jesus Christ: Docetic Demigod
Robert Price shows how Christians have never been able to show what it means for Jesus to have been both fully man and fully God.
Chapter 16: Miracles of the Christian Magicians
Robert Conner writes another great chapter here showing how Jesus and early Christians of the New Testament were magicians. Many of these so called “miracles” were just the work of magicians of the time.
Chapter 17: Credulity at Cana?
Evan Fales shows how the story of Jesus turning water into wine didn’t happen. He evaluates many of the possible scenarios that could have taken place here.
Chapter 18: The Resurrection of Jesus Never Took Place
Loftus doesn’t let us down in his last chapter. In it he goes into great detail showing why we don’t have a good reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. He goes over what evidence we do and do not have. Then he shows how the evidence we do have for the resurrection is poor. He takes it a step further by showing some evidence that contradicts the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.
Chapter 19: “If we went crazy, it was for God,” Paul’s Christianity
Robert Conner’s third and final chapter makes a good case that Paul might have been crazy. If this is the case then Christianity is on poor grounds because Paul was the original Christian to help spread the gospel.
Epilogue
Loftus closes the book by giving us some examples of superstition in the Bible and why we shouldn’t believe in it today.
Appendix: Hume On Proof and Mathematical Probability by John Loftus
Loftus adds this section to review the book “David Hume On Miracles, Evidence, and Probability” by William L. Vanderburgh. Loftus and Vanderburgh have both done a great job defending David Hume’s critique of miracles. I wish more apologists would read this with an open mind.
January 11, 2020
A rather poor case against Lee Strobel's book and a response that includes no scientific studies (and you have to remember even with scientific studies, if it is repeatable then it wouldn't be a miracle). Extreme skepticism is just stubbornness and intellectual suicide at its finest. The mental gymnastics Loftus has to go through here in order to justify his worldview (or "lack thereof") in Chapter 3 shows his cynicism. Most of the individuals citied in this book have no relevant credentials and beg the question. "Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence" is funny because what counts as "extraordinary" black holes? quantum vacuums? multiverses?
February 25, 2020
Great book! But a warning to readers that the Kindle version is chock full of typos, missing words, and formatting snafus throughout.
April 30, 2020
Another collection of essays & articles focused on one aspect of christian/biblical criticism, compiled and edited by John Loftus. Like all collections of papers, this is a mixed bag - some really good, some just okay, some barely so-so (none really bad). But, mostly this is an interesting collection and taken together is a worthwhile review of the issues related to the concept of "miracles," mostly looking at the Judeo-christian history of the concept. Obviously the title is also a direct knock on the simplistic, horse-blindered, pseudo-intellectual views of Lee Strobel. Most of this material I have seen covered elsewhere, but this is a good compilation that was worth the read.
September 3, 2021
This book desperately needs a copy editor. Several glaring typos.
Some of the arguments are sound, but they’re better defended in other books. This is just a disjointed collection of essays. A lot of the essays are so speculative that the arguments seem like a stretch, and I say this as an atheist.
Some of the arguments are sound, but they’re better defended in other books. This is just a disjointed collection of essays. A lot of the essays are so speculative that the arguments seem like a stretch, and I say this as an atheist.
June 1, 2023
A great collection of views on how, instead of relying on the supernatural to shape our life's decisions, we should use our rational intellect and goodwill [a matter of ethics, not morality], assuming adult responsibility for our actions, escaping the prolonged childhood that every religion tries to impose to their flock, so as to keep the father heavenly figure alive.
May 15, 2021
An excellent collection of essays about Biblical Miracles, some of which are loosely connected, yet very valid. However, it focuses only on Biblical Miracles. The title implies that it would also give an analysis of more recent purported miracles, like stigmata, the blood of St Januarius, visions of the blessed virgin, miracle cures, etc. It seems that there isn't much literature about these topics. The only good ones are the books written by Joe Nickell.
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