[WARNING: some images may disturb] Whether you believe in miracles or not, there is an enormous amount of documentation for seemingly inexplicable events over the centuries that many people believe to be the work of God Himself. In this list I have tried to pick the ten most interesting of these cases. This list is partly in response to the numerous people who have emailed me complaining of an atheistic bias on the site. Hopefully this will finally prove, once and for all, that we will write and publish lists on any topic and that we are open-minded enough not to exclude certain points of view. Finally, for obvious reasons (see item 1 here), this list does not include any tele-evangelist “faith healers”.
A Marian apparition is an event in which the Virgin Mary is believed to have supernaturally appeared to one or more persons regardless of their religious faith. They are often given names based on the town in which they were reported, or on the sobriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition. They have been interpreted in psychological terms as pareidolia, and in religious terms as theophanies. Probably the most famous of these apparitions were the visions of St Bernadette at Lourdes (related item 6 on this list), and three children in Fatima (related item 1 on this list). In both cases, the people involved said that the Virgin Mary gave them predictions of future events and preached prayer and penance. The famous case of Our Lady of Zeitoun took place in Zeitoun, Cairo, and contrary to the norm, the apparition was witnessed by millions of people over a period of 2 to 3 years. The apparition was even caught on film (as seen in the photograph above). The Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria in Cairo issued a statement that the apparitions were real. The Catholic Church has yet to issue an official statement. You can view video footage here.
Incorruptibility is the name given to the situation in which a dead person does not decay after death. The orthodox church consider it essential in considering a person for canonization as a saint, and the Roman Catholic Church consider it as sign of sainthood but not a necessity. Additionally, the Catholic Church believes that a body is not deemed incorruptible if it has undergone an embalming process or other means of preserving the dead, or if it has become stiff, as do all normal corpses, even when the best preservation techniques are used. Incorruptible saints remain completely flexible, as if they were only sleeping. Incorruptible bodies are often said to have the Odour of Sanctity, exuding a sweet aroma. Over the years there have been hundreds of Saints whose bodies have been found to be incorrupt – some many hundreds of years after their death. In the image above we see St Bernadette as she appears today – 129 years after her death. For more astonishing pictures of incorruptible corpses (including the incorrupt body of St Silvan who died over 1,500 years ago), visit the Top 10 Incorrupt Corpses. You can also read a much more indepth article with a photo and video gallery of incorrupt corpses here.
Therese Neumann was a German Catholic mystic and stigmatic. On March 10, 1918, Therese Neumann was partially paralyzed after falling off a stool while attending to a fire in her uncle’s barn. She sustained more falls and injuries during this period. After one particular fall in 1919, she lost much of her eyesight. Therese reported that her eyesight was fully restored on April 29, 1923 — the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified (the first step to sainthood) in Rome. She said that on March 5, 1926, the first Friday of Lent, a wound had appeared slightly above her heart, but that she had kept this secret. However, she did report a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles. On Easter Sunday, she claimed a vision of the resurrection of Christ. For several consecutive Fridays after that, she stated she was experiencing the Passion of Christ, supposedly suffering in her own body along with all his historic agonies. She especially suffered the Passion on Good Fridays each year. By November 5, 1926, she displayed nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders (most of which are visible in the image above). According to several sources these wounds never healed or became infected and were found on her body at death. From the years of 1922 until her death in 1962, Therese Neumann said she had consumed no food other than The Holy Eucharist, and to have drunk no water from 1926 until her death. In July 1927 a medical doctor and four Franciscan nurses kept a watch on her 24 hours a day for a two-week period. They confirmed that she had consumed nothing except for one consecrated sacred Host a day, and had suffered no ill effects, loss of weight, or dehydration. Formal proceedings for her beatification were begun in 2005. [Source]
In 1973, Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in Akita, Japan had visions of the Virgin Mary. On June 28, 1973, a cross-shaped wound appeared on the inside left hand of Sr. Agnes. It bled profusely and caused her much pain. On July 6, Sr. Agnes heard a voice coming from the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel where she was praying. The statue was carved from a single block of wood from a Katsura tree and is three feet tall. On the same day, a few of the sisters noticed drops of blood flowing from the statue’s right hand. The wound in the statue’s hand remained until September 29, when it disappeared. On September 29, the day the wound on the statue disappeared, the sisters noticed the statue had now begun to “sweat”, especially on the forehead and neck. Two years later on January 4, 1975, the statue of the Blessed Virgin began to weep. It continued to weep at intervals for the next 6 years and eight months. It wept on 101 occasions. Scientific analysis of blood and tears from the statute provided by Professor Sagisaka of the faculty of Legal Medicine of the University of Akita confirmed that the blood, tears, and perspiration are real human tears, sweat, and blood. They come from three blood groups: O, B, and AB. Sr. Agnes was also completely cured of total deafness. In June 1988, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) – head of the Office of Inquisition – judged the Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.
The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes began on 11 February 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year old peasant girl from Lourdes admitted, when questioned by her mother, that she had seen a “lady” in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from the town, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar appearances of the “lady” took place on seventeen further occasions that year. During one of the apparitions, she was directed by the “lady” to dig near a rock and drink from the spring there – there was a small puddle of mud in the place but as Bernadette dug in to it, a large spring appeared – this is the source of the water in the grotto to which millions of people flock for miraculous cures every year. The Lourdes Medical Bureau have declared 68 cases of inexplicable cures (out of thousands tested). You can read more on the scientific bureau here. [Source]
Joseph of Cupertino is an Italian saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation, and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping. In turn, he is recognized as the patron saint of air travelers, aviators, people with a mental handicap, and weak students. He was canonized in 1767. On October 4, 1630, the town of Cupertino held a procession on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. Joseph was assisting in the procession when he suddenly soared into the sky, where he remained hovering over the crowd. When he descended and realized what had happened, he became so embarrassed that he fled to his mother’s house and hid. This was the first of many flights, which soon earned him the nickname “The Flying Saint.” Joseph’s most famous flight allegedly occurred during a papal audience before Pope Urban VIII. When he bent down to kiss the Pope’s feet, he was suddenly filled with reverence for the Pope, and was lifted up into the air. He experienced ecstasies and flights (witnessed by thousands) during his last mass which was on the Feast of the Assumption 1663. Apple Inc.’s headquarters are in the California town of Cupertino, which was named after this saint. A film (the Reluctant Saint) was made about St Joseph – you can see a small clip of it at youtube (warning: it contains some serious over-acting – but has some humor too). [Source]
Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was an indigenous Mexican who reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. He had a significant impact on the spread of the Catholic faith within Mexico. According to Juan Diego, he returned home that night to his uncle Juan Bernardino’s house, and discovered him seriously ill. The next morning December 12, Juan Diego decided not to meet with the Lady, but to find a priest who could administer the last rites to his dying uncle. When he tried to skirt around Tepeyac hill, the Lady intercepted him, assured him his uncle would not die, and asked him to climb the hill and gather the flowers he found there. It was December, when normally nothing blooms in the cold. There he found roses from the region of Castille in Spain, former home of bishop Zumárraga. The Lady re-arranged the roses carefully inside the folded tilma that Juan Diego wore and told him not to open it before anyone but the bishop. When Juan Diego unfolded his tilma before the Bishop roses cascaded from his tilma, and an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously impressed on the cloth, bringing the bishop to his knees. The bishop acknowledged the miracle and within two weeks, ordered a shrine to be built where the Virgin Mary had appeared. The original tilma (pictured above) is on display in Guadalupe today and is one of the most frequently visited pilgrimage sites in the world. [Source]
Francesco Forgione, later known as Padre Pio, canonized as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, was an Italian Roman Catholic Capuchin priest who is now venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He was given the name Pio when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, and was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his stigmata. Based on Padre Pio’s correspondence, even early in his priesthood he experienced less obvious indications of the visible stigmata for which he would later become famous. Though Padre Pio would have preferred to suffer in secret, by early 1919, news about the stigmatic friar began to spread in the secular world. Padre Pio’s wounds were examined by many people, including physicians. People who had started rebuilding their lives after World War I began to see in Padre Pio a symbol of hope. Those close to him attest that he began to manifest several spiritual gifts including the gifts of healing, bilocation, levitation, prophecy, miracles, extraordinary abstinence from both sleep and nourishment (One account states that Padre Agostino recorded one instance in which Padre Pio was able to subsist for at least 20 days at Verafeno on only the Eucharist without any other nourishment), the ability to read hearts, the gift of tongues, the gift of conversions, and the fragrance from his wounds. Rather than using an image, I have used a video clip of St Pio – you can see his hands concealed by fingerless gloves to hide his stigmata. You may also be interested in this clip in which St Pio’s grave and coffin are opened (on March 3, 2008) revealing that his body is incorrupt. His body is now on display in San Giovanni Rotondo. [Source]
In the city of Lanciano, Italy, around A.D. 700, a Basilian monk and priest was assigned to celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice in the Latin Rite in the small Church of St.Legontian. Usually celebrating in the Greek Rite and using leavened bread and having been taught that unleavened bread was invalid matter for the Holy Sacrifice he was disturbed to be constrained to use unleavened bread and had trouble believing that the miracle of transubtantiation would take place with unleavened bread. During the Mass, when he said the words of consecration, he saw the bread change into live flesh and the wine change into live blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. Various ecclesiastical investigations have been conducted upon the miracle, and the evidence of the miracle remains in Lanciano to this day. In 1970-71, Professors from the University of Siena conducted a scientific investigation into the miracle. They concluded that the flesh and blood are human flesh and blood. The Flesh is a heart complete in its essential structure. The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood type, AB, which is also the same blood type found on the Shroud of Turin and all other Eucharistic Miracles. The Host-Flesh, which is the same size as the large Host used today in the Latin Church, is fibrous and light brown in color, and becomes rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood consists of five coagulated globules and has an earthly color resembling the yellow of ochre. [Source]
The Miracle of the Sun is an alleged miraculous event witnessed by as many as 100,000 people on 13 October 1917 in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal. Those in attendance had assembled to observe what the Portuguese secular newspapers had been ridiculing for months as the absurd claim of three shepherd children that a miracle was going to occur at high-noon in the Cova da Iria on October 13, 1917. According to many witness statements, after a downfall of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disk in the sky. It was said to be significantly less bright than normal, and cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the shadows on the landscape, the people, and the surrounding clouds. The sun was then reported to have careened towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, frightening some of those present who thought it meant the end of the world. Some witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became “suddenly and completely dry.” Estimates of the number of witnesses range from 30,000-40,000 by Avelino de Almeida, writing for the Portuguese newspaper O Século, to 100,000, estimated by Dr. Joseph Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra, both of whom were present that day. The miracle was attributed by believers to Our Lady of Fátima, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young shepherd children in 1917, as having been predicted by the three children on 13 July, 19 August, and 13 September 1917. The children reported that the Lady had promised them that she would on 13 October reveal her identity to them and provide a miracle “so that all may believe.” The event was officially accepted as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church on 13 October 1930. In the image above you can see some of the many witnesses photographed during the event. [Source]
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains extracts from Wikipedia (as cited within the body of the text above).
S_R (#87): if Jesus was speaking in a PURELY symbolic way at the last supper, why did he later say this:
“The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.” John 6:53-56
When was the last time you drank his blood and ate his flesh?
And also – the saints thing – the Catholic Church declares a person a saint when they are in heaven – so it is not a contradiction to what you said – all people in heaven are, by the definition of the Church, saints. The Church just picks out some who lived especially good lives as an example for others.
#74 Toxic:
True that most pantheistic and non-theistic people were ‘destroyed’ by those who think that there is a divinity. Your very next paragraph seems to show that you have ceased to question, in that you are using ‘a connection with divinity’ as some sort of a given. That even ‘divinity’ has some sort of meaning outside of myth.
I suspect that this is not your intention, and that you are inquisitive and intellegent. I am not writing this being critical, just as an observation of how pervasive the myth is in our thoughts.
Randall (58): thanks
I am glad someone liked it 
It is clearly not to all tastes! Good to see you posting again btw.
I read *none* of the comments, so I could be sure they would not influence my own post in any way. While scrolling down I did see one name which gives me pause, so I want to make this post as clear and as lucid as possible.
I was brought up Roman Catholic, and spent K – 12 in parochial schools. I learned my Baltimore Catechism first (Q -”Who made me?”
A – “God made me.” Q – ” Who is God?” A – “God is love” and so on).
As we got older, the lessons became more meaningful, deeper, and both more complex and more disturbing (I later found out that it depended a great deal on *who* was teaching you, that is, their interpretation, than the actual lesson). In the 7th grade, the nun teaching me Religion Class, Sister Eileen Therese, told us that only baptized Catholics could enter heaven.
Being a bit too much of a smart-ass for my own good, and knowing that this statement was not fair, and the God we had been learning about *WAS* fair, I raised my hand.
“Yes?”
“What about people in the deep jungle of Africa? Someone who has never seen, or met, a Catholic? Someone who has no chance to get baptized?”
“They can’t go to heaven”
“I don’t want anything to do with your God!”, stamping my feet.
“Go to the Principal’s Office!”…”NOW”
When I told the Principal, to whom I had never been sent before, she shook her head and sighed.
“You know that’s not true, dear” she said. But a seed of doubt had been planted, and it grew. Not about the existence of God, but about much of what I had been taught.
If E.I. had been so wrong, who else might have been wrong? What else might have been wrong?
I struggled with answers for years.
In 1968 I studied T.M. with Marharishi Mahishi Yogi (sp?), which, while not truly a religion, gave me another tool with which to approach religion.
In Uni I studied comparative world Religions, and I continue to read bits on it here and there. I study Astronomy, Physics, Geology, Anthropology, etc and I have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as approved by John Paul II, second edition.
okay, so all of this is an introduction to my take on the 10 Astonishing Miracles.
As odd as it might seem, I have no problem with most of them.
As I said earlier, I *do* believe in God. It may not be the same God I was taught about, but my core belief is that God is God…call Him/Her anything you want, worship in any fashion…it just doesn’t matter. It’s all the same. In fact, non-belief is the same, as well. Morality is what counts.
But miracles. Miracles. Yes. Yes. They happen. They happen to believers and to non-believers.
Of course belief makes it easier to “notice” the small miracles, but the large miracles, the Incorruptibility of St Bernadette 129 years after her death, and who smells of roses, The Miracle of the Sun, witnessed by as many as 100,000 people on 13 October 1917 in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal, and most of the others on the List.
That belief in these miracles is 190 degrees opposite all of my scientific background is counterweighted by all of my religious learning ( note I did not say “training”, as after the 7th grade I took it upon myself to learn what I could about all things religious which interested me ).
Anyway. Great list.
Good list; I’d like to add a few notes though, but I think the latter sections of comments don’t get much attention (nobody has the time and energy to read every comment ever, so no one is to blame):
1. On the topic of the miracles being primarily limited to Catholic/Christian faith:
There are several situations and experiences that would qualify as miracles in other faiths but they are often not part of our vocabulary in the western world. My primary place of knowledge in this would be Buddhism, so I will stick to trying to frame those.
-There are several reported cases of bilocation throughout Buddhist history, which occurs even today. This is the case when a master has reached such a state of enlightenment that he may project himself in several places at once and carry on conversations with people in those different places at the exact same time.
-One of the hallmarks of the enlightenment of a passing master is the retainment of a holy jewel upon cremation. These jewels are usually dark red, and actually grow with the same properties as crystals over time. I have been lucky enough to see these with my own eyes.
-Reincarnation. Simple one. It moves into miracle territory when the reincarnated have exact memories and specific knowledge of the previous incarnation- even without any previous contact with Buddhist culture or even a belief in Buddhism.
Those are just three easy ones. I could do a list with a little more time. The thing is that most Buddhists don’t need to force everyone to agree with them, so they don’t put much money in the ‘Advertising for new recruits’ department.
However: I am still, and always, a skeptic. I’m not sure exactly what point the term ‘skeptic’ became mixed with ‘cynic’ but I am not the latter.
Many things we consider to be miracles are explainable through science- someone once said ‘magic is what people call science and technology they don’t understand’ and I stand by that. That doesn’t mean I can’t believe in holy things or in mystical experiences- it means I see no reason why they cannot be valued as holy or mystical even with a scientific explanation.
I know why water falls over the side of a cliff. It’s not magic. It’s gravity. But in the presence of some of the most beautiful and awe inspiring waterfalls I have seen, they too are sacred- because of how they make me feel and how I revere their beauty.
The real problem- the HUGE problem- comes from the dogmatics on both sides- the ones who say:
‘That’s it! It’s God! No more discussion!’
or
‘You’re all idiots because I don’t personally believe in God!’
And in the end the truth is both sides look like fools, whether or not there is or isn’t a God laughing at you.
Also, the #1 miracle is explainable through science. Pretty much most of the miracles on the list are. Doesn’t mean they can’t be miracles if they serve to inspire you.
re: #96 S_R
I am just being curious when I ask how http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_appearances_of_Jesus ‘proved there is live after death’.
While I am sure that you view the quoted passages as ‘truth’ or perhaps even ‘Truth’, I guess I do not understand your concept of proof.
As for number one. Mass hysteria? And all the others who claim powers of the mind, I believe in miracles and would love to see one…so why haven’t I? For those who claim illusions, are we to believe three children were able trick thousands into seeing the sun move?
At Kreachure:
And all those comments are 98% (probably, as I didn’t do the actual math) on one list which ASKED for my (as well as anyone’s) opinion. Otherwise, I have kept religion out of my comments except on the bugs list where I misinterpreted another poster’s comment as being anti-Chrisitian (but I was wrong–in my defense, I can only say that it was right, or very shortly, after the other list and I was still sensitive about the subject). Or, where I may have made a passing comment as to the wonderfulness of God. But they were not long, drawn out comments on religion or Christianity, per se.
I do thank Jamie for being so even-handed in his treatment of comments, though, unlike Cyn.
S_R: Thank you for the quote.
I can’t argue nothing. If you believe absolutly in the biblical tales I can say nothing.
Some people just read it like a methafor.
Let me make a discussion about this with the resurrection. Why did he ascent to the sky? Nowadays we know heaven isn’t there. Or in anycase must be beyond the Univers. So, if we take a telescope powerfull enought we’ll find Him not far away in his ascension? Not. If I’m a believer i’ll say that he just desapeared or crossed some kind of portal. But how could you explain that in those times? writers should’ve invented the ascencion tale couse is easier to explain.
That’s just an example.
Also, the story about the West Virginia woman who died and came back to life is amazing. But check this out, although not miraculous, still amazing. Warning, might be a bit gross for some. A girl has unexplainable razor sharp crystals coming from her eye.
Owing to time zone differences, I’ve been asleep through all of this. Sitting now in a high school staff room, I don’t have the time or inclination to read through everyone’s comments.
My last (random) comments on the topic: 1) when confronted with anything “para-normal” (using the word in its widest sense) the two equal dangers are uncritical acceptance and total rejection.
2) faith (or lack of it) does not rely on miracles (or lack of them).
3) I have never offered as an explanation “people are ignorant” or “people were brainwashed” (see Jamie @20 – if that was directed to me I explicitly reject it). I belong to a branch of the church that teaches that miracles are possible, though I have never seen one, and I don’t expect to see one. (Maybe I have seen one; maybe I just don’t recognise it as such.)
4) many (nb many, not all) people see what they want to see – thus images of St Mary in a cheese sandwich or the peeling paint on the wall of a church.
i remained sober all last week
S_R: different parishes don’t teach different things – there is a party line in the Catholic Church and priests are expected to stick to it. Transubstantiation – as the name implies, is a change of SUBSTANCE and not of ACCIDENTS. The Accidents are the bit that looks and tastes like bread and wine – for this reason it can’t be scientifically proven to have changed via tests. I think we are probably on the same page fundamentally.
As for the cannibalism thing, you might find this more useful to read – it explains it clearer than I can in a few short sentences.
At Jamie (#120):
I have tried to keep literal Bible quotes out of my comments, but it’s very difficult when dealing with people that like to retort with, “That’s your interpretation,” or who question the validity of anyhting I write as “(my) thoughts,” etc., as has been done all too often. Plus, sometimes, it just wraps up perfectly what I write. But please know, I have made a conscious effort to try not to make all my posts a Bible lesson.
S_R (138): thanks..
At Jamie (#121):
Actually a time exposure would show it dipping (especially with the slow emulsions back then, it could be done). As for the spinning, you could take a freeze-frame and a time exposure and it might show the difference. However, those shots could EASILY be faked.
125. segue
126. Mr.Graves
thanks for both your comments. Long, but is worth to read them.
Cyn: Hey, don’t blame me! I hadn’t heard anything about LV having an atheist bias until Jamie mentioned it on the intro to this list!
Also, I’ve come to realize in the past two days that the Top Commenters stats aren’t as relevant or beloved as I thought they were. (I certainly love it back when I was up there…
)
S_R- “But please know, I have made a conscious effort to try not to make all my posts a Bible lesson.”
hahahaha… If this is your conscious effort to not make all your post look like bible lessons, I’d hate to sit through one of your bible lessons. Dude, virtually every argument you’ve made, you’ve fallen back to the bible, or a quote therefrom.
Also, even if you do quote from the bible, the points you try to convey are *your* thoughts and *your* opinions. That’s why even your pastors my have differing views or thoughts on certain passages. Unless they share a hive-mind.
SlickWilly:
It DOES matter what others believe. Believing in skydaddies that look over you is, frankly, delusional. Why do I care? The problem is that this combined delusion of millions of religious followers is hurting us as a species. It doesn’t matter what religion they are. Delusion hurts us because religion resists reason and confrontation with actual fact. More people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason. People are still being killed today because of faith while we’re debating about it . The number of great minds lost to religion throughout history is stagerring. That ALONE should be enough of a reason for anyone.
Secondly, I don’t care what you think about me. If you’ve been posting here for so long, you’re perfectly free to DISAGREE with my arguments. But why do you change the subject? Why do you call me confused and delusional because I’m expressing my opinion in an anonymous Internet discussion? Guess what, you’re doing the exact same thing. You’ve only proven that you are a weak person who cannot refute my arguments. Instead, you resort to attacking me personnally, and run away from the real core of the problem, which is delusional beliefs that do nothing for the progress of the human species.
*loved it (obviously)
S_R: I told you why the Church picks out individuals to declare as saints – they are not saying they are the ONLY saints – they are saying that their lives were the epitome of what we should strive to have – saintly.
I am still confused – if Jesus specifically said you will not go to heaven if you don’t eat his flesh – how is it that you think this is not true? Just because the Bible can’t contradict itself? Perhaps that means the parts of the Bible that seem to contradict the “eat my flesh” bit need to be understood in terms that agree with “eat my flesh” and not the other way around? I am guessing you are a fundamentalist – Jesus said “eat my flesh” – not “eat my bread” – this is picking and choosing – who gives your pastor the authority to pick the bits that you believe as literal but not the others?
Also, isn’t it a bit odd to use a book whose contents were chosen by the Catholic Church to try to prove that the SAME Church is wrong?
That would flawed thinking in my opinion.
At stevenh (#129):
I listed other reasons why I believe in God and his word, the Holy Bible. I did, though forget to mention an important one, archaeology. But anyway, please reread that post and you will have the answer to your question.
kreachure: there is only one way to the top – and you know what that is
I am a math and physics graduate student. My future career will be to explain what has yet to be unexplained. I still enjoy was cannot be explained. If the world could be explained in full, what is the fun in that? I don’t ever want to know what will happen next, where is the mystery and awe in that? I do not know nor do I pretend to know what god may or may not be. This world is utterly beautiful and nothing can change that. These miracles are what make life interesting, God or not, religion or not, if you cannot enjoy life for what it is, then I am sorry for you.
The whole idea of a miracle is a matter of perspective. You can believe that there is an active God and there is no point in understanding what we experience. Or you can believe there is no God what-so-ever and never wonder about these miracles; just assuming there is a scientific explanation.
I prefer neither, I want to understand physical life, but I need there to always be wonder, I need there to be a mystery. I feel that is the meaning of life is to never stop questioning the world we live in while never stopping appreciating it.
I think we can all agree the reason why number 1 is a load. Something happening in 1917 and tales of it spreading throughout villages and towns for years would be grossly exaggerated by the time anyone else hears it. Same with number 1. people do lie to fit in and or feel important. someone otherwise unpopular and uninteresting might say “ys the virgin amr spoke to me and predicited future things for me” I’d say that would have happened a lot especially in sucha heavily populated area where most peoples lives are otherwise mundane and hopeless. Number 8 is dodgy for the same reason as number 1. I could go on but can’t be bothered.
At Logar (#144):
You’re right, I thought about that after I posted. I shouldn’t have written “Bible lesson.” I should’ve written that I was trying not use “all scriptures.”
Or, even “as few scriptures as possible” to explain myself.
At Excelcior (#145):
In your, from what I’ve gathered is, humanistic thinking, is abortion OK?
Farther up I made a post about the atrocities that have been commited in God’s name… And also, how that is not what God wants. They are going AGAINST his will in doing so and that we should NOT base our opinions of a perfect God on what imperfect people do (in his name).
Toast, potato chips, split/cut logs and tree trunks. Highway billboards or the scales on a fish. The shadows on a refrigerator at a certain time of day. These things are less sacred, less astonishing?
yup.
To tell the truth here. I had, years ago, something like “stigmata” form in the center of both my palms. Sure go ahead and dismiss, but, for weeks, they burned and itched, and red spots appeared in both. but only in the palms.. and there was no external bleeding, although light scabbing occurred from constant scratching. It eventually went away only to appear again in one hand and then the other–off and on for a least a couple more years.
just putting that one out there for whatever it’s worth.. (excessive ***** jokes aside)
I still have , “doubts”(but thats not the right word) about the “incorrupt body”, since I first learned more about it from your list on the subject. Even if they say that there is no embalming or preservation techniques , Something rings weird to me. There are many natural preservation things that can occur, based on various reasons..
and discoloration IS going to happen no matter what. So some sort of intervention must take place, if they want to show the public, the purity of belief. That’s what I’m thinking. Or is it in the diet? What does the church think the reason is?
anyway.
very interesting material to think about and look into further.
At Jamie (#147):
Jamie, you are correct in guessing that I am a fundamentalist. However, my knowledge of my faith is not just from any one teaching or even from my pastors. Pastors are people and can fail just like anyone else, and they often do just as anyone else. The Bible tells us to search the scriptures to see if what we’re being taught is in line with the scriptures. We are NOT to blindly accept any teaching just because of who’s doing the teaching. We are to see if the teaching is in line with God’s word, and if is, and only then, should we receive it as valid.
I don’t, at the moment, have a ready answer to give you about what Jesus said, its context, etc. other than the answer I have given: Christ will not and does not contradict himself. So, if anyone inteprets the verses to say something that would be a contradiction, then the interpretation is wrong. I would have to do more research (than the lots I’ve already done in the past) to be able to give you a better answer. But there are explanations for it that do align with the rest of the word. I am just not able to recall them at the moment, but i have studied this particular subject (for my own enlightenment) in the past.
Finally, as to your last comment in the post about using a book WHOSE CONTENTS THE CC CHOSE: It just happens that the CC was the TOOL USED BY GOD to see that his word was compiled correctly. But god can use anyone or anything to accomplish his goals. He can even use evil men (and I’m not directing that statement at the men involved) to accomplish them. It just so happens that that was the right tool at the right time and it served His Purpose.
Therefore, the Bible’s contents were not chosen by men, but by God through certain men.
OOPS–”God”
I don’t understand what I’m seeing in the clip you linked to regarding Padre Pio. I don’t understand Italian so, obviously, I don’t know what they’re saying. But is he in a block of ice? That’s what it looks like to me. If not, what is it?
If it is ice, I’m sure that would go a long way towards explaining his body being well preserved. If that’s the case, I have some trout in my freezer that’s incorruptable as well.
Sorry, to be irreverent, but I just want to know what’s going on there.
I think that is glass over Padre Pio.
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#141. JB
125. segue
126. Mr.Graves
thanks for both your comments. Long, but is worth to read them.
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Thank you, JB.
Jamie, I didn’t mean for my earlier post seem like I was “screaming” at you. I was just emphasizing without wanting to use code.
S_R: I appreciate your comment about the CC being the tool – if he used it as the tool then, why would you reject the other aspects of the CC from the same time? Things such as Bishops, transubstantiation, salvation by Grace, etc.? Is God not capable of protecting them from error – to a point that he had to wait 1,500 years for Luther and his friends to start doing things their way? What of Matthew 16:18-20 (particular the bit about the gates of hell not prevailing against it)?
Oh – and I didn’t take your comment as screaming
ken j: it is glass over Padio Pio – the people looking through it are doing so to check the state of his body – it was found to be incorrupt so they removed the coffin and moved him elsewhere for re-dressing and preparations for putting his body on display – as well as making official records for the Diocese. I believe that he was already canonized a saint when they dug him up so it was not a contributing factor to his sainthood.
Well, that makes more sense, I couldn’t imagine they had a deep freeze in the floor. That is some screwy looking glass though. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
ken j: it looks that way because of the condensation in the coffin I think.
Trojan_man: Hey, I didn’t know I looked druish!
I wanted to post this on the very long and drawn out “Gay Marriage” list, but it’s been broken for a few days. So, here goes: “The last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument is ‘God did it!’”~ George Carlin. That’s really the only retort or response on religion, God, Jesus, churches, and Biblically influenced decisions I can say to S_R.
cedestra: but what makes what you say the truth?
Thanks for a great list that made me fall in love with this site all over again
S_R
you have issues w/ my admin access i suggest you take that up w/ J.
speaking as someone who loves Listverse not as an admin -
i respect J’s handling of your situation but i can not agree w/ it.
i see you as a hijacker. i see you as cheap ass pulpit pounding bigot who is hell bent on pontificating his drivel regardless of whether it is even remotely relevant to the list at hand or this site.
i see you as some poor pathetic traumatized soul in dire need of therapy who is lapping up what attention you get here like a starving dog. when what you need is to be shown the door, preferably one leading to a therapist’s couch.
for so long as people encourage you and validate you here you will never find true healing. so for that i pity you. i would hope you find the strength within yourself to acknowledge you need therapy and cease interfering with other people’s enjoyment of this an entertainment site. its called ‘List Verse’ not S_R’s personal pulpit.
again..i call you out to forums, a far more appropriate place for this exchange than here.
jfrater: Jesus wasn’t talking about “the Catholic Church” in the passage you quote. He was talking about “my church”. There’s a difference.
Why don’t Roman Catholics ever quote the bit that comes immediately after, still talking to Peter:
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” This is “the rock”? Good one, Pete! That didn’t take you long.
On the topic of miraculous signs, check out what Jesus said at the beginning of ch 16.
#1 is really interesting–I’m surprised I haven’t heard of it before.
Although, wouldn’t everyone THROUGHOUT Portugal (and Spain and all of Europe and millions of people) have seen the same sun that the people in the village saw? Is it even possible for the event to be localized like that? I’m not trying to smack down the story, but it’s something to think about.
astraya: what is “his Church” then? If not the Catholic Church which had St Peter as its first Pope and set up the system of Bishops under the apostles? Surely not the Anglican Church – they broke from the Catholics – as did all modern protestant religions – the only ones that date back to Christ and the apostles were the Catholic and Orthodox churches. So if he doesn’t mean that Church – which one does he mean?
jayfray: many commentators believe that the “rock” that Christ is refering to is the confession that peter made right before this statement, that Jesus is the Christ and the son of the living God.
it is this statement that delineates the true church.
As a Catholic, I am aware of most of these miracles and hundreds of others throughout history. FYI Catholics do NOT worship Our Blessed Mother Mary, but honor her as Our Lord Jesus Christ’s mother. We ask her to intercede for us, to pray for us, no different than asking a friend to pray for us, except of course Our Blessed Mother has large favor with God unlike us sinners. If people were not so ignorant and actually looked at the prayers of the Rosary to Our Blessed Mother, they would see they are Christ centered, as always, and we meditate on Christ’s life during the 10 decades.
The authentication process of these miracles is a strict one performed by the Catholic Church. They are very rigorous in their methods for determining an authentic miracle or apparition of Our Blessed Mother, and rarely do so. The so-called apparitions of “Medjegory” are NOT approved apparitions, and never will be.
FYI, Fatima was witnessed by thousands of people of all walks of life, from communist politicians, doctors, lawyers, many, many unbelievers before they witnessed the Miracle of the Sun. It was reported, with photos, in 1917 on the front page of the local COMMUNIST newspaper. The government officials of Fatima threatened to boil the three children in oil if they didn’t tell the “truth” and take back what they were saying about Our Blessed Mother appearing to them. They were also jailed for a short period of time. The children never wavered on their story once. Yes, these children were poor as was Our Lord. It is also worthy to note that Our Blessed Mother told the children that the two younger ones would die soon after, as they did, and the oldest, Lucia, would live for some time after, she died on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97.
On a final note, it is quite amazing that any other religion on the planet is “hands off” as far as bashing, except for the Catholic Church. Our Lord did say we would be persecuted.
[quote]jfrater: Jesus wasn’t talking about “the Catholic Church” in the passage you quote. He was talking about “my church”. There’s a difference.
Why don’t Roman Catholics ever quote the bit that comes immediately after, still talking to Peter:
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” This is “the rock”? Good one, Pete! That didn’t take you long.
On the topic of miraculous signs, check out what Jesus said at the beginning of ch 16.[/quote]
Isn’t it odd that you use the Bible to try and disprove something about Our Lord’s Church. Where do you think the Bible came from? Answer: The Roman Catholic Church (which means God’s Words were written down by the Apostles, the first Pope and Bishops of the Catholic Church). By whose authority do you interpret said Bible, which btw is likely a massacred version of the Original? Your own?
I beg to differ with the title of this list. It should be called “Top 10 Chritian Miracles”. You can’t generalize.
Do miracles only happen in a religious context? that too, only in the Christian religion??
While crossing a street I was hit by a car doing 65mph. The car was totalled because of the impact, it hit nothing else but me. I was flung in the air and landed 16 feet away. I escaped with only a hairline fracture in my shin and some cuts and bruises. To me, THAT is a miracle.
I guess everyone has there own definition of what a miracle is. To JFray a miracle might mean extraordinary events in Christian history.
Well this list has certainly inspired the comments. I guess I will add a few of mine:
1) What is wrong with believing in miracles? We may have different definitions of what a miracle is, but I believe they happen everyday. Some are just more dramatic than others.
2) If you choose not to believe (which is ones right) I don’t see the point in calling those who chose to believe names or degrading them.
3) OK, this one is nitpicky, but for those who post comments here or anywhere trying to show your mental superiority, I would suggest either checking a dictionary or at least write your comments on MS Word or similar program and using spellcheck. You tend to lose credibility with all of the incorrect spellings. (I apology to Jamie and everyone else in advance for opening that can of worms).
What, no Rasputin?
Tomo: But was your accident on worldwide news and with it’s own page on wikipedia? Is it readily avaliable to anyone (like JFrater)? No…religious miracles are more widely known because they are a hotter topic (as evidence in all the people arguing on this list). So they are easier to find.
Tomo: there is a difference be a Miracle and luck. Miracles are the things you see above^^^. Luck is what happens when for some reason you happen to be mid stride with your weight shifting from one foot to the other balancing yourself evenly and getting hit in just that right spot on a car to decrease it’s New value to Less than what it was prior to the accident and then walking away.
I have kicked cars and totaled them, Break a window on an old Datsun (Now Nissan) and you have totaled it.
What a different look at luck? Dropping Four units (unit= just under a pint) of blood into the toilet, get to the hospital just in time to find out that if they hadn’t given you the anticoagulants as soon as you walked in the door you would have lost another unit and died.
jfrater: I hardly know where to start.
Since 381 the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church has been proclaiming belief in “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church”. Every Sunday I join with countless others around the world to proclaim that belief.
Whatever the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church” is, it is clearly a different concept than “the catholic church”. You choose to interpret “universal” narrowly (and to exclude me). I choose to interpret “universal” widely (and to include you).
Back to early church history. By the 2nd century there were 5 acknowledged centres of Christianity (in no particular order): Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. The bishop of Rome held primacy, but “only in the sense of a primacy of honour, not one of jurisdiction” (wiki).
Back to biblical history. In Acts 15, Peter submitted himself to the authority of the gathering of apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and to James in particular. In 1 Cor 12, Paul talks about the body of the church being made up of the various parts. No part is any more important than another; each has a role to play.
Further back. On several occasions Jesus took Peter, James and John aside. On several other occasions he spoke to the 12 apostles, including what is called “the great commission”. One of those apostles told someone else, who told someone else, who travelled to Britain as a soldier or trader, who told someone else … who told someone else, who was there when Augustine came from Rome to Britain, only to find that the Christian church already existed there, who told someone else … who told someone else, who told my parents, who told me.
The Anglican church didn’t break from “the Catholics” – it broke from the authority of the bishop of Rome. The Anglican church isn’t “Protestant” – it is “catholic” and “reformed”. It is part of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church”.
I don’t want to hijack this discussion, so I’ll stop now.
Miracles happen. Some believe. Others don’t. Neither need the bishop of Rome to tell them that it did or didn’t happen. Goodbye.
JFRATER:
I don’t type in caps. My comments never get noticed or replied to, however. I want you to take note of this.
Comments: 114, 155. S_R particularily(but is not the entire focus of this post, their are others and we both know who they are) accuses abuses and bias because their comment was quoted, reprinted, and then held in context for another person’s quote.
That’s fine. It’s your call. Unlike others, I don’t claim to own this site. It is completely yours and if you want to shut it down tomorrow, that is your call. I won’t whine and throw a hissy fit.
However:
COMMENTS:
142: The SAME poster that complained to you about their post being quoted did the dxact same thing in repitition to ANOTHER’s post. Post 142. AMONG OTHERS ON OTHER FORUMS.
The only difference is PARSING. You have the originals, you know whether I am being false or not.
I am pertubed mostly, not by people having a religious view, but the sick and idiotic hijacking- as others have said so accurately- by some small amount of individuals SCREECHING about how they are being oppressed while doing the exact thing they complain about to others. They literally scream that others do not have the right to do what they do exactly because it is WRONG!
PLEASE- show me one list on the site that is ‘pro athiestic bias’!
‘Pro-Athiest Bias’ is ANYTHING that challenges certain people to provide any factual or scientific evidence!
Read my posts above- I actually support the idea of Miracles!
Please… please… please.. do NOT let a few screeching harpies destroy your forums and site!
If you keep bending to the proliferation of a few people who have nothing better to do with their time than send you emails criticizing that you don’t do what they want, you will eventually lose the perspective of the entire site.
I spent nearly a year watching this site before I ever made a comment- how many people who are just casual viewers do you think will just turn away because they don’t have time to watch this garbage?
Don’t let people censor, reverse censor, bully or bull***** the site because they are cult members.
It’s that simple. Two words. Cult Members. They are scared little cowards who need to make everyone agree with them so they don’t have to ask any questions about what they can’t answer.
It’s not your job to ruin your own passion to satisfy the stupid and ignorant people of the world- and if you do, you will lose out, they will feel righteous in their fanatiscism, and all of us will lose out.
Because not right now, maybe not tomorrow, but the thinking people will decide they just don’t have time for dealing with morons, and qwhen we leave, you will be left with another waste of energy, when you still have so much potential right now.
You see those numbers? Those thousands who aren’t commenting or posting but you know are viewing? Those people who stop by every day and made the site what it is without whining and crying and screeching to you about ‘what they want’ and ‘their sacred rights’?
Those people, you will lose, if you buckle to the few wailing idiots who think it is their righeous crusade to screech like banshees to the rest of the world about how they know the truth and their cult of stupidity is the only one people should be stupid enough to follow.
Then you will have 2, or 3, very sacred followers, and 2, or 3, very sacred lists.
Cheers.
great list jfrater, i guess a lot of the people commenting regaring the fact (?) that the list contains only Catholic miracles, no maliciousness intended, but a lot of the early religions were based around the same ideoligy, with out Jesus you wouldnt have Islam, with out Abraham you wouldnt have Christianity, and so on and so forth (i relly dont want to go in to that debate, just a quick example)
Even a lot of Asian religions have taken away, in some form, teachings that can be found in the bible and the koran, i guess over the evolution of different religions they have tried to acheive a common goal in their teachings.
but a miracle to me would be if God erased Scientologists, win win situation.
182 Mr. Graves – a little long winded, but I agree with what you have said, but, I don’t think Jamie tries to please these certain posters, I’ve watched the site for several months my self, generally the people who try to push their beliefs/misinformation on to other posters get cut down pretty quick by every one who disagrees with them, in turn, the original poster of the offending comment replies with a comment that just makes them look like a dick head, I know I have done it before.
I think the best way to view these lists, is by being open minded to the way that other people think, and at the back of your mind you can think whatever you like about them, the problem that THEY usually have is not being able to except the views of others and having to keep pushing their beliefs on to everyone until their red in the face, which is *****ing Hilarious in it self.
Everyone has their own individual beliefs, I’m an atheist, but it is interesting to see what others rely on to get through the day.