Do Miracles Exist? Catalina Costa

1. Do Miracles Exist?Catalina Costa Fun Fact: Nearly 80 percent of all Americans say they believe in miracles.

2. Why did I chose this topic? • I chose this topic because I always hear people talk about miracles. Whether it is someone telling me, “It’s a miracle you’re here on time,” or “It’s a miracle I passed that exam,” I hear the word miracle quite often. This got me thinking, what really is a miracle and do they even exist? We sometimes classify unlikely simple things, like the US men’s Olympic hockey team beating the Soviets in the gold medal game in 1980, as a miracle but I think a miracle is much more complicated than that. Miracles are important to me because they provide me with a sense of hope that other reasoning can not.

3. How does the dictionary define a miracle? • an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause • such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God. • a wonder; marvel.

4. 4 Types of Miracles • According to the Gospel, there are 4 types of miracles: • Healing Miracles • Nature Miracles • Expelling Miracles • Raising to Life Miracles

5. Miracles Performed in Biblical Times When people think of miracles they often think of Jesus Christ. Here are some events that a lot of people classify as miracles which can be found in the Bible: • Dead brought back to life • People suffering from incurable diseases were cured • The blind were made to see • The deaf were made to hear • Peter walked on water

6. Why do some people believe that miracles exist?

7. Religious Beliefs • Miracles are the essence of God’s goodwill toward mankind. • God loves us, so he gives us miracles to get us out of our current situations. • Miracles are used to connect us to God. • People can not save themselves. We do not have the power to turn our lives around when they are falling apart. God can though and he miraculously does.

8. Provides Explanation • Some things that occur can not be explained. These impossible cases can not be solved or cured and oppose scientific or natural laws. Saying that they are miracles provides some sort of explanation as to why something happened.

9. Provides Hope • People want to believe that their life can turn around. Having faith in miracles provides hope for them that tomorrow might be better. • People need a reason to carry on. If they think that miracles exist, they will have a reason to push through their hardships.

10. Not everyone believes in miracles though. If it’s not a miracle then what is it…

11. Fate or Destiny • Events take place that are inexplicable. Some people may refer to this as fate or as their destiny. • Miracles are just coincidences. Everything that happens is meant to be. • Fate or destiny controls our futures. Life is already planned out for us.

12. Result of Cause and Effect • Cause and effect can be considered the Law of the Universe. • Something happens and effects the outcome of something else. • If you have positive energy and are encouraging, you may be able to help others. Some may think you are able to perform miracles but this could just be due to the law of cause and effect.

13. Nature • The problems we experience may be due to adverse reactions to our thoughts and actions. • If we think positively, we may find a positive answer to our problems. Some people may view the outcome as a miracle. • On the other hand, negative thinking results in failure.

14. Karma • If you do something good for someone, something good might happen to you but it is not a miracle. The action was just karma produced and you deserved it.

15. Science • Saying that miracles exist puts a limit on what is scientifically explicable. • It also rules out the possibility of any future scientific explanation. • How would science develop if scientists believed in miracles? • It is more rational to believe that an event could be explained naturalistically.

16. Lack of Evidence • How do we know that these events or occurrences really happened? • These events are not a fact. If it didn’t happen to us how are we supposed to believe? • Can we trust witnesses? • Miracles can not be justified due to the lack of evidence for such an event. • Also, since things aren’t always as they seem, we can be mislead and see what we want to see. Maybe we witnessed something that didn’t even really happen.

17. Miracles No Longer Exist • Biblical times had biblical miracles. • That was then and this is now. • God doesn’t intervene anymore, although he can, he chooses not to. Therefore, miracles no longer exist.

19. What are some examples of each of the 4 types of miracles that have occurred? What are my thoughts about them? ***I interviewed my mom, roommate, and suitemate’s boyfriend in order to get a few viewpoints. I organized their reasoning in a table for each example.

20. A Healing Miracle • A year ago, a man named Justin Shelton, claimed to have witnessed a miracle. His dad, had been experiencing severe stomach cramps for several days when he went to the Veterans Administration hospital in Columbia, Missouri. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had been on oxygen for years. After several tests, the doctors and specialists concluded that he had a severe blockage, and surgery was needed but it was almost certain the surgery would kill him because of his bad health. However, leaving the blockage would definitely cause him to die. Justin went to church that Sunday morning and picked up a cloth for the congregation to pray over. When he gave it to his dad, he placed the cloth on his abdomen. From that point on, he began saying he was healthy and healed. Within hours of placing that cloth on his abdomen, the blockage passed completely on its own.

22. My Thoughts • I wouldn’t say that the cloth was magical or anything like that. I don’t think inanimate objects can cause a miracle, only a higher force can. I do think the fact that the man was healed was a miracle. I think this is a miracle because he shouldn’t have lived, yet he did. Fixing this was beyond our power. It goes against what should have happened. I think God answered the prayers of the church and healed the man. I don’t think this is a coincidence or luck because it’s too big of a matter . I don’t think a life can be saved by luck or coincidence. I think we have angels that watch over and protect us, and sometimes act when necessary. Medical mysteries to me are miracles because it is the only way to explain them. Something or someone other than us, intervened to cause the results that occurred. I don’t think we are meant to understand this process because it goes beyond our comprehension.

23. Expelling Miracle • In 1906, sixteen year old Clara GermanaCele, a Christian student at St. Michael's Mission in South Africa, prayed and made a pact with Satan. Days later, Cele was overtaken by strange impulses. She was sickened by religious artifacts, had the ability to speak and understand several languages, and became psychic. Nuns reported that Cele began making animal-like sounds and that she was able to levitate. Two priests were brought in to perform an exorcism. While the priests were reading Scripture, over one hundred and seventy people witnessed her levitating. In the end, over the course of two days, the exorcism successfully drove the dark spirits from her body.

24. Clara GermanaCele

26. My Thoughts • I do not believe this is a miracle because I think that exoricisms are just a bunch of “mumbo jumbo.” I can’t picture this happening to someone, and I would have to witness this in order to believe that evil spirits were controlling her. I think levitating is a miracle because it goes beyond our comprehension and most people can not do it. I don’t think dark spirits took over her body and then left, but let’s say this did happen. Then I would explain the events that happened to her after she made the pact with Satan as a cause and effect chain. She made a pact, causing unusual things to happen. The effect of this was that an exorcism was performed, resulting in the dark spirits being removed from her body.

27. Nature Miracle • On October 4, 1630, in the town of Cupertino, Joseph, an Italian Saint, was assisting in a procession and suddenly soared into the sky, hovering over the crowd. This was the first of many flights, and gave Joseph his name, “The Flying Saint.” Joseph’s most famous flight occurred in front of an audience before Pope Urban VIII, when he bent down to kiss the Pope’s feet and ended up being raised into the air. His flights were witnessed by thousands.

28. Joseph of Cupertino

30. My Thoughts • I believe this is a miracle because it is not normal to fly. Just because something isn’t normal, doesn’t necessarily make it a miracle though. It’s also a miracle because it goes against our capabilities and nature. It doesn’t make sense to explain this act in any other way because this act is too extraordinary and is something almost everyone will never witness. People who said this wasn’t a miracle, did not believe that this actually happened due to the lack of evidence and unreliable sources. Since so many people witnessed this though, I believe that it really happened. I think it is unlikely that all of these witnesses are unreliable.

31. Raising to Life Miracle • Last Christmas Eve, Tracy Hermanstorfer's heart stopped beating while she was in labor. After receiving an epidural, her husband witnessed her loose consciousness and go into full cardiac arrest. Doctors attempted to revive her but couldn't, and began an emergency C-section to save the baby, who was born limp and appeared lifeless. Out of nowhere, Tracy's pulse returned, and moments later the baby began to breathe. Within a few days, Tracy and her baby were both healthy and were released from the hospital.

32. "Half of my family was lying there right in front of me, dead," Tracy’s husband said at the time. "I lost all feeling." • "I'm not big-time religious," says Tracy, "but I know this was in God's hands."

34. My Thoughts • I think this is also a miracle because I would consider Tracy dead at one point, since her heart stopped beating. The fact that it is a medical mystery proves to me that it is a miracle because it is unexplainable. There might be another explanation out there, but until we find it, I am calling this a miracle. The doctors couldn’t revive Tracy, yet her pulse returned. The baby was okay too, which I would also consider a miracle because he was also in danger of dying, too. I don’t think our body has the ability to come back from something like this on its own because if this was the case a lot more people who are on their death bed would live. I think that the technology, equipment, and trained doctors in this day and age helped with this miracle. Without the doctors performing the C-section both would have died. I also think God was looking over this family and didn’t want the husband, who was watching, to witness such a tragedy. There are similar stories out there but I think they are all miracles. People can have similar miracles, but they are still out of the ordinary because something like this doesn’t happen to everyone.

35. Reflection of My Interviews • I was actually extremely surprised by my interview results because I didn’t expect people to disagree with me as much as they did. I was getting irritated during the interviews when people were saying that something wasn’t a miracle, when I’m sure that it was. Since I’m such a strong believer of miracles, it was hard listening to people who have an opposing view. In the end though, it was interesting to hear their side.

36. Personal Reflection on my New Relationship to this Topic • I did find an answer that was satisfying. I found out that there are other reasons that people may explain something that I would consider a miracle. This project really opened my eyes to the many beliefs about miracles. Without this project, I would have probably continued to not understand these people and would just label them as wrong. I strongly believe that miracles exist and happen everyday, but now I can see why some people may not feel the same way. Although, I do not agree with their perspective, I do understand and respect them.

37. My Thoughts Before and After Researching My Beautiful Question • Before researching this topic, I would have said that miracles do exist. After researching this topic, I still feel the same way. This project made me believe in miracles moreso. Before this, I was unaware as to why some people don’t believe in miracles. Now that I know, I do not agree with these reasons, which makes me more confident in saying that miracles do exist.

38. How could I continue this search? • I think it would be interesting to look at the lives of people who do not believe in miracles. Maybe they are struggling and they haven’t had anything extraordinary happen to them. This could cause them to not believe in miracles, because they haven't experienced one first hand.

39. My Personal Beliefs