By Neela BarekZeh Bernice Chan Introduction A miracle

By: Neela Barek-Zeh & Bernice Chan

Introduction • A miracle is an event that appears to be inexplicable by the laws of nature so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God. • There are several opposing views on the existence of miracles. 1) Many religious people see miracles as signs from God, and view those who experience miracles to be divine or favoured by God. 2) Others believe that a supernatural world exists and miracles happen through it. They believe that miracles are only significant if they reveal a deeper meaning to life. 3) Many others view that a supernatural world and miracles are impossible.

Categorization of Christian Miracles Major Minor Other Types • Stigmata • Bilocation • Involuntary levitation • Healings • Incorruptibility of the body • Invisibility • Odor of sanctity • Divine images • Manifestations of objects • Multiplication of food • Raising the dead • Dematerialization and materialization • Weeping statues • Inedia • Emission of light from the body • Ebullition of blood

Christian Miracles Stigmata • On September 23, 1971, 10 year-old Clorette Robinson of Oakland California, started bleeding from the palm of her hand. • She was rushed to the hospital and examined by both doctors, who could neither stop or explain the bleeding, and psychiatrists who could not find anything wrong with her. • A few days later, she experienced stigmatism again, but this time she bled from her side, forehead and feet. The stigmatism continued until March 31, 1972, and ended altogether.

Christian Miracles Cont’d Weeping Statues/ Miracle Healings • In 1992 in San Thomas, Mexico, while praying for her dying mother, a 12 -year-old girl, Anna Avila, noticed that the statue of Madonna was weeping tears. When she returned home, she found her mother in the kitchen preparing dinner and singing. The woman had not been able to get out of bed for three months. • As news spread, other healings were reported. "People have come from South and North America, from Europe and from Asia, " says Father Amoros, the local priest. "And all have been healed. " He says, "People arrive on stretchers and crutches, then walk away under their own power after praying to the Madonna and touching her tears. ” • Scientists from Mexico City and from the US all say the tears are real, but no one knows where they come from or how they heal.

Aboriginal Miracles • A symbol of hope, rebirth and unity for Native Americans has been born in the form of a white buffalo calf named Miracle. • The rare birth has great cultural significance for the Great Plains Native American tribes. • The calf's birth is believed to "bring purity of mind, body and spirit, and unify all nations -- black, red, yellow and white". • Since the birth, thousands of visitors have travelled to the Wisconsin farm to catch a glimpse of Miracle. • According to statistics from the National Buffalo Association, the likelihood of a white calf birth is approximately 1 in 6, 000 million.

Buddhist Miracles • "Burmese religious pilgrims flocked by the thousands at the weekend to Nyaunglaybin township, 160 kilometres north of Rangoon, to witness a "miracle" of multi-coloured light beams appearing from a Buddhist monastery. " • Residents of Nyaunglaybin say the light beams have been occurring since March 9, and has drawn increasingly large crowds to the small town. • Follower’s claimed to see "relics of the Buddha", or mortal remnants of the Lord Buddha who died more than 2500 years ago, on the monk Sayadew’s robes. • Witnesses also say they have seen rainbowlike colours coming from the roof of Sayadew’s home.

Hindu Miracles • Sai Baba performs miracles before many eyewitnesses. • Flame took the form of the symbol OM (Hindu symbol for the Universe) and stayed in this form long enough to be photographed. • Sai Baba materializing a small Bible before eyewitnesses. • The portrait of Sai Baba manifested in the clouds. • Sai Baba often materializes special, very fine ash - vibhuti, which has healing powers.

Islamic Miracles • This is the pattern of air tubes in the lungs of all human beings. • The pattern has been worked out with extreme precision on a computer. • The air pipes are distributed in the shape of the declaration of the Islamic creed in the Arabic language that affirms the Oneness of Allah and the Prophethood of Muhammad (SAS). It reads "La Ilaha Illallah Muhammad-un-Rasullullah. "

NAME OF ALLAH ALMIGHTY AND PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM) WRITTEN IN HIVES

Conclusion It is almost certain that some miracles are indeed facts. However, how they happen remains controversial. Some believe miracles have a religious significance, while others believe they are psychological in nature. D. Scott Rogo, believes that today’s science and technology are not advanced enough to explain the physics of the miraculous. However, he does not discount the possibility of a spiritual world that may be responsible for miracles.