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Books Books to challenge skeptics on miracles
THE BOOK OF MIRACLES:
THE MEANING OF THE MIRACLE STORIES IN CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM, BUDDHISM AND
ISLAM By Kenneth L. Woodward Simon & Schuster, 419 pages,
$27.50 |
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GOD AND THE SUN AT
FATIMA By Stanley Jaki Real View Books, 375 pages,
$19.95 |
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By HOWARD KAINZ
Kenneth Woodward, religion editor at Newsweek magazine, advances
the cause of pluralism and inclusiveness in his book on miracles. His primary
focus is on classical miracles in the traditions of all the major
religions, but the final chapter includes a brief look at several modern
miracles attributed to Padre Pio, Mother Mary MacKillup, the Pentecostal Oral
Roberts, the Hindu guru Mata Amritanandamayi and the Hassidic Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson.
In order to keep his book from becoming just an eclectic
collection of wondrous stories, Woodward provides extensive historical
information about the religions discussed and biographical information about
miracle workers. This detail, taking up more than half of the book, puts the
miracles in context but also transforms the book into a rather scholarly study
of comparative religions.
Woodward points out that miracles have a varying significance,
depending on the religion. In the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, miracles
are ways for God to give his stamp of approval to the messages conveyed by
Moses, the prophets, Jesus and missionaries in early Christianity. There is
also a discernible evolution -- in the Old Testament, from miracles performed
directly by God to miracles performed by Moses, Joshua and the prophets with
Gods power; in the New Testament from miracles performed by Jesus in his
own power to miracles by apostles and saints, then by dead saints, and finally
in conjunction with the relics of saints.
In Judaism after the first century of the Common Era and in Islam,
miracles are accorded no official significance by religious leaders. Mohammed,
for example, was diffident about miracles and claimed that his teachings did
not need corroboration from miracles. Nevertheless, in both Judaism and Islam
there are numerous legends of holy men curing the sick instantaneously, raising
the dead, walking on water, feeding the multitudes by multiplying scarce food
resources and so forth.
In the multiple branchings out of Hinduism, miracles are taken as
signs of spiritual power as well as compassion for others. Miracles of gods
like Krishna and holy men like Shankara and the poet saints consist
of curing sicknesses and raising the dead. In yoga, as the ascetical/mystical
offshoot of Hinduism, high states of perfection became associated with
miraculous powers such as superhuman strength and the ability to levitate and
traverse great distances in a moments time.
Buddhism disavows the importance of miracles, but many miracles
were associated with the birth, life and death of Gautama Buddha. And Buddhist
holy men reportedly have acquired a variety of psychic and psychokinetic
powers.
In recent years, stories of the miraculous are not lacking --
including stigmatists such as the Bolivian Catalina Rivas and Mirna Nazour of
Damascus in the Catholic tradition; and the miracle of the Holy Light, which
reportedly takes place at the Holy Saturday Orthodox liturgies in the Church of
the Resurrection in Jerusalem. But prima facie the solar phenomena that took
place in Fatima, Portugal, on Oct. 13, 1917, have the greatest claim to
miraculousness.
The basic facts have been frequently cited in books and articles
on Fatima: The three child visionaries, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, predicted
three months beforehand that at noon Oct. 17, the Virgin Mary would perform a
sign that would prove that her messages of prayer and penance were authentic.
This prediction was repeated several times and publicized, and drew a crowd of
believers and unbelievers conservatively estimated at 50,000 from all over
Portugal and elsewhere. The skeptical editor of the local secular newspaper O
Seculo editorialized with patronizing comments about the credulousness of the
people gathering for the miracle.
The children arrived at the place of apparitions, the Cova da
Iria. It was a cloudy, rainy day. Some onlookers observed puffs of smoke, like
incense, just above the children. Noon passed, and at about 1:30 p.m. the
visionaries told the crowd to put down their umbrellas, take off their hats and
look upward. Suddenly the rain stopped, and the clouds seemed to part, leaving
a slight film of clouds before the sun. There was a sudden change of
temperature. A silvery disk appeared that could be watched without discomfort.
It began spinning around a center like a fire wheel, emitting rays of various
colors of the rainbow.
The phenomenon stopped and started three times, lasting about 10
minutes altogether. Reflections of colors were seen all over the people and on
the ground. The editor of O Seculo, present with some other members of the
press, wrote next day, Before their dazzled eyes, the sun trembled, the
sun made unusual and brusque movements, defying all the laws of the cosmos, and
according to the typical expression of the peasants, the sun
danced.
Benedictine Fr. Stanley Jaki is a physicist, theologian and author
of more than 40 books. He traveled to Portugal where he interviewed all
available witnesses, and examined extant records, including official
depositions. The book is unavoidably repetitious with about 100 witnesses
giving largely similar accounts.
Jaki is critical of ecclesiastical authorities for failure to
adequately investigate. He is also critical of some theological and scientific
interpretations. His own observations include the following: The time of the
phenomenon was 1:30 by military time (since Portugal was at war) but noon by
solar time. The prediction of the exact time of an event unforeseen by
meteorologists is a miracle, even if the phenomenon was natural.
What seems to have happened is that the filmy clouds in front of
the sun formed a lens (for which there have been precedents), with refractions
of light causing all the colors of the rainbow? (Possibly the change of
diameter in the lens could lead to the appearance of the sun getting larger and
closer.)
Jaki believes that God would use natural physical developments for
miracles. His final conclusion is that the event at Fatima is arguably the most
important event of the 20th century -- a providential sign for a century that
was to witness so many incredible acts of inhumanity and immorality.
Both books challenge skeptical Westerners to reconsider some
cherished prejudices about the miraculous.
Howard Kainz teaches philosophy at Marquette University and is
the author of [Democracy and the Kingdom of God]
(Marquette University Press) and Politically Incorrect Dialogues
[(Editions Rodopi)].
National Catholic Reporter, April 28, 2000
[corrected 05/26/2000]
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