Resources:
John Paul Heil, “Miracles” in The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, rev. ed., pp. 687 ff.
Howard Clark Kee, “Miracles” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible, pp. 519 f.
S. V. McCasland, "Miracles" in J. Hastings (ed.) Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 663-666
S. V. McCasland, "Miracle" in Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. K-Q, pp. 392-402
"Miracle" and "Miracles of Our Lord" in H.S. Gehman (ed.) The New Westminister Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 622-623
H.C. Kee & F. W. Young, "The Mighty Works" in Understanding the New Testament (1957 edition), pp 98-103
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1. A miracle, whether natural or supernatural, is an event in which one perceives an act or revelation of God.
a. it is an expression of divine intention and power, a sign to those who perceive it, a revelation about God.
b. it is an extraordinary wonder of the natural world.
2. Non-religious interpretations:
a. an external sensible event inexplicable by laws known to us, but which might or might not be explained someday by science.
b. all accounts of miracles are fables, symbolic, metaphorical, or delusional.
3. Presuppositions:
a. biblical: (i) If one believes in God, that God created the universe, sustains it, and is sovereign over it, there is no problem about the possibility of miracles. (ii) Miracles result from belief in God, not vice versa.
b. nontheistic: the universe is a closed system of cause and effect relationships: there is no room for the genuinely new, unusual, unique event that in principle cannot be explained now or in the future.
4 Biblical miracles:
a. healings (including exorcisms) see the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 400 ff.
b. nature miracles: event or allegory?
c. The literary genres of healings/exorcisms and of the nature miracles are different, suggesting historical bases of the former (i.e., actual people were healed) and metaphorical/symbolic intentions of the latter (except for the Resurrection accounts, which are basically of a historical style).
d. Miracles do not compel belief.
e. Miracles do not obliterate an individual’s capacity to make choices.
5. Miracles are not the foundation of faith, but a consequence of faith. (The denial of miracles is also a consequence of faith, but of a non-biblical faith). The acceptance of the possibility of miracles permits a distinction to be drawn between healing and nature miracles, without violating biblical religion.