By: Neela Barek-Zeh

1
Miracles

• By Neela Barek-Zeh Bernice Chan

2
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.
• Many religious people see miracles as signs from
  God, and view those who experience miracles to be
  divine or favoured by God.
• 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.
• Many others view that a supernatural world and
  miracles are impossible.

3
Categorization of Christian Miracles

• Major
• Stigmata
• Bilocation
• Involuntary levitation
• Healings

• Minor
• Incorruptibility of the body
• Odor of sanctity
• Divine images

• Other Types
• Invisibility
• Manifestations of objects
• Multiplication of food
• Raising the dead
• Dematerialization and materialization
• Weeping statues
• Inedia
• Emission of light from the body
• Ebullition of blood

4
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.

5
Christian Miracles Contd
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.

6
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.

7
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.
• Followers claimed to see "relics of the Buddha",
  or mortal remnants of the Lord Buddha who died
  more than 2500 years ago, on the monk Sayadews
  robes.
• Witnesses also say they have seen rainbow-like
  colours coming from the roof of Sayadews home.

8
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.

9
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."

10
NAME OF ALLAH ALMIGHTY AND PROPHET MUHAMMAD
(PEACE BE UPON HIM) WRITTEN IN HIVES
11
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 todays 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.