Originally posted by AKIron
Brenjen, I'd agree with you were it not for a certain episode wherein Saul had a witch call up the spirit of Samuel.
That was in the old testament; different laws applied then.
The old testament is a set of laws & stories that the Lord said were done. Those days
were indeed times of open miracles.... in the new testament apostles & charlatans were addressed as well.
I recall a few other times where people saw spirit incarnations; once was of Moses & Elijah (even though Elijah never technically died). That was Jesus that they appeared before though & since he
IS God the physical rules do not apply.
My biggest question/doubt is this: "what is a miracle today?" If only one person sees, feels or hears it; is it still a miracle? If only one person experiences it; then the rest of society can explain it away as a delusion. In my mind an open miracle is something that is physically impossible & is witnessed by the masses as such. But a miracle can be something other than a blatant open miracle like that as well.
For instance people say, if God is real how can he allow children to suffer? Hard to answer that, but I think it's possible that God animates the physical body of children for our benefit even though he has already accepted their souls into heaven. That way, we see an infant baking alive in a fire screaming in agony but in reality God has them by his side in bliss already & we are none the wiser that a miracle has taken place.
Some people will say I'm hammering a square peg into a round hole & making something fit my perception & that's true in a sense; I like to think of it that I use my faith to comfort me regardless of the situation.
I used the analogy of the child burning to death because that is something I've experienced first hand. It's hard to listen to a child burn to death, trapped in a place you can't get to them, but the safety mechanism I use is my faith. Without that faith I really doubt I would have the mental strength to deal with those things; thankfully horrible tragedies have only happened in my vicinity twice in my life.