In the previous issue of The Sower we stated that we shall look more closely at C.S.Lewis’ case for the reality of miracles and his arguments against modern scepticism regarding the possibility of miracles. These arguments are to be found in his 1947 publication, Miracles.

Readers will be interested in understanding the place of miracles in the life and ministry of Jesus. However, many people we speak to today are sceptical about the very possibility of miracles. Do we have any answer for this scepticism, beyond saying that it is simply a matter of faith – that we take it on faith that Jesus did perform miracles?

It is not unusual to hear arguments that seek to ‘explain away’ the miracles, or attempt to find an acceptable non-miraculous explanation for the events recorded in the gospels as miracles. Some explicitly argue that miracle stories were only inserted into the Gospels to bolster the early Church’s belief that Jesus really is the Son of God made man. For example, we have probably all heard the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand retold as an occasion on which the people began to bring out and share food that they had brought with them.

The real issues, then, are whether we can accept the historicity of the Gospel accounts and whether it is reasonable to accept in principle that Jesus performed miracles.