Are Christians required to believe in miracles?
That’s the question Pastor Andy Stanley tackled in his latest sermon at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.
In the sermon titled “Miracles: Then and Now,” Stanley described a miracle as a “temporary suspension or reversal of the laws of nature.” He emphasized that miracles are not just unusual occurrences, but significant events that defy natural explanations.
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Calling miracles “an interruption in the ways that God normally behaves,” the 66-year-old pastor posed a simple question to his congregation.
“Do you have to believe in miracles to be a Christian? And in fact, that’s one of the questions I want to answer today is, ‘Do you have to believe in miracles to be a Christian?’” he asked. “And do you have to believe all those miracle stories in the Bible in order to be a Christian? I mean, is that absolutely necessary?”
What was Stanley’s self-response? “Yes, but you only have to believe in two miracles to be a Christian.”
“The interesting thing about these two miracles that you have to believe in to be a Christian is, most of you and most people in the world actually already believe in one of them,” he said. “And if you accept that, the second miracle that you have to believe to be a Christian, if you accept the second one, it opens the door to making the other miracles more acceptable.”
He highlighted the role of Christians in the birth of modern science, explaining, “Unlike pagans, who saw the world as random and chaotic, Christians believed in a God who created an orderly universe.” This belief, he said, laid the groundwork for scientific inquiry, as it presupposed that the world operates according to observable laws.
Using relatable examples, Stanley differentiated between extraordinary coincidences and true miracles. He described a scenario where a tree narrowly misses a parked car. While remarkable, he noted, it doesn’t qualify as a miracle since it doesn’t violate natural laws. However, he asserted that a scenario where a tree floats in mid-air would be a verifiable miracle.
Stanley then shifted to a broader perspective on the universe’s origin, positing that the “birth of the universe” itself is the first and most widely accepted miracle. He called the birth of the universe “a supernatural event that occurred outside the laws of nature.”
“Everything that has a beginning has a cause,” he noted. “Even if you don’t believe in God, you still have to acknowledge that something caused the universe. Otherwise, you’re left with the idea that nothing caused something — a belief that itself is miraculous.”
The sermon culminated in the essential Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus. Stanley explained that the resurrection is not only a pivotal event in the Christian faith but serves as the foundation of the entire movement.
“If Jesus rose from the dead, then what He said can be trusted,” he asserted. “The resurrection is what makes Christianity unique and credible.”
As Stanley wrapped up his message, he encouraged congregants to reflect on these foundational beliefs.
“If someone predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, you should pay attention to what that person has to say,” he concluded, underscoring the significance of faith in both the miraculous and the scientific.
Stanley, the son of the-late famed pastor and author Charles Stanley, stoked controversy in 2018 after urging his church to “unhitch” from the Old Testament and again in 2023 when he claimed gay churchgoers had “more faith than a lot of” his own church members.
“A gay person who still wants to attend church after the way they’ve been treated, I’m telling you, they have more faith than I do,” Stanley said. “They have more faith than a lot of you.”
