Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction The Origin of This Book The Subjects of This Book Limitations The Problem Closing Comments Part 1: The Ancient Evidence 1. Opening Questions about Early Christian Miracle Claims Evidence for Jesus’s Miracles Miracle Claims for Jesus’s Early Movement Methodological Questions 2. Ancient Miracle Claims outside Christianity Gentile Greco-Roman Miracle Accounts Healing Sanctuaries Pagan Miracle Workers Early Jewish Miracle Workers An Authenticating Function of Miracles Conclusion 3. Comparison of Early Christian and Other Ancient Miracle Accounts Differences between Early Christian and Most Pagan Miracles Comparison of Early Christian and Jewish Miracle Accounts Rabbinic Miracles Eve’s Detailed Comparisons Parallels and the Authenticity Question Healing Sages? The Supernatural Element Not a Sufficient Parallel Celestial Prodigies Conclusion Part 2: Are Miracles Possible? 4. Antisupernaturalism as an Authenticity Criterion? Ancient Skepticism toward Miracles Polybius’s Critique of Sensationalist Historians Signs in Critical Historians Ancient Plausibility Structures Modern Western Skepticism toward Supernatural Phenomena Our Cultural Limitations Have We Privileged a Particular Western Worldview? Conclusion 5. Hume and the Philosophic Questions What This Chapter Will Address The Nature of the Questions Hume’s Argument from Nature Hume and the Philosophy of Science Does Science Pronounce on Theology? Hume, Violations of Natural Law, and Theism Nature versus Hume Hume’s Antitheistic Starting Assumptions Hume’s Epistemology regarding Miracles Hume on Testimony Consequences of Such Epistemic Demands for Other Disciplines Hume versus Normal Logic regarding Witnesses Rejecting Unusual and Rare Events? The Theistic Factor The Circularity of Hume’s Approach Other Noninductive Elements in Hume’s Approach Hume’s Critics Conclusion 6. Developing Hume’s Skepticism toward Miracles Consequences and Problems of the Humean Consensus Effects in Philosophy Effects in Religion and Theology A Sound Approach? God Acting in the Natural World? God Acting in History? History and Theory The Religious Factor Incompatible Religions Claim Miracles? Disbelief in Miracles as a Dogmatic Assumption? The Shift in the Western Worldview A Shift among Scholars Do Modern People Believe in Miracles? Conclusion Part 3: Miracle Accounts beyond Antiquity 7. Majority World Perspectives Multicultural Miracle Claims and Ethnocentric Prejudices A Multicultural Approach Cross-Cultural Readings Ethnocentric Objections to Miracles Hume’s Explicit Ethnocentrism Majority World Voices Learning from Other Cultures Widespread Pentecostal Claims in the Majority World Such Claims Not Limited to Pentecostals Limitations in My Approach Studies of Extraordinary Claims in Non-Christian Movements Limitations of Reports The Use of Examples Diverse Christian Supernatural Claims One Theological Caveat Conclusion 8. Examples from Asia Limitations of My Examples The Philippines Southeast Asia South Asia India Interviews with Some Indian Ministers Sri Lanka and Nepal Indonesia South Korea The Pacific Healings and China Examples Answering More Skeptical Perspectives Visiting Some Chinese Pastors One Example in 1930s China Conclusion 9. Examples from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean Examples in Africa Healing in Mainline Churches Various Sample Claims from East and Central Africa Various Sample Claims from West and Southern Africa Examples in Nigeria Examples in Mozambique Congolese Evangelists Papa Jacques’s Experiences Mama Jeanne and Others Examples in Latin America and the Caribbean Various Cases from South America Accounts from Cuba Various Other Latin American and Caribbean Examples Ecuador Chile Conclusion 10. Supernaturalism in Earlier Christian History Perspectives from the Premodern World The Patristic Era The Medieval Period The Reformers’ Reaction Perspectives from the Earlier Modern West Polemic against Miracles Protestant Healing Reports in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Lourdes and Roman Catholic Healing in the Nineteenth Century Protestant Healing in the Nineteenth Century Criticisms and Moderation Gender and Healings Supernaturalist Christian Claims in the Early Twentieth-Century West Dorothy Kerin James Moore Hickson Healings in Other Traditional Churches Early Pentecostalism Early Pentecostal Testimonies Early Pentecostal Figures Conclusion 11. Supernatural Claims in the Recent West Claims Are Now Common Samples of Individual Healing Reports One Modern Healing Narrative Scientists, Journalists, and Doctors - Pentecostals and Other Churches Examples from Interviews in My Circle Anna’s and Cindy’s Stories Accounts from Students and Colleagues Yesenia’s Story Some Other Individual Healing Claims Western Healing Ministries in the Past Half Century Why Include Such Accounts? T. L. Osborn Kathryn Kuhlman Doctors and Kuhlman Father Ralph DiOrio Some Less-Conspicuous Ministries Various Examples from Roman Catholic Sources Third Wave and Other Recent Sources Emphasizing Healing Examples from the Vineyard Movement Global Awakening and New Wine Examples from Some Charismatic/Third Wave Churches Listing Some Further Claims Conclusion 12. Blindness, Inability to Walk, Death, and Nature: Some Dramatic Reports Why This Chapter’s Focus? Healing of Blindness Healings of Blindness in History Contemporary Reports of Healings of Blindness in Africa Contemporary Reports of Healings of Blindness in Asia Contemporary Reports of Healings of Blindness in Latin America and the West Healing of Those Unable to Walk Earlier Reports - Contemporary Reports of Healings in Africa and Asia Contemporary Reports of Healings in the Western Hemisphere Raising the Dead Biblical and Non-Christian Accounts Alternative Explanations? Earlier Accounts Raising Accounts in Africa Raising of My Wife’s Sister Mama Jeanne’s Accounts Other Accounts from Congo Raising Accounts in Asia Raising Accounts in the Philippines Raising Accounts in Latin America and the West Reports from Physicians Nature Miracles Limits of Naturalistic Explanations Limits of Ancient Analogies Subsequent Analogies Recent Analogies in Asia and the Pacific Recent Analogies in Africa Accounts in the Western Hemisphere Conclusion

Most modern prejudice against biblical miracle reports depends on David Hume's argument that uniform human experience precluded miracles. Yet current research shows that human experience is far from uniform. In fact, hundreds of millions of people today claim to have experienced miracles. New Testament scholar Craig Keener argues that it is time to rethink Hume's argument in light of the contemporary evidence available to us. This wide-ranging and meticulously researched two-volume study presents the most thorough current defense of the credibility of the miracle reports in the Gospels and Acts. Drawing on claims from a range of global cultures and taking a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, Keener suggests that many miracle accounts throughout history and from contemporary times are best explained as genuine divine acts, lending credence to the biblical miracle reports.