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History
WILLIAM YOUNG
Introduction
I should like to begin this paper by defining my terms, and making
clear what basic presuppositions I hold as I approach the subject.
Miracles can rightly be understood widely, to include many and
varied manifestations of the extraordinary, such as dreams and
visions, prophecy, prediction and 'second sight', speaking in tongues
and its interpretation, marvellously timed provision of funds in
response to faith, and so on. I propose, however, to confine my
investigation to a narrower range of miracles of action-healing,
casting out of evil spirits, raising the dead, and other such miraculous
events, including 'nature-miracles', as might be summed up by the
New Testament term 'signs and wonders'.
Church History includes the full sweep of Christian history from
the time of Christ up to and including modern times, but in view of
the scope proposed for other papers at this Conference, 1 and the
nature of the source-material to which I have ready access, I shall
concentrate on the first millenium, from the Patristic period onwards,
and touch only briefly on events before or since.
Presuppositions
A historian has his own criteria for judging whether an account comes
from a reliable source, but where miracles are involved, a prior
value-judgment is also called for. As C.S. Lewis puts it:
the historical evidence cannot be estimated unless we have first
estimated the intrinsic probability of a recorded event. It is in making
that estimate that our sense of fitness comes into play. 2
The New Testament miracles were distinct from any subsequent ones
by virtue of their immediate connection with the full manifestation of
the incarnate Son of God, with a revelation then given in its fulness.
They do not therefore afford grounds in themselves for expecting
miracles to accompany the subsequent dissemination of the revelation
of which they formed an integral part. 3
Luke the Evangelist prefaces thus the story of the healing of the
paralytic:
The power of the Lord was present for (Jesus) to heal the sick. 11
Jesus himself ascribed his healing ~ower to the Father when he called
it 'the work of him who sent me', and spoke of the power by which
he cast out evil spirits by using a vivid metaphor 'the finger of God' ,8
which is interpreted by Matthew to mean 'the Spirit of God'. 9
These statements attribute Jesus' miracle-working power to God,
or specifically to God the Father through the Holy Spirit. It is true
that Jesus was 'accredited by God' 10 as his Son by the miracles,
though of themselves they did not compel belief. It would, however,
be in accordance with the evidence to say that God worked miracles
through Jesus, not because of his latent Divinity, but because of his
perfect humanity and full and complete communion with his
Heavenly Father. As Westcott put it:
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As far as it is revealed to us, His greatest works during His earthly life
are wrought by the help of the Father through the energy of a humanity
enabled to do all things in fellowship with God. 11
The one whom God has sent does the works of God; to him God gives
the Spirit without limit. 12
If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God
has come upon you. 14
The Gospel records of the miracles and acts of Jesus arc not just formal
proofs of His Messiahship. of His Divine mission, authority, and
power. but as such they are objective manifestations of His character
as the conqueror not only of sin but of evil and death, as the destroyer
of the destroyer. as the Saviour in the most inclusive sense. 1n
Peter, as we already saw, claimed that Jesus 'went around ... healing
all who were under the power of the devil. o~ 7 While on the one hand
we have to make a distinction between disease and devil-possession,
there is at the same time a real sense in which they are both the work
of the Devil, and healing and raising the dead as well as exorcism can
be a victory over the power of evil. In Jesus' case they were both
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works of anger against evil, and compassion for its victims. 18 It would
therefore be fitting for miracles of this nature to recur during these
Last Days, particularly in connexion with the preaching of the Gospel
in new places, and especially where occult powers are strong.
3. Miracles are only a foretaste of the Kingdom in its fulness. As we
have already seen, the power to work miracles is a gift of the Holy
Spirit. Paul lists 'gifts of healing' and 'miraculous powers' among
these gifts. 19 Elsewhere, the Holy Spirit is described as 'a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come', or as Weymouth translates, 'a pledge
and foretaste of future blessing'. 20 The picture is of someone putting
down the first instalment of a payment, at once part of the payment,
and a guarantee that the rest will be paid. We mistake when we treat
the Spirit and his gifts as though we had the right to expect the full
payment now, in this life. As Tom Smail puts it:
Paul, in the list of spiritual gifts given by God, puts first the gift of
wisdom. and second, as inferior to that, the word of knowledge. and
third. even lower, I think, faith. And as he values reason above
miraculous workings. on this account he puts 'workings of miracles'
and 'gifts of healing' in a lower place than the intellectual gifts. 2X
Signs of the Holy Spirit were manifested at the beginning when Jesus
was teaching, and after his ascension there were many more, though
later thev became less numerous. Nevertheless, even to this dav there
are trace's of him in a few people whose souls have been purified by the
Word and by the actions that follow his teaching. 19
These miracles were not allowed to last until our times lest the soul
ever seek visible things and the human race grow cold because of
familiarity with those things whose novelty enkindled it. 30
You may learn from what goes on under your own eyes. For many
devil-possessed all over the world, and in your own city, many of our
men, the Christians, have exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, who
was crucified under Pontius Pilate. When all other exorcists and sayers
of charms and sellers of drugs failed, they have healed them, and still
do heal, sapping the power of the demons who hold men, and driving
them out. 3
In the name of this same Son of God, firstborn of every creature, who
was born of a virgin, and became man subject to suffering, and was
crucified under Pontius Pilate, ... and died, and rose again from the
dead, and ascended into heaven, every demon exorcised is conquered
and subdued. 31
Mock as you like, but get the demons, if you can, to join in your
mocking-let them deny that Christ is coming to judge! ... Why, all
the authority and power we have over them comes from our naming
the Name of Christ ... At our touch and breathing ... they leave at
our command the bodies they have entered-unwilling. distressed. and
put to an open shame before your eyes. 33
Some do, really and truly, cast out demons, so that the very ones who
have been cleansed from evil spirits often believe. and are in the
Church ... What is more, as I said. even the dead have been raised
and remained with us for considerable years . . Nor does the Church
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that very city. and I knew about some others. so numerous even in
these times, that we cannot know all of them nor enumerate those
we know. 40
Blandina was filled with such power that those who took it in turns to
subject her to every kind of torture from morning to night were
exhausted by their efforts and confessed themselves beaten-they could
think of nothing else to do to her ... But the blessed woman. wrestling
magnificently, grew in strength as she proclaimed the faith, and found
refreshment. rest, and insensibility to her sufferings in uttering the
words: 'I am a Christian; we do nothing to be ashamed of. ' 4 "
Shahlufa grew more and more aflame with the ardour of God's love:
it was he who baptised the inhabitants of the village of Teii-Niaha into
the religion of the Blessed Trinity. He did this by a miracle, by means
of which the Saviour was pleased to demonstrate that his servant was
speaking the truth.
One of the headmen of the village, called Nakkiha, was seriously ill
with dysentery. As his illness only went on increasing daily. and no one
in his village was found who was able to cure him, his parents took him
to the city of Arbil ... Shahlufa went to visit him, at a time when all
the relatives who had come with him were assembled. He promised
them that he would heal him completely of the disease, if they did all
he asked of them; and he began to expound the Christian faith. proving
it from the Divine Books ...
He showed them that Jesus. crucified by the Jews in Jerusalem. is
God. Son of God, and that he suffered only of his own free choice. and
in order to deliver us from slavery to demons. All agreed with what he
said, and promised him that if he proved the truth of his words by
healing Nakkiha, they would believe ...
St. Shahlufa began to pray, and healed this incurable disease by the
sign of the cross-for everything is easy for God. A great number of
the inhabitants of the village believed the word of God and received
baptism. 46
Jesus, who is called your Teacher, wrote for you that 'if you have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain. Be
removed and be cast into the sea: it shall be done. ' 47 Apparently.
therefore. there is not one wise man in all your people whose prayer is
heard. and who asks of God that your persecutors shall cease from
troubling you. For clearly it is written for you in that passage: 'Nothing
shall be impossible unto you. ' 4H
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Apostles in turn had been martyrs. And also concerning our brothers
who are in the West, in the days of Diocletian there came great
affliction and persecution to the whole Church of God ...
In our days these things have happened to us on account of our sins,
but also in order that what is written might be fulfilled, even as our
Redeemer said, 'All these things must come to pass. ' 49 The Apostle also
said: 'We also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. ' 511
This is our honour, in which many confess, and are slain. 5 1
The Life of Mar Aba, written before 579 A.D., gives an account of
the life and sufferings of the greatest of the Patriarchs of the East,
who held office from 539 to 552. Only one miraculous event, if we
choose so to interpret it, is recorded-in connexion with his
conversion. He was a land valuation officer, and one day, during the
spring floods, came down to a ferry to cross the Tigris and visit his
home. Yusuf, a Christian in the dress of a mendicant, was already
sitting in the boat. The officer turned him out, and ordered the
ferryman to cross over. A storm arose, and the ferry was beaten back
by the wind. The Life of Mar Aba says this happened three times, but
another account says twice. Finally the officer allowed Yusuf to travel
across with him, and the wind fell completely. Arrived at the other
bank, the officer showed his real greatness by asking Yusuf's
forgiveness. Yusuf replied that a disciple of Jesus was forbidden to
harbour a grudge. The quiet witness of this answer led to further
questions, attendance at church, and finally baptism. 52 I feel
reasonably certain that the conversion of this outstanding man of God
was brought about through the combination of a 'nature-miracle' and
a quiet personal testimony.
Thomas of Marga, in his Book of Governors (about 840), tells the
stories of four outstanding missionaries among the Turks and Chinese
during the patriarchate of Timothy I (780-823). In the case of three of
them, no miracles are recorded, and Thomas says clearly he had
heard of none. The fourth was Elijah, who evangelized Mogan, to
the west of the Caspian Sea. He was a simple ascetic, a man of deep
and practical devotional life and great faith in the power of prayer.
He had his own method of concentration:
Mar Abraham told me that ... every time he repeated aloud the
verse of a Psalm, Elijah would say 'Hallelujah! Glory be to thee,
0 God' in such a way that his mind was compelled to think about the
verse which was coming next ... He cared less about the quantity of
the Psalms which he sang than for the doubling of the riches and the
concentration of the thoughts which were in his mind. It seemed a
waste of time to him that others were saying the Psalter of David twice
in a day and night, while minds were building up. and hiding, and
judging. and condemning, and buying, and selling. 53
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And he blessed the oil taken from the phial which he had upon him.
and by prayer. and the sign of the Cross. and the making mention of
the Father. and the Son, and the lloly Ghost. he healed them all. 54
He also cast out evil spirits, and preached the Gospel. They were
convinced and converted, but there was still a barrier:
Elijah, however, asked for no miracle. 'Where is this Yazd, the son of
a b-?' he asked sharply. They took him to a hilltop and showed him
a mighty oak tree, situated in a valley. He called for an axe, rolled up
his sleeves and girded up his loins, and went down alone to fell the
tree. In an incident remarkably parallel to what Boniface had done in
Germany a century earlier, Elijah severed the main trunk, and then
called the watching people to come and make a bonfire of the wood.
Now the people were ready for baptism. They built a church; their
lives were changed; Elijah baptized many, and ordained priests and
deacons. Later. on a visit to Mesopotamia, he was called to help a
Muslim woman who was in the power of an evil spirit. He laid his
Book of the Gospels on the breast of the afflicted woman, and
commanded the devil to come out and depart to Harran in the west.
The devil shouted in Arabic 'Ho, let us go to Harran!' many times.
getting farther and farther away. The woman was completely cured,
and confessed, 'There is no true belief except among the holy
Christian people·. 56
The East was also infected with the desire for relics, and round about
370 Ephraim the Syrian wrote a hymn about relics of St. Thomas said
to have been brought by a merchant from India. Its refrain runs:
While they were resting in one of the churches of this city Mar
Ishu'-Yab saw a white marble casket ... and he saw the mighty deeds
that were wrought there by means of it, and he learned that there were
inside it some of the bones, and portions of the bodies of the blessed
Apostles, and being hot with the desire of his love for the casket in
which these were laid, he offered up prayers ... that by his means it
might be brought to this country. Not knowing what to do, he
entrusted the matter to God, asking that, while he used all human
efforts, Christ would protect and defend him in a Divine manner. This
actually happened, for he stole it and brought it with him here with all
the honour due to the holy pearls it contained. 5 x
But I should like to conclude this brief account of the Church of the
East on a more positive note. In June 1977 I had the privilege of
visiting a little Assyrian Christian village in the hills north of
Rezaiyeh, in north-western Iran near the Turkish border. The village
bore the name of Kalisa (Church), and in the centre of it was a plain
rectangular building said to date from 550 A.D. It had a flat roof,
surmounted by three crosses, with a Persian flag flying from it. We
entered the very low door and found ourselves in the nave of a small
church, which had been recently furnished with benches. The
sanctuary was higher up, behind a curtain, and north of it was a
second small chapel. North of the nave was a third, carpeted chapel
which we were told was for private devotions, and beside it, opening
on the outside, a room where the sick were brought for healing. It
was a moving thought that for fourteen hundred years village
Christians had worshipped there, and brought their sick for healing.
Miracles in the West-Bede
For some account of miracles in the West after the fall of the Roman
Empire we can turn to the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735) whose
History of the English Church and People covers the period up to 731.
and contains many stories of miracles. In the Preface to his
translation Sherley-Price has a valuable discussion of the miraculous
element. He points out that Bede based his History on both written
sources and verbal statements of people he considered reliable.
When we examine the miracles themselves, we find that some may be
discounted as plagiarisms of Gospel miracles ... Others arc clearly
pious forgeries ... Others may spring from pcrfervid imagination or
from coincidence. Others, again. may be due to causes that would not
be regarded as miraculous today. But even when ruthless pruning has
greatly reduced their number, there remains an indissoluble core that
cannot be explained by any known natural means. and attributable
solely to the supernatural power of God ... God is not bound or
restricted in the means by which he manifests his power or answers the
prayer of faith ... It is an indication of the temper of the age in which
we live that some who profess and call themselves Christians have so
little faith in the reality of God's power and mercy that they regard
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On his arrival he found a girl, the niece of the landlord. who had long
suffered from paralysis; and when members of the household told him
about the girl's disease, he began to describe to them the place where
his horse had been cured. So they put the girl into a cart. took her to
the place, and laid her down. Once there, she fell asleep and. on
wakening. she found herself restored to health. She asked for water.
and washed her face; then she tidied her hair. adjusted her linen
headgear, and returned home on foot in perfect health with those who
had brought her. 60
He went in. taking me with him to sec the girl who ... lay helpless and
in great pain, with her arm swollen to such a size that she could not
bend her elbow. The bishop stood and said a prayer over her. and
having given her his blessing, went out. Some while later. as we were
sitting at table. someone came in and asked me to come outside. saying
'Coenbcrg'-for that was the girl's name-'wishes you to come back to
her room at once.· I did so. and when I entered, I found her looking
cheerful. and apparently in sound health. And when I sat down bv her
she said: 'Would you like me to ask for a drink?' 'Certainly,' I replied.
'I shall be delighted if you will.' When a cup had been brought and we
both had drunk. she began to tell me what had happened. 'As soon as
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the bishop had blessed me and gone away, I began to feel better; and
although I have not yet recovered my full strength, the pain has
entirely left my arm where it was most intense. and from all my
body ... although the swelling in my arm seems to remain.· When we
left the convent, the disappearance of the pain in her limbs was
followed by a subsidence of the swelling, and the girL saved from pain
and death, gave thanks to our Lord and Saviour." 1
My very dear brother, I hear that Almighty God has done great
things through you ... Let your joy be tempered with awe at God's
heavenly gifts, and thank him that the souls of the English are being
drawn to inward grace through outward miracles. At the same time.
beware lest the frail mind becomes proud because of these wonderful
events ... For God's chosen do not all work miracles."~
She is alive. I have added to her life.' ... Suddenly my sister moved
her arm. opened her eyes, sat bolt upright and looked around her in
wonder. 79
I said to my friend, 'We will pray with her and anoint her.· After we
had anointed her, her chin dropped. My friend said, 'She is dead.' I
looked into her face and said, 'In the name of Jesus I rebuke this
death.· From the crown of her head to the sole of her feet her whole
body began to tremble. 'In the name of Jesus, I command you to walk,'
I said. I repeated, 'In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. walk!'
and she walked. 80
At the same time, in a land where there is a strong belief in the occult,
especially in the wearing of charms and visits to the tombs of holy men,
demonic influence cannot be ruled out. A lad, challenged by a
Pakistani exorcist as to his identity, replied in the plural: 'We are the
spirits of the good people who dwell at the holy man's tomb.' I knew
personally an Australian Anglican missionary, the Revd. Sid Iggulden,
who was greatly used in the 1970s in a ministry of deliverance among
Muslims. But 'the ability to distinguish between spirits' 82 is essential.
Signs and wonders. A few years ago a visitor to China told how
during the Cultural Revolution Christians holding a service on a
hillside were made invisible to their persecutors. 83 One has to set this
story against the one Doreen Irvine recounts of how she and other
witches used occult influences t'o make themselves invisible to
Christians searching for them. 84
The Indonesian Revival saw many instances of the miraculous-
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i19
Churchman
NOTES
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Miracles in Church History
49 Matt. 24:6.
50 Heb. 12:1.
51 Afrahat (Aphraates). Demonstration. 21. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.).
52 For full details see W.G. Young, Patriarch. Shah and Caliph. Christian Study
Centre. Rawalpindi 1973. pp.60-62.
53 E.A. Wallis Budge, The Book of Governors, The Historia Monastica of Thomas.
Bishop of Marga. Kegan. Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. 1883. V, 9. pp.502-503.
54 Ibid. V, 11, p.510.
55/bid. V,ll,p.Sit.
56 Ibid. V. II, p.517.
57 Ephraim Syrus. Nisibene Hymns 42. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.).
58 Budge, op. cit., II. 5, pp.127-128.
59 Leo Sherley-Price, Bede. A History of the English Church and People. Penguin
Classics 1955. pp.30-3 I.
60 Bede III. 9-ibid. pp.153-154.
61 Bede V. ?r-ibid. p.269.
62 Bede I, 31-ibid. pp.87-88.
63 James 5: 14-16.
64 Francis MacNutt, Healing, Ave Maria Press. Indiana 1974, p.42.
65 Letter from Fr. Mark Dilworth, Keeper. Scottish Catholic Archives.
66 See the representative list given in J.G.G. Norman. art. 'Spiritual Healing· in
The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Zondervan 1974. p.927.
67 Quoted in letter from Fr. Dilworth.
68 John Howie of Lochgoin, Scots Worthies. Scottish Collection. pp.123-4.
69 Peter Toon. art. 'Exorcism· in The New International Dictionary of the Christian
Church, p.365.
70 Alexander Smellie, Men of the Covenant, 7th Edition 1909. Banner of Truth Trust
1960. pp.461-464.
71 Mrs. Howard Taylor. Pastor Hsi, Overseas Missionary Fellowship. 1949 edn.
72 Leslie Lyall, John Soong, Overseas Missionary Fellowship. 1954.
73 Cameron Peddie. The Forgotten Talent. Arthur James. 1985.
74 Kurt Koch. Revival in Indonesia. Evangelisation Publishers. W. Germany. about
1970, pp.l22-4, 13~9. 158-9. and passim.
75 Letter from Fr. Mark Dilworth.
76 Demos Shakarian/John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Happiest People on Earth.
Hodder and Stoughton 1975. p.l83.
77 Testimony of the Revd. Alex Muir of Canisbay. who was in Nigeria at the time.
78 Koch. op. cit .. p.138.
79 Gulshan Esterffhelma Sangster. The Torn Veil. Marshalls 1984. pp. 102-3.
80 S.E. Frodsham, Smith Wigglesworth. Apostle of Truth, Assemblies of God
Publishing House, 1949. p.37.
81 Art. 'Mental Health' in Heralds of Health. Christian Medical Fellowship 1985.
p.199.
82 I Cor. 12: to.
83 Brother Keith. Taped Report on visit to China.
84 Doreen Irvine. From Witchcraft to Christ. Concordia 1<)73. pp.99-IOO.
85 Koch. op. cit. pp.207, 209-11. 213-16.
86 Statement by John N. Young. Edinburgh.
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