![]() I will now describe two types of genuine miracles. It is sufficient for us to know that his power exists and that we have been warned against it (see Rev. I will say no more of this, since I believe it is not desirable to say much about the powers of the evil one. The adversary has great powers to deceive, and he will use these to give his corrupted copy of the genuine miracles worked by the power of God. Not every manifestation or miracle comes from God or from mortal deception. ![]() You will remember that these pretenders were rejected by the Lord (see Matt. The Savior taught that as part of the Final Judgment many would say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” ( Matt. We know from the scriptures that persons without authority will use the name of Jesus Christ to work what seem to be miracles. Before we are too critical of such techniques, we should remember that we engage in similar deceptions whenever we exaggerate a happening in order to dazzle an audience into thinking we have experienced a miracle or to enhance our stature in other ways. A great religious revival was under way in that city, and I was told the revivalists had hired all of the available professional actors to portray miraculous healings and conversions to enhance their position and goals with their audiences. About 40 years ago a professional dramatic production planned for a midwestern city had to be postponed because the producers could not find enough professional actors to perform the required roles. Religious practitioners have employed similar deceptions in our own day. Perhaps these magicians were servants of the devil, using his power, but I think it more likely that they were simply skilled practitioners of magic tricks that they used to reinforce their position in Pharaoh’s court. You will remember that the magicians in Pharaoh’s court duplicated some of the miracles Moses produced through the power of God (see Ex. I call them miracles because I do not personally understand them and therefore cannot duplicate them at will.Īnother category of miracles, so-called, are the tricks that some magicians and religious practitioners stage in order to produce astonishing events in aid of their professions or ministries. But these wonders are explainable by physical laws understood by some mortals. We sometimes say that any happening we cannot explain is a “miracle.” To me, a computer is a miracle. The word miracle is used in different ways. Hunter declared, “To deny the reality of miracles on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictitious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it.” 3 Types of Miracles Some people reject the possibility of miracles because they have not experienced them or cannot understand them. He also prophesied that churches would be built up in which persons would teach with their learning, deny the power of God, and tell the people that if someone should “say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not for this day he is not a God of miracles” ( 2 Ne. The prophet Nephi foretold that the Gentiles would “put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain” ( 2 Ne. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once called “the anti-miracle mind-set.” 2 This rejection of miracles in the last days was prophesied. All of us have known people who have what Elder Neal A. Many of you have witnessed miracles, perhaps more than you realize.Ī miracle has been defined as “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate.” 1 The idea that events are brought about through divine power is rejected by most irreligious people and even by some who are religious. ![]() In fact, many miracles happen every day in the work of our Church and in the lives of our members. Like Elder Cowley, I will seek to provide an answer to the prophet Mormon’s question “Has the day of miracles ceased?” ( Moro. That devotional message had a great impact on me, and I have felt to revisit its subject. When I was a college student, almost 50 years ago, Elder Matthew Cowley (1897–1953) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to a BYU audience about miracles.
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