Miracle Stories

by

Wendy Cotter

Introduction

A miracle story is a narrative that has its climax in a divine, supernatural event/act. This bibliography addresses the interpretation of the Jesus miracle stories through contextualizing them in a historical, socioreligious, and literary manner. The importance of these cannot be overemphasized. The historical era, the cultural climate, the political reality, the Jewish religious background of Jesus and of first followers, the social signals that were understood by that culture, and the literary context provided by the larger works in which the stories would appear all serve to clarify the meaning of the Jesus miracle stories. The bibliography that follows is intended to provide a pertinent set of texts to address these various aspects of interpreting the Jesus miracles, as they stand in the gospel sources, the gospels themselves, through the Acts of the Apostles, and concluding with the letters of Paul. That is, this bibliography addresses the miracles of Jesus and their meaning in the collection of the New Testament canon.

General Overviews

Miracle provides a review of miracles across the world and religious orientations. Bee-Schroedter 1998 offers various approaches to miracle stories, and Eve 2002 follows miracle stories through Jewish history into early Judaism. Keller and Keller 1968 presents scholarly arguments that have ensued over whether miracles are even possible. Moule 1965 addresses biblical miracles, the GrecoRoman background, and miracle stories in the early Church. Remus 1982 alerts the reader that even the language used for miracle can have various meanings depending on the user’s background. Suhl 1980 focuses on the manner in which each gospel uses miracle stories for a particular portrait of Jesus. Weder 1992 looks to various methods for interpretation, while Wenham and Blomberg 1986 opens up the scope to discuss a variety of topics concerning miracle stories.

• Bee-Schroedter, Heike. Neutestamentliche Wundergeschichten im Spiegel vergangener und gegenwärtiger Rezeptionen. Historisch-exegetische und empirisch-entwicklungspsychologische Studien. Stuttgart biblische Beiträge 39. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1998.

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  With an aim for the book to be helpful for educators and exegetes, the author first presents the various approaches that have been adopted to study miracles (historicity studies, redactional analysis, historical-critical examinations) and then turns to the social scientific evidence of how children perceive the miracle stories.

• Eve, Eric. The Jewish Context of Jesus’ Miracles. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement 231. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic, 2002.

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  This extensive study of miracle stories examines the idea of miracles in every era of Jewish history and in every major tradition, concluding with the miracles of Jesus, which the author shows are enhanced by this Jewish background but are still distinctive.

• Keller, Ernst, and Marie-Luise Keller. Miracles in Dispute: A Continuing Debate. Translated by Margaret Kohl. London: SCM, 1968.

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  A historical overview of the scholarly argument about whether a miracle is possible.

• “Miracle.” In Encyclopedia Brittanica Online, 2011.

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  This article places miracle stories against the backdrop of the world at large and different religions. It also refers to articles in other encyclopedias on various perspectives on miracles.

• Moule, C. F. D., ed. Miracles. Cambridge Studies in Their Philosophy and History. London: Mowbray, 1965.

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  This anthology of essays addresses the subject of miracle stories in the Old and New testaments, in non-Jewish and Jewish sources from the GrecoRoman period and those of the early Church.

• Remus, Harold. “Does Terminology Distinguish Early Christian from Pagan Miracles?” Journal of Biblical Literature 101.4 (1982): 531–551.

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  It is impossible to identify terminology to distinguish Christ’s miracles from those of pagan heroes. The positive or negative meaning of semeia (sign) or teras (wonder) depends on the context and custom of the narrators, and their disposition toward the hero.

• Suhl, Alfred, ed. Der Wunderbegriff im Neuen Testament. Wege der Forschung, 295. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1980.

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  This collection of essays by an array of prestigious scholars offers a full discussion of the miracle stories, beginning with the biblical concept of miracle followed by important articles on the gospel miracles and their Christologies.

• Weder, Hans. “Wunder Jesu und Wundergeschichten.” In Einblicke ins Evangeliums. Exegetische Beiträge zur neutestamentlichen Hermeneutik. Gessammelte Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1980–1991. By Hans Weder, 61–93. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1992.

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  In this erudite chapter of his larger work, Weder presents the major methods that are presently employed to interpret the miracle stories, with a final question about their purpose and efficacy.

• Wenham, David, and Craig Blomberg, eds. The Miracles of Jesus. Gospel Perspectives 6. Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1986.

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  Twelve articles address a variety of historical and philosophical issues concerning the miracles of Jesus, such as the question of their distinction from magic, the figure of Jesus as a Hellenistic divine man, the connection of miracles to parables, miracles as apocalyptic, etc. The volume concludes with a concise review and summary by Blomberg.