Mundane and Miraculous

I very recently blogged about miracles. I'm very adamant about my belief in miracles. And yet just the other day I read an article titled "'By Small Means': Rethinking the Liahona" in which the authors posit that rather than the ex nihilo wonder we have accepted as true, the Liahona was both a common astrolabe, and a dowry from Ishmael to Lehi's family. I don't see that it's outside the realm of possibility, but I did not find the paper unproblematic.

From a scholarly standpoint, its Book of Mormon exegesis was acceptable, if not compelling. It was perhaps dismissive of passages, choosing which ones it favored because they supported the argument. That's shaky logos, but a necessary part of putting the idea into the historical conversation, and it's an idea that shouldn't be dismissed simply because the more spiritual passages of scripture seem to favor a more "magical" explanation.

The problem I had with the article begins with the epigraph, which is a quote from Brigham Young (NOT my favorite prophet. We continue to have several ideological differences. For one, I'm slightly less racist). It is from the Journal of Discourses: “Yet I will say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the ignorant — that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we call miracles are no more than this — they are the results or effects of causes hidden from our understandings ... [I]t is hard to get the people to believe that God is a scientific character, that He lives by science or strict law, that by this He is, and by law He

was made what He is; and will remain to all eternity because of His faithful adherence to law. It is a most difficult thing to make the people believe that every art and science and all wisdom comes from Him, and that He is their Author.”

Brigham Young isn't wrong, he just got careless with his words. God does adhere to laws we don't yet understand. And these laws allowed Jesus to spit into the dirt, spread the mud on a man's eyes, and give him sight, which he had never before had. I mean, sure, there's a scientific explanation for it among the celestial university teachings, but the point of a miracle is to do something unexpected: to manifest power to do something that is beyond the probable and nearing impossible. It is for God to show his hand in ways He does not usually.

The Book of Mormon, specifically Mormon 9:10-21, declares that the day of miracles has not ceased. It emphasizes that if we are not seeing miracles, it is because we lack faith. That is not to claim that we can command God, but that our eyes should be opened to seeing His hand. That is a spiritual gift that follows faith.

The difference between the miraculous and the mundane varies from event to event. When God touched the brother of Jared's stones, his hand could not be hidden behind the veil because of the brother of Jared's faith. It is possible that stones have been made to glow previously - by heat, or by bioluminescence, or by chemistry (both ancient and modern). Science can make stones glow. I mean, it can make nuclear submarines. As Brigham Young points out, that doesn't mean it isn't God's hand.

The miracle was both in the glowing of the stones (by whatever physical means), AND that the Lord's hand was made visible. So I would tell anyone who does not see miracles to have faith, and to pray to see God's hand in the things that happen every day. When you see how powerful he is, then you understand that nothing is impossible to God.

So I ran across that article and I pondered it for several days, and then I came across the following scripture during my daily Book of Mormon study:  But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.

Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings. (Mosiah 8:17-18)

Miracles are a way that God works for people through other people, and anyone who has the faith can see it working.

I reaffirm that miracles happen. God can make things happen that seem impossible to us, whether that's healing by faith or simply sending peace to our hearts so we can endure this life well. But his influence is ubiquitous, whether we see it or not, and if we open our eyes to see it, we can have the wonder and gratitude and optimism of watching a world where nothing is mundane - where everything is miraculous. Everything is magic, and the magic is real.

Magic