1341
. From Craig S. Keener, “Miracle Reports and the Argument from Analogy,” Bulletin for Biblical Research
25
(
4
,
2015
):
475–95
. Reprinted by permission from Penn State University Press.
. This essay is based on my plenary paper for the Institute for Biblical Research Annual Lecture, November
21
,
2014
. I am grateful to Profs. Darrell L. Bock and Robert L. Webb for their responses; I remain responsible for errors that remain. I offered a similar plenary address (“Miracle Reports in the Gospels and Today”) at “Special Divine Action,” the
2014
conference for the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, Oxford University, July
14
,
2014
. For related discussions see Keener, Miracles; Keener, “Miracle Reports: Perspectives”; Keener, “Comparisons.”
. Strauss, however, did use analogies from his day to help him explain early Christian demonization accounts (see Fabisiak, Nocturnal Side).
. For various views on (or related to) whether historians should adjudicate miracle claims (not including the vast related literature in philosophy), see e.g., Tucker, “History”; Gregory, “Secular Bias”; Førland, “Historiography”; Webb, “Enterprise,”
39–54
; Licona and Van der Watt, “Historians”; Licona and Van der Watt, “Adjudication”; Licona, “Historians”; now also Twelftree, “Historian.”
. I address biblical and philosophic theologies of miracles, issues that differ from the focus of this essay, in, respectively, “Miracles” (
2015
); and “Miracles” (
2017
).
. That the argument is modest must be emphasized, since modern experiences do not demonstrate the authenticity of ancient analogues; they do, however, refute the argument, based on the alleged modern nonoccurrence of such experiences, against ancient analogues. Although modest, my argument remains necessary because of the influence of the argument it counters.
. E.g., Theissen and Merz, Guide,
310
; also Wink, “Write,”
6
; deSilva, “Meaning,”
16–17
. Some late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century thinkers already made similar observations; see Mullin, Miracles,
185
–
86
,
219
.
. This interest has birthed a range of scholarship today; from within IBR itself, see e.g., the contributions in Keener and Carroll, Voices.
. Sanneh, Whose Religion?,
26
.
. Certainly I do recognize that the Gospel writers themselves also apply lessons from Jesus’s healings to wider aspects of his mission (see e.g., Mark
2
:
10
,
17
; Matt
8
:
17
; Keener, Matthew,
273
,
290–91
,
298
). But denying their physical dimension essentially allegorizes the narratives.
. Cf. Jenkins, Next Christendom,
122
–
31
.
. On such sanctuaries, see e.g., Keener, Acts,
1
:
326–29
; Popkes, “Medizinwesen,”
79–82
.
. E.g., Evans, Narrative, 137–202; Ward, “Believing”; Breggen, “Miracle Reports”; Larmer, Legitimacy.
. Hume, Miracles,
31
(following deist arguments and opposing earlier empiricists; see Burns, Debate,
51
,
77
).
. See e.g., Swinburne, Miracle; Houston, Miracles; Evans, Narrative,
153–54
; Johnson, Hume; Earman, Failure; Earman, “Hume”; McGrew, “Miracles.”
. MacMullen, Christianizing,
24
. Likewise, some sociologists of religion contend that sociologists can report their subjects’ miracle claims, but cannot as sociologists rule on the possibility of the subjects’ claims of supernatural activity (Miller and Yamamori, Pentecostalism,
153
; cf.
104
).
. MacMullen, Christianizing,
7
; Ashton, Religion,
32
–
40
; Eve, Miracles,
357
–
59
; Craffert, “Healer”; McClymond, Stranger, 83; Klutz, Exorcism Stories,
196
–
97
.
. Placher, Mark,
76
; cf. Van Wyk and Viljoen, “Benaderings”; Eve, Healer,
118
–
19
.
. For summaries of this consensus, see Blackburn, “Miracles,”
362
; Davies, Healer,
44
; Eve, Miracles,
16
–
17
; Dunn, Remembered,
670
; Green, “Healing,”
758
; Hultgren, “Stories,”
134–35
; Licona and Van der Watt, “Historians,”
2
; Twelftree, “Message,”
2518–19
; for examples, see Betz, Jesus,
58–60
; Smith, Magician, 16; Sanders, Jesus and Judaism,
11
; Meier, Marginal Jew,
2
:
617
–
45
,
678
–
772
; Brown, Death,
143
–
44
; Theissen and Merz, Guide,
113
,
281
–
315
; Twelftree, Miracle Worker; Blomberg, Gospels,
127
–
36
.
. Ehrman, Prophet,
197
–
200
. Ehrman has more recently chosen to demur from the dominant consensus of Jesus as a miracle worker, a consensus that he recognizes as such (Ehrman, Before Gospels,
221–22
).
. With e.g., Mussner, Miracles,
19
–
22
; Sabourin, Miracles,
69
; Rowland, Origins,
146
–
47
.
. For Josephus, see Ant.
18
.
63
; Vermes, Jesus the Jew,
79
; Vermes, “Notice”; see also Meier, Marginal Jew,
2
:
621
; Theissen and Merz, Guide,
74
.
. See discussions in e.g., Sanders, Jesus and Judaism,
166
; Yamauchi, “Magic,”
90
–
91
; Cook, Interpretation,
36
–
39
,
138
. Other dramatic works appear in Paul’s depiction of and appeal to eyewitness experience of his own ministry (Rom
15
:
19
;
2
Cor
12
:
12
), in Revelation (Rev
11
:
5–6
), and the expectation of healing in James (Jas
5
:
14–15
).
. See Meier, Marginal Jew,
2
:
576–616
and esp.
624
; Keener, Miracles,
66–71
, and the many sources cited there.
. Bahrdt and Venturini in Schweitzer, Quest,
39
–
44
.
. See discussion and sources in Keener, Miracles,
172–76
; for prior background in Hume and deists (and the radical Enlightenment as opposed to early English scientists such as Newton), see
107–70
.
. See here especially Frei, Eclipse,
233
–
44
; Heyer, Jesus Matters,
24
–
25
; Paget, “Quests,”
143
; Rössler, “Mensch.” Even Schweitzer, Quest,
68
–
95
, opined that Strauss went too far.
. Ising, Blumhardt,
221–22
, citing the original correspondence.
. Strauss did allow for Jesus’s cure of “nervous” disorders (so Wilson, “Miracles,”
13
), and so presumably would have regarded this case as analogous.
. Kelsey, Healing,
236
–
37
; Kydd, Healing,
34
; Ising, Blumhardt,
420
; cf. Barth, Letters,
251
(cf.
270
).
. Kydd, Healing,
42
n
40
.
. See esp. Ising, Blumhardt, passim.
. Cf. e.g., Bultmann, “Mythology,”
4
.
. González, Acts,
84
–
85
.
. Yung, “Integrity,”
173
; Yung, Mangoes,
6
.
. Jenkins, Next Christendom,
107
.
. Meier, Marginal Jew,
11
,
520
–
21
; Woodward, Miracles,
21
; cf. Matthews and Clark, Faith Factor,
4
; Johnson and Butzen, “Prayer,”
249
.
. “Spirit and Power” (
3
of overview). The study of global Pentecostalism has become a flourishing academic discipline; see e.g., Sánchez Walsh, Identity; Anderson, Pentecostalism; Anderson, Ends of the Earth; Bergunder, Movement. This interest includes their experiences of healing; see e.g., Währisch-Oblau, “Healthy”; Brown, Global Healing.
. “Spirit and Power” (
3
of overview).
. At http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report
2
–religious-landscape-study-full.pdf (accessed December
2
,
2008
; not accessible at this link in
2014
).
. See e.g., Keener, Miracles,
242–49
; Peters, Healing in Nepal,
51
–
53
,
61
,
63
,
65
–
68
; West, Sorcery,
90
; Turner, Experiencing Ritual, passim; Turner, Healers,
39
–
50
,
60
–
69
,
76
–
82
,
93
–
100
,
142
–
46
; Turner, “Religious Healing”; Desai, “Health”; Xiong, “Shamanism”; Foster, “Etiologies,”
778
–
79
; Castro, “Practices,” e.g.,
374
; Filson, “Analysis,”
77
; Narayanan, “Shanti”; Crawford, “Healing,”
34
–
35
; Winkelman and Carr, “Approach”; Arai, “Spirituality”; Hobart, Performance; Connor and Samuel, Healing Powers; Arakelova, “Practices”; Umeh, Dibia,
203
–
27
; Accoroni, “Healing Practices,”
5
–
11
; Eliade, Shamanism,
215
–
58
,
300
–
308
,
326
–
32
; Uyanga, “Characteristics”; Chin, “Practices,”
4
–
17
; Allison and Malony, “Surgery”; Mercado, “Power”; Forsberg, “Medicine”; Katz, “Healing”; Singh, “Prophet,”
106
.
. I note it here simply because this theological question is almost invariably raised (including in one of the formal responses to my IBR lecture), probably in part because of the legacy of one part of Hume’s essay (Hume, Miracles, 40–41), in turn developed from an argument of deists (Burns, Debate,
72
–
73
). I address the question elsewhere (and do personally theologically allow for non-Christian cases of extrahuman causation), but it is beside the point here (see Keener, Miracles,
193–98
; Burns, Debate,
242
–
44
; Houston, Miracles,
204
; Swinburne, “Introduction,”
17
).
. Unlike some others, Hume’s ethnocentrism was explicit and in fact contributed support to the continuance of slavery; see Ten, “Racism”; Taliaferro and Hendrickson, “Racism”; Keener, “Case.”
. Cf. e.g., Mark
3
:
22
; Matt
11
:
21
//Luke
10
:
13
; John
11
:
45–46
; Acts
14
:
3–6
.
. Many healing reports also appear in non-Christian religious contexts today; note the sources cited in Keener, Miracles,
242–49
, including many essays in Barnes and Sered, Religion and Healing; Turner, Healers. Nevertheless, I have limited space to explore these issues here and the Christian claims were most accessible to me.
. See e.g., De Wet, “Signs,” passim (esp.
92
); more recently, Moreland, Triangle,
166
–
67
.
. Währisch-Oblau, “Healthy,”
92–93
; Währisch-Oblau, “Salvation,”
313
(the lower figure, from within the official China Christian Council); Tang, “Healers,”
481
(the higher figure, focusing on rural areas).
. Bergunder, Movement,
233
(Chennai was then called Madras).
. Pastor S. Israel, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, November
2
,
1997
; May
6
,
1998
. I have received accounts on the same subject from many other students or acquaintances from India, e.g., Alex Abraham, interview, Irving, Texas, October
29
,
2009
(Abraham is also a neurologist); Ebenezer Perinbaraj, Wilmore, Kentucky, December
25
,
2012
.
. Douglass Norwood, interview, Philadelphia, June
6
,
2006
; also in Norwood, “Colloquium,”
24
–
26
. Norwood, then a Moravian pastor, was present at the precipitating event.
. Kelsey, Healing,
150
–
51
(citing Irenaeus Her.
2
.
6
.
2
;
2
.
10
.
4
;
2
.
31
.
2
;
2
.
32
.
4
–
5
;
3
.
5
.
2
); cf. much more fully, Barrett-Lennard, Healing,
89
–
135
.
. Tertullian Scap.
4
, in Kelsey, Healing,
136
–
37
.
. MacMullen, Christianizing,
61
–
62
.
. McGee, “Radical Strategy,”
72
; see also McGee, “Regions Beyond,”
83
–
84
; Satyavrata, “Perspectives,”
205
; Burgess, “Pandita Ramabai,”
194
–
95
.
. McGee, “Radical Strategy,”
73
; McGee, Miracles,
50
; Wiyono, “Pentecostalism in Indonesia,”
313
; Dermawan, “Study,”
256
,
262
.
. Shaw, Awakening,
44–45
; Kim, “Healing,”
273–74; Lee, Movement,
41–47
,
111
,
113
,
134
.
. See e.g., Zhaoming, “Chinese Denominations,”
440
; McGee, Miracles,
190
,
302
; McGee, “Radical Strategy,”
91
; cf. also the Shandong (Shantung) revival of the
1930
s (Oblau, “Healing,”
309
; Bays, “Revival,”
173
; McGee, Miracles, 191
). Many note the ministry of Dr. Shang-chieh Song (John Sung;
1901–1944
); see Young, “Miracles in History,”
116
; Bays, “Revival,”
173
; Solomon, “Healing,”
362
; Yung, “Power,”
81
; Leung, “Conversion,”
89
,
106
; Oblau, “Healing,”
309
.
. Sanneh, West African Christianity,
123–25
,
181
–
83
; Hanciles, “Conversion,”
169–70
; Yates, Expansion,
170
,
172
; Burgess, Revolution,
67
; Brockman, “Braide”; Koschorke, Ludwig, and Delgado, History,
223
–
26
; Kalu, African Pentecostalism, 20
,
31
,
36
–
39
; Amadi, “Healing,”
367
–
68
. On William Wadé Harris specifically, see further Shank, “Prophet”; Shank, Prophet Harris; Haliburton, Harris; Walker, “Harrist Church”; Walker, Revolution; Bartels, Roots,
174–78
; Isichei, “Soul of Fire”; Sanneh, West African Christianity, 123–25; Bediako, Christianity in Africa,
91
–
93
,
103
–
4
,
204
; Walls, Movement,
87
–
88
,
98
–
99
; Anderson, “Signs,”
202
; Southon, Methodism, 144
–
45
.
. Often the explanation is an as-yet unexplained anomaly, which, other factors being equal, is a possibility. When a theist posits such an “explanation,” however, they are typically accused of falling into “God-of-the-gaps” or an apologetic bias.
. E.g., Matt
11
:
20–24
//Luke
10
:
13–15
; John
11
:
45–46
.
. See “Science or Miracle,” summarizing results of a survey by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary (available e.g., at https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/
20041220005244
/en/Science-Miracle-Holiday-Season-Survey-Reveals-Physicians [accessed
1/5/2020
]).
. Llewellyn, “Events,”
253
; cf. Gorsuch, “Limits,”
282
.
. On patients not sharing these experiences with their doctors, see e.g., Poloma, Assemblies,
57
; Duffin, Miracles,
131
; I have often noticed this frustrating pattern in my interviews.
. See e.g., Cranston, Miracle. For a historical study of Catholic medical documentation and the historically-shaped assumptions that inform its usage, see Duffin, Miracles.
. Gardner, “Miracles”; Gardner, Healing Miracles.
. Gardner, Healing Miracles,
202–5
.
. Barbara Cummiskey Snyder, phone interview, December
5
,
2015
; personal correspondence, July
11
,
2016
; Dr. Harold Adolph, personal correspondence, August
2
,
2014
(see also Adolph and Williams, Today’s Decisions,
48–49
, though leaving out some key details); Dr. Scott Kolbaba, phone interview, December
10
,
2016
(see also Kolbaba, Stories, part
4
).
. In addition to published accounts, witnesses include Kathy Evans (personal correspondence, November
10
,
2008
); Shelley Hollis (phone interview, January
10
,
2009
); more recently, see Deichmann, “Lessons,”
20
.
. Brown, Mory, Williams, and McClymond, “Effects.”
. Brown, Testing Prayer,
207–9
,
214–20
,
223–30
.
. Casdorph, Miracles,
25
–
33
; although the book’s level is popular, the author (an MD and PhD) includes the medical documentation.
. Medical documentation received September
26
,
2014
, from Joel Lantz and Bruce Van Natta.
. Nonyem Numbere, personal correspondence (including photographs), January
6
,
13
,
2010
.
. Tonye Briggs, phone interview, December
16
,
2009
.
. Carl Cocherell, phone interview, May
2
,
2009
; medical documentation in my possession, which I received June
17
,
2009
.
. Medical documentation from August
24
,
2005
; June
8
,
2006
; October
16
,
2009
; November
20
,
2009
.
. Romez, Zaritsky, and Brown, “Report.”
. See e.g., Keener, Miracles,
2
:
714–24
; Llewellyn, “Events,”
255
; Wilson, “Miracle Events,”
269–73
; Crandall, Raising,
50–52
,
152–53
; idem, phone interviews (May
28
,
30
,
2010
); Dr. Alex Abraham, interview (Irving, Texas, October
29
,
2009
).
. See e.g., Popper, Conjectures,
21
; Wuthnow, “Teaching,”
187
; Gorsuch, “Limits,”
284–85
; Licona, Resurrection,
171
n
119
; criticism of Hume in Mavrodes, “Hume,”
168; Earman, Failure,
33
; in science, cf. Jaki, “Miracles and Physics”; Ward, “Miracles and Testimony,”
133
.
. See, with various but probably ultimately complementary emphases on this point, Bauckham, “Eyewitnesses”; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 325–41
(esp.
327
,
331–34
),
345
,
492–505; Dunn, Perspective,
43–45
,
114–15; Eddy and Boyd, Legend,
275–85
; Redman, “Eyewitnesses”; McIver, “Eyewitnesses.” For the ancient Mediterranean emphasis on memory, see also Keener, Historical Jesus,
139–64
; Keener, “Assumptions”; Keener, “Biographies.”
. Cels.
1
.
46
,
67
, in Kelsey, Healing,
136
.
. See Augustine City
22
.
8
; Conf.
9
.
4
.
12
; see discussion in e.g., Herum, “Theology.”
. Ma, Mission,
65–66
. Some other reports of visibly and instantly healed goiters include Ma, Mission,
64
; Ma, “Vanderbout,”
130
; Gebru Woldu, interview, May
20
,
2010
; Bruce Kinabrew, personal correspondence, June
24
,
2008
; Dwight Palmquist, personal correspondence, February
2
,
2009
.
. Danny McCain, personal correspondence, June
1
,
2009
; interview, Wilmore, July
17
,
2011
; further details in personal correspondence, November
24
and
30
,
2014
. A doctor, Mirtha Venero Boza, also attests witnessing serious burns disappear during prayer; in her case it took a maximum of half an hour (interview, Santiago de Cuba, August
6
,
2010
).
. My younger brother Christopher Keener, now a PhD in physics, also witnessed this occasion, though his own memory of details is more vague because he was much younger (personal correspondence, January
30
and February
8
,
2009
).
. E.g., Mark
8
:
22
–
26
;
10
:
46
–
52
; Matt
11
:
5
//Luke
7
:
22
; Matt
12
:
22
;
15
:
30
–
31
;
21
:
14
; Luke
7
:
21
; John
9
:
7
.
. E.g., Capps, Village Psychiatrist,
8
,
57–80, suggests that the blindness could have been psychogenic in character; cf. Davies, Healer,
70–72
.
. See Keener, Miracles, 510–23
.
. Gardner, Healing Miracles,
31
–
35
. Many others could be included, such as the healing and restoration to sight of a punctured eye, as in Parker, “Suffering,”
216
.
. Gardner, Healing Miracles,
20
–
21
. On the disappearance of scar tissue in another case of healed blindness, see Spraggett, Kuhlman,
71
–
75
,
137
; and especially the details in Warner, Kuhlman,
132–34
.
. E.g., Chester Allan Tesoro, interview, January
30
,
2009
; Gebru Woldu (interview, May
20
,
2010
); Robin Shields, personal correspondence, February
7
,
2009
; Tom Parrish, interview, February
5
,
2014
; popular accounts in Salmon, Heals,
68
; Baker, Enough,
76
,
171
–
72
,
173
; cf. also the testimony of a retired radiologist in Brown, “Awakenings,”
363
.
. Flint McGlaughlin, personal correspondence, February
6
–
7
,
2009
; confirmed by another eyewitness, Robin Shields, personal correspondence, February
7
–
8
,
2009
.
. Interviews, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, June
3
,
2006
; May
13
,
2009
.
. Yolanda McCain, personal correspondence, October
3
,
2008
; Paul Mokake, interview, May
13
,
2009
.
. Bungishabaku Katho, interview, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, March
12
,
2009
. He belongs to Assemblée des Frères Evangélique, the Western equivalent of which has traditionally questioned continuing miracles.
. Ethan Lintemuth, personal correspondence, February
24
,
2019
.
. Medical reports from July
1
,
1999
; May
3
,
2002
; letter from the Social Security Administration, dated June
12
,
2003
.
. Matt
11
:
5
//Luke
7
:
22
; Mark
5
:
35
–
43
; Luke
7
:
11
–
17
; John
11
:
39
–
45
; Quadratus frg. in Eusebius Hist. eccl.
4
.
3
.
2
.
. See e.g., Irenaeus Her.
2
.
31
.
2
; Augustine City
22
.
8
; Gardner, “Miracles,”
1932
; Young, “Miracles in History,”
110
,
116
,
118
; Ising, Blumhardt,
207
,
219
; Straight, Miracles,
135
–
37
; Duffin, Miracles,
81
,
145
; more details in Keener, “Raised.”
. See Wesley, Journal,
55–56
(December
15–25
,
1742
). Historians often note this report; e.g., Kidd, “Healing,”
159
; Tomkins, Wesley,
106
. Other early modern reports include those in Ising, Blumhardt,
207
,
219
.
. I elaborately more lightly here because resuscitations are addressed more fully in Keener, “Raised.” See further discussion in Keener, Miracles,
536–79
.
. Cotton, Mada, and Mada, Raised, esp.
254–59
; Charlie and Florentina Mada, interview and review of medical documentation, Phoenix, Arizona, January
15
,
2019
.
. Yusuf Herman, interview, Wilmore, Kentucky, July
10
,
2011
; Dominggus Kenjam, August
7
,
2011
.
. Bush and Pegues, Move,
52
; examples include a report from Gebru Woldu (interview, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, May
20
,
2010
; personal correspondence, May
21
,
2010
; June
3
,
2010
).
. Leo Bawa, personal correspondence, August
10
,
2009
; Timothy Olonade, personal correspondence, May
12
,
22
,
2014
; interview, February
20
,
2015
.
. E.g., Jeanne Mabiala, interview, Brazzaville, Congo, July
29
,
2008
; Albert Bissouessoue, interview, Brazzaville, July
29
,
2008
; Antoinette Malombé, interview, Dolisie, Congo, July
12
,
2008
; Ngoma Moïse, phone interview, May
14
,
2009
.
. November
22
,
2009
; confirmed in J. Ayodeji Adewuya, phone interview, December
14
,
2009
; personal correspondence, December
16–17
,
2009
.
. De Wet, “Signs,”
110
–
11
(following Cunville, “Evangelization,”
156
–
57
).
. Miller and Yamamori, Pentecostalism,
151
–
52
. The sociologists themselves are not Pentecostal.
. Pastor Willie Soans, personal correspondence, November
3
,
2010
, via Ivan Satyavrata and Jacob Mathew.
. Elaine Panelo, interview, Baguio, Philippines, January
30
,
2009
.
. Mervin Ascabano, correspondence, January
9
,
2009
; February
6
,
2009
.
. James Watson, correspondence, November
27
,
2009
; Deborah Watson, personal correspondence, November
30
, December
9
,
2009
.
. Besides accessible reports online (e.g., Kay Quinn’s news report at NBC’s local St. Louis affiliate available at http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/features/
2015
/
02
/
03
/hear-miraculous-recovery-teen-rescued-ice/
22819829
/, published February
4
,
2015
and accessed February
7
,
2015
), see Smith, Impossible, esp.
241–43
; also Jason Noble, personal correspondence, April
15
and
21
,
2019
.
. Chauncey Crandall, phone interviews, May
28
,
30
,
2010
; Crandall, Raising,
1–5
. Cf. also Llewellyn, “Events,”
254–55
.
. Personal correspondence, November
8
,
2013
; his account also appears on the DVD Towards Belief (Olive Tree Media); for readily accessible documentation, see https://seangeorge.com.au/my-story/medical-details/ (accessed May
5
,
2019
). Accounts attested by doctors (normally including some medical intervention but extraordinary outcomes) occasionally receive media attention, as in journalist Kay Quinn’s news report above.
. One of these ten witnesses also witnessed such events three times (all attested also by other witnesses); another couple each witnessed such an event.
. For example, if one might estimate the probability of such an anomaly in the immediate circle of one’s family as one in ten (a rather generous estimate if exorbitant numbers of people are not being buried prematurely), the probability of ten such anomalies would be one in ten billion, so that one would not expect such a coincidence more than once in the world’s population. Add to that the coincidence that I happened to write a book on the subject, and it appears to me that the explanation of mere coincidence is grossly improbable, a grasping at straws. But some will nevertheless deem it a better explanation than the alternatives.
. See more extensively Keener, Miracles,
579–99
; Keener, “Nature Miracles”; also e.g., Khai, “Pentecostalism,”
268
; Crump, Knocking,
13
; Eskridge, Movement,
32
,
80
; in earlier times, see Young, “Miracles in History,”
111
,
114
; Ising, Blumhardt,
215
; Yung, “Integrity,”
174
; McGee, “Miracles,”
253; McGee, Miracles,
51
,
242
; Koschorke, Ludwig, and Delgado, History,
223
–
24
; Sanneh, West African Christianity,
181
–
83
. Such claims extend even to water walking (e.g., Dermawan, “Study,”
256
; phone interview, Mel Tari, April
15
,
2014
; interview, Dr. Christin Kalvin, April
1–2
,
2015
, Makassar, Indonesia), multiplied food (e.g., Young, “Miracles in History,”
118–19
; Wiyono, “Timor Revival,”
286
; Eskridge, Movement,
81–82
), supernatural lights (Noll and Nystrom, Clouds,
30
; Peckham and Peckham, Sounds,
107
), and water turned to wine (Wiyono, “Timor Revival,”
285
–
86
, citing interviews with eyewitnesses; Koch, Revival,
208
–
17
, esp. seeing it himself,
212
–
17
).
. See Kinnear, Tide,
92
–
96
. Miracle accounts are far more characteristic of Nee’s contemporary John Sung (see e.g., if authentic, Sung, Diaries), but Nee’s account appears here because it is a weather miracle report.
. Emmanuel Itapson, interview, April
29
,
2008
; phone interview, December
15
,
2009
. They belong to the West African denomination ECWA, connected with SIM.
. E.g., Sandy Thomas (August
26
,
2008
); Dr. Ayodeji Adewuya (November
22
,
2009
; December
14
,
2009
); Dr. Paul Mokake (June
3
,
2006
; May
13
,
2009
); Donna Arukua (January
29
,
2009
); Benjamin Ahanonu (September
29
,
2009
; confirmed by another witness, Simon Hauger, phone interview, December
4
,
2009
).
. Personal journal, November
6
,
1993
(written the day that I witnessed the event).