During a debate at the University of Northern Iowa, I asked my opponent, “Do you believe that a donkey spoke human language?” “Yes, I do,” he responded. “Yesterday, I visited the zoo,” I continued, “and a donkey spoke to me in perfect Spanish, saying, ‘Alá es el único Dios verdadero.’ Do you believe that?” “No, I don’t,” he answered without hesitation. “How can you be so quick to doubt my story and yet criticize me for being skeptical of yours?” “Because I believe what Jesus tells me, not what you tell me.” In other words, miracles are true if the bible says so, but they are not true if they appear in any other source. When questioning the miracle reports of the New Testament, this becomes circular reasoning. The presence of miracle stories in the New Testament makes the legend highly suspect. But it is important to understand what skeptics are saying about miracles. Skeptics do not say that the miracle reports should be automatically dismissed, a priori.
