That You May Believe

This book is subtitled "Reflections on Science and the Miracles of Jesus." It addresses a problem atheists are raising today and which needs to be addressed by Christians. That is whether the miracles in the Bible are really miracles, or if there are natural and cultural explanations for all the claims of miracles that the Bible presents. I have known John Oakes for a very long time. In fact John has a dedication to me in the front of the book which is humbling but which reflects our relationship. John is a professor of chemistry, and I met him at the University of Colorado where he was getting his PhD. He is president of the Apologetics Research Society and has written a large number of books. I am not familiar with David Eastman, but I know he is a leader in the Church in Chicago.

The strength of this book, in my opinion, is that it takes the miracles of the Bible and shows from science that they did in fact have to be miracles, and it offers available evidence that they did actually happen. After brief chapters on the nature of science and faith, the book discusses the creation of the universe and gives current scientific information that it was a miraculous event. The authors then turn to Old Testament miracles and show that they had to be miracles and do not have natural explanations--ending with their connection to the miracles of Jesus. The miracle of changing water to wine and the multiplying of the loaves is discussed from a chemical standpoint in chapter five, along with the significance of Jesus being the "bread of life." The healings of the human body are discussed in chapter six. Chapter seven deals with spiritual forces and chapter eight discusses natural changes such as weather and fig tree changes. The next several chapters deal with the raising of the dead followed by a wonderful section on miracles Jesus did NOT do. Jesus did not perform miracles to meet His own needs, remove man's freedom of choice, or stop the crucifixion.

This is a good book. It will be especially useful to believers in building faith, but it also gives solid evidence that the miracles of the Bible are indeed miracles. You cannot write them off as products of the ignorance of the people of the day. We recommend this book highly.

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