miracle

miracle
    n 1: any amazing or wonderful occurrence
    2: a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine
       agent
    

Miracle \Mir"a*cle\, v. t.
   To make wonderful. [Obs.] --Shak.
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Miracle \Mir"a*cle\, n. [F., fr. L. miraculum, fr. mirari to
   wonder. See {Marvel}, and cf. {Mirror}.]
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   1. A wonder or wonderful thing.
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            That miracle and queen of genus.      --Shak.
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   2. Specifically: An event or effect contrary to the
      established constitution and course of things, or a
      deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural
      event, or one transcending the ordinary laws by which the
      universe is governed.
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            They considered not the miracle of the loaves.
                                                  --Mark vi. 52.
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   3. A miracle play.
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   4. A story or legend abounding in miracles. [Obs.]
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            When said was all this miracle.       --Chaucer.
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   {Miracle monger}, an impostor who pretends to work miracles.
      

   {Miracle play}, one of the old dramatic entertainments
      founded on legends of saints and martyrs or (see 2d
      {Mystery}, 2) on events related in the Bible.
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MIRACLE, n.  An act or event out of the order of nature and
unaccountable, as beating a normal hand of four kings and an ace with
four aces and a king.
    

Miracle
an event in the external world brought about by the immediate
agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use
of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed
to authenticate the divine commission of a religious teacher and
the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matt. 12:38). It is an
occurrence at once above nature and above man. It shows the
intervention of a power that is not limited by the laws either
of matter or of mind, a power interrupting the fixed laws which
govern their movements, a supernatural power.

  "The suspension or violation of the laws of nature involved in
miracles is nothing more than is constantly taking place around
us. One force counteracts another: vital force keeps the
chemical laws of matter in abeyance; and muscular force can
control the action of physical force. When a man raises a weight
from the ground, the law of gravity is neither suspended nor
violated, but counteracted by a stronger force. The same is true
as to the walking of Christ on the water and the swimming of
iron at the command of the prophet. The simple and grand truth
that the universe is not under the exclusive control of physical
forces, but that everywhere and always there is above, separate
from and superior to all else, an infinite personal will, not
superseding, but directing and controlling all physical causes,
acting with or without them." God ordinarily effects his purpose
through the agency of second causes; but he has the power also
of effecting his purpose immediately and without the
intervention of second causes, i.e., of invading the fixed
order, and thus of working miracles. Thus we affirm the
possibility of miracles, the possibility of a higher hand
intervening to control or reverse nature's ordinary movements.

  In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally
used to designate miracles: (1.) Semeion, a "sign", i.e., an
evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine
message (Matt. 12:38, 39; 16:1, 4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8;
John 2:11, 18, 23; Acts 6:8, etc.); a token of the presence and
working of God; the seal of a higher power.

  (2.) Terata, "wonders;" wonder-causing events; portents;
producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).

  (3.) Dunameis, "might works;" works of superhuman power (Acts
2:22; Rom. 15:19; 2 Thess. 2:9); of a new and higher power.

  (4.) Erga, "works;" the works of Him who is "wonderful in
working" (John 5:20, 36).

  Miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers
appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our
Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of his
divine mission (John 5:20, 36; 10:25, 38). Thus, being out of
the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they
are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of
God. Where miracles are there certainly God is. The man,
therefore, who works a miracle affords thereby clear proof that
he comes with the authority of God; they are his credentials
that he is God's messenger. The teacher points to these
credentials, and they are a proof that he speaks with the
authority of God. He boldly says, "God bears me witness, both
with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles."

  The credibility of miracles is established by the evidence of
the senses on the part of those who are witnesses of them, and
to all others by the testimony of such witnesses. The witnesses
were competent, and their testimony is trustworthy. Unbelievers,
following Hume, deny that any testimony can prove a miracle,
because they say miracles are impossible. We have shown that
miracles are possible, and surely they can be borne witness to.
Surely they are credible when we have abundant and trustworthy
evidence of their occurrence. They are credible just as any
facts of history well authenticated are credible. Miracles, it
is said, are contrary to experience. Of course they are contrary
to our experience, but that does not prove that they were
contrary to the experience of those who witnessed them. We
believe a thousand facts, both of history and of science, that
are contrary to our experience, but we believe them on the
ground of competent testimony. An atheist or a pantheist must,
as a matter of course, deny the possibility of miracles; but to
one who believes in a personal God, who in his wisdom may see
fit to interfere with the ordinary processes of nature, miracles
are not impossible, nor are they incredible. (See LIST OF
MIRACLES, Appendix.)
    

118 Moby Thesaurus words for "miracle":
      Grand Guignol, Passion play, Tom show, amazement, antimasque,
      astonishing thing, astonishment, audience success, ballet, bomb,
      broadcast drama, burlesque show, charade, cliff hanger,
      closet drama, comedy drama, critical success, curiosity,
      daytime serial, dialogue, documentary drama, drama, dramalogue,
      dramatic play, dramatic series, duodrama, duologue, enchantment,
      epic theater, exception, experimental theater, extravaganza,
      failure, fantasy, ferlie, flop, gasser, gazingstock, giveaway,
      happening, hit, hit show, improvisational drama, legitimate drama,
      marvel, marvelment, masque, melodrama, minstrel show, miracle play,
      monodrama, monologue, morality, morality play, music drama,
      musical revue, mystery, mystery play, nonesuch, opera, pageant,
      panel show, pantomime, pastoral, pastoral drama, phenomenon, piece,
      play, playlet, portent, problem play, prodigy, psychodrama,
      quite a thing, quiz show, radio drama, rarity, review, revue,
      sensation, sensational play, serial, show, sight, sign, sitcom,
      situation comedy, sketch, skit, soap, soap opera, sociodrama,
      something else, spectacle, stage play, stage show, straight drama,
      stunner, success, suspense drama, tableau, tableau vivant,
      talk show, teleplay, television drama, television play,
      theater of cruelty, total theater, variety show, vaudeville,
      vaudeville show, vehicle, wonder, wonderful thing, wonderment,
      wonderwork, word-of-mouth success, work