Miracle is a religious phenomenon, yet it also creates some religious problems. It is not easy to discern from a phenomenological perspective whether a miracle is real or not. To the extent that the Holy is beyond any scientific verification, miracles are paradoxical. In the western history, miracles have suffered serious challenge since the Enlightenment. Liberal thinkers normally reject miracles. For them, a religion is acceptable to the extent that it can do without miracle. But if we admit, from a religious point of view, the possibility that the Holy enters history, we must also admit that there is room for miracle-events. This article tries to discuss the problem of miracles from a Christian point of view. It is divided into three parts. It first attempts a definition of miracle, a kind of working hypothesis that may serve as a starting point for the following discussion. It then discusses the problem of the miracles of Jesus, which problem is most hotly debated within modern Christian cholarship: Did Jesus work miracles? Or were his miracles done just as they are reported in the gospels? Lastly, the article will have a look at the miracle phenomena in the contemporary world and will add some appreciation on them.
