Why have the great obvious miracles disappeared from our time?

Why have the great obvious miracles disappeared from our time?

This question is among the most pressing on the contemporary mind. We read in sacred books about great miracles: the parting of the sea, resurrection of the dead, instantaneous healing miracles before crowds. Then we look around us today and see nothing of the sort. Has something changed in the nature of the universe? Has God stopped intervening? Or did those stories never happen at all? The question deserves careful treatment, because much contemporary faith and doubt revolves around it.

Inadequate Responses to Avoid

From some believers:

"Miracles exist for those who believe." This response ignores the nature of the question. The great miracles in sacred texts were public, before believers and unbelievers alike. Pharaoh saw the staff turn into a serpent, and the Quraysh saw the splitting of the moon (according to Islamic narration). The question is about the absence of this type of clear public miracle.

"We don't deserve miracles due to our weak faith." A circular explanation. If miracles come to strengthen faith (as happened with the prophets), then our time—with its abundance of atheism and doubt—would be more in need of them than any other time. Why were they given to peoples who already believed in gods (even if pagan) but not given to the time of systematic atheism?

"Small miracles happen every day." Conflating levels. Yes, many believers recount personal experiences they consider "small miracles." But the question is not about this. The question is about great public miracles that cannot be denied or explained by other means.

From some atheists:

"Miracles never happened, so they don't happen now." Begging the question. The question hypothetically assumes miracles occurred in the past and asks about the reason for their cessation. Answering that they "never happened" doesn't address the question posed but avoids it.

"Science has explained everything, so there's no longer need for miracles." Conflating levels. Miracles in religious conception are not meant to fill knowledge gaps, but for other purposes (authenticating prophets, guiding people, etc.). Scientific progress doesn't explain why they stopped.

"Ancient people were naive and believed anything." An unhistorical generalization. People in all eras distinguished between the natural and supernatural. If they didn't know that the dead don't usually rise, they wouldn't have considered resurrection of the dead miraculous. Wonder at miracles presupposes knowledge of natural laws.

Why These Responses Are Inadequate

Because they don't take the question seriously. The question poses a real problem: if God intervened with clear miracles in the past for certain purposes (guidance, authentication, etc.), why has this intervention stopped in a time that might be most in need of it? Superficial answers evade the difficulty of the question.

Serious Positions in the Discussion

First, the position of "sealing of prophethood and epistemological transformation." In Islamic and later Christian conception, the sealing of prophethood means the end of the need for great miracles. Miracles were "credentials" for prophets. With the completion of messages and preservation of texts, the challenge shifted from "prove you're a prophet" to "contemplate the preserved message." This is an epistemological transformation: from reliance on direct miracle to reliance on cumulative proof and internal spiritual experience.

Second, the position of "changed civilizational context." Some philosophers see that miracles suit certain civilizational contexts. In pre-scientific eras, miracles were the strongest means of persuasion. Today, with the development of critical reasoning and scientific method, rational arguments and cumulative proofs might be more suitable. God—in this conception—addresses each era with what suits it.

Third, the position of "wisdom in hiddenness." This position connects the absence of miracles to deeper divine wisdom: faith resulting from overwhelming miracle is not free faith in the complete sense. The absence of clear miracles leaves space for free choice, sincere search, faith stemming from conviction rather than visual coercion. This aligns with the idea that God wants free servants, not those compelled by sensory proof.

Fourth, the position of "continuing miracles in different forms." Some contemporary thinkers (like Craig Keener) document what they consider contemporary miracles, especially in certain contexts (medically unexplained healings, collective spiritual experiences, etc.). This position says: miracles haven't disappeared, but they've transformed in their nature and geographical and cultural distribution.

Fifth, the critical historical position. This position attempts to understand miracle narratives in their historical and linguistic contexts. Perhaps some of what we read as "miracles" were literary metaphors, or rare natural events interpreted religiously, or exaggerated over time. This doesn't negate all miracles, but calls for more precise reading of texts.

Where We Stand in This Discussion Today

The question about the absence of contemporary miracles remains a real challenge for religious thought. The different answers—from sealing of prophethood to wisdom in hiddenness—offer reasonable explanations but don't completely remove the difficulty. In the cumulative approach, this question is placed in a broader context: does the absence of clear miracles invalidate other evidence (cosmological, natural (fiṭra), historical, etc.)? The answer differs according to the weight of each piece of evidence in personal evaluation.

What's important is acknowledging that the question is legitimate and difficult. The believer who ignores it weakens their position, and the atheist who sees it as decisive might overestimate its strength. Serious dialogue begins with acknowledging that the absence of clear miracles poses a question, but it's not necessarily a final answer.

For Advanced Reading

─ Intermediate level: The concept of "signs of prophethood" in Ibn Taymiyya and its historical transformation
─ Advanced level: Craig Keener's book "Miracles" and his methodology in documenting contemporary miracles
─ "Divine Hiddenness" family page on the website
─ "The Problem of Divine Hiddenness" page in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy