THE MIRACLE BOOK

DeStefano’s treatise asks why God bestows miracles upon some believers, but not others.

The author, who is Catholic, offers a book that’s primarily directed at fellow Christians with its exploration the concept of miracles. For the author, the existence of miracles, which Jesus performed in the Bible, is a given; in the age of miracles, which DeStefano defines as the period when the early Apostles founded the Christian church, such occurrences were “everyday realities. Healings, raising of the dead, exorcisms, divine interventions, and miraculous signs weren’t the exceptions; they were the rule.” Today, he says, the faithful have troubled hearts and minds, and he addresses their doubts with admirable integrity, as when he recounts the anguish of an unspecified church whose congregation spent weeks praying for a 6-year-old child with a diagnosed terminal illness: “They whipped themselves into a kind of spiritual-emotional frenzy. They were convinced with 100 percent certitude that this little girl was going to be cured.” The child died, leaving the congregation devastated and wondering why the Lord let it happen. To answer readers who, like himself, believe in a just God, DeStefano examines the nature of human desires and free will, arguing that most miracles occur in the course of everyday life, engineered by God’s invisible hand. He also provides accounts of what he characterizes as bona fide modern miracles. Most interestingly, he devotes several chapters to describing what he believes should be a Christian attitude toward miracles, especially in desperate times, as when tragedies occur. The result is a useful primer for religious readers on how to approach miracles and pray for them—believing in God’s omnipotence yet accepting God’s will.

A passionately argued work for Christian readers on an enduring topic of discussion.