Miracle Stories

A miracle story is a narrative involving a report of supposed special divine action. This article notes key literature that interprets the miracle stories associated with Jesus of Nazareth through historical, socioreligious, and literary contextualization. It does not take into account miracle stories in which Jesus is portrayed as directly involved, such as the transfiguration or resurrection. The importance of contextualization of miracle stories cannot be overemphasized. Understanding the historical era, the cultural climate, the political realities, the Jewish and Hellenistic religious background of Jesus and his early followers, the social signals in the literature that were understood by that culture, and the literary context provided by the larger works in which the stories appear, contribute to interpreting the intentions of those responsible for the stories. This article is intended to provide an authoritative set of texts that addresses these various aspects of interpreting the miracle stories of Jesus as they stand in the New Testament canon, that is, in the Gospel sources, the Gospels themselves, the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters of Paul.