We know the essential attributes of the Divine and the essential attributes of those the Divine speaks to. But how do we know if this person that claims to speak to God is really being spoken to by God?
In order for us to believe something is the word of God, we need to believe that the messenger who is conveying the message is really a prophet and not a charlatan. So as not to confuse us, God gives this prophet something that makes him stand out from the rest of humanity. God gives this prophet unquestionable proof that he is an actual prophet. These unquestionable proofs are Miracles.
Miracles are extra-ordinary events done at the hands of the Prophet by God's permission, as a means of proving to the rest of humanity that the person truly is a Prophet. These miracles differ from one prophet to another depending on the time, location, and cultural habits of a people.
These miracles are so profound and outstanding that anyone who witnesses them has to see it for what it is. However, not everyone that sees the miracles chooses to follow or believe in the prophet (a topic for a later post). That doesn't take away from the fact that the prophet had shown unquestionable proof of his prophecy.
A Prophetic miracle is simply a means by which a prophet tells his people that he is in communication with the Divine. Keep in mind that a person cannot claim to be a prophet just by performing miracles, he needs to have the essential attributes of a Prophet, mentioned in the previous post, as well.
There are plenty of examples throughout history of Prophetic miracles, from walking on water, to foretelling events, to raising the dead and healing the sick, etc. Prophetic miracles are numerous but the Prophetic message has always been one, which is another sign of someone being a true prophet. Prophets come at different times, in different sizes, races, etc but their message is always the same. What differs is how this message is conveyed.
Just as a person cannot believe in a religion without first believing in God, a person cannot believe in a religion without believing in the Prophet who "brought" that religion.
And just as a person needs to believe that God has the attribute of Divine Speech in order to believe in revelation, a person needs to believe that the person that receives revelation has done a miracle. (Both relate to others - Divine Speech: Creator affects/relates to creation. Miracles: Prophet affects/relates to humanity.)
If someone claims to have access to Divine revelation, this person *has* to be able to perform miracles. And if this person can perform miracles then he would *have* to have the essential attributes of Prophets. If any of the above are missing then that person is not a prophet and is not receiving Divine revelation.
The fact that we have to witness a Prophetic miracle in order to believe that the person is a prophet leaves us with one issue:
Prophets are mortal, they die and once they die we have no way of knowing, several generations later, whether or not this prophet was real or not because we haven't witnessed any miracles ourselves. And witnessing a miracle is the only way we can believe that someone is a prophet.
I'll discuss this issue in the next post, God Willing.
