Many skeptics dismiss the Gospels’ historicity because of their preconceived bias against miracles. “Those stories must be made up—or at least legendary,” so it’s said, “since they include miracles, and miracles are impossible.”
What should we say in response?
First, the mere presence of miracle narratives in the Gospels would be a good reason to reject their legitimacy if and only if miracles were metaphysically impossible. This, of itself, is not bad methodology.
For example, we know, due to prior philosophical commitments about God’s immateriality, that he does not have a body. Yet, there are biblical texts that speak of God having arms (cf. Isa. 51:9; 52:10; 53:1). We may be tempted to dismiss the credibility of these texts—since they’re asserting an impossibility—until we realize they’re not asserting God actually has arms. Other texts make it clear they’re speaking metaphorically (cf. Isa. 31:3).
However, if these texts were intending to assert God’s physicality, then we could reasonably dismiss their credibility. Skeptics are simply employing the same methodology when it comes to miracles in the Gospels.
So, the success of the objection we’re considering hinges on whether miracles are, in fact, metaphysically impossible.
For many skeptics, miracles are deemed impossible because they violate the laws of nature, or because God doesn’t exist in the first place. And this is logically sound—you can’t have some wondrous effect that requires divine power (which is what a miracle is) if there’s no divine power.
But if God did exist, then miracles would, at the very least, be possible. He would be powerful enough to bring about such miraculous effects, like raising the dead and giving sight to the blind. And insofar as he’s the author of the laws of nature, he would be able to suspend their operations without violating them—or proving them false.
Thus, the charge that the Gospels aren’t historically reliable because they contain miracle narratives is a moot point. It’s distracting from the real question at hand: are miracles metaphysically possible or not? And that can only be determined by first settling the God question.