The first Christians did more than borrow the idea of Pagan miracles, they accepted the fact that Pagan miracles were real.

Was Christianity new?  Was Christianity unique? Let's talk about miracles

Lousy with miracles
Like chocolate chips in mama's cookies, miracles were a basic ingredient in ancient people's understanding of how the world works. Every bite -- another miracle. The ancient world was lousy with miracles.

To start understanding all those Pagan miracles, let's start with one Christian miracle...

An early Christian miracle
Here's a miracle described in by an early Christian. Actually, two miracles.

The first miracle -- flying -- was performed by the Samaritan Christ (you knew there was a Samaritan Christ, right?), Simon Magnus.

The second miracle, performed by Jesus' disciple, the apostle Peter, caused Simon to fall from the air -- proving whose Christ had the greatest power.

(We'll talk more about this miracle later,down at the bottom of the page.)

" Now when he [Simon Magnus] was in Rome, he mightily disturbed the Church, and subverted many, and brought them over to himself, and astonished the Gentiles with his skill in magic, insomuch that once,...he...promised he would fly in the air; and...indeed he was carried up into the air by demons, and did fly on high in the air, saying that he was returning into heaven, and that he would supply them with good things from thence... I [Peter] stretched out my hands to heaven ... and besought God through the Lord Jesus to throw down this pestilent fellow, and... When I had said these words, Simon was deprived of his powers, and fell down headlong.
[Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 6.9 (Third century? AD)]

This is is another one of those times ancient culture was incomprehensibly different from ours. We see miracles as way way unusual -- so unusual that when Jesus does them, we take that as proof he was divine.

Those wacky ancients saw miracles as everyday events that happened when someone was tuned-in to the powers that ran the universe. It worked pretty much like Star Wars, with The Force battling The Dark Side. Simon Magnus did miracles -- Christians didn't doubt it -- because he was tuned in to the demonic powers. Jesus and Peter did miracles because they were tuned in to God's power. The point of Peter's story here is that his Jesus-power was greater than Simon's demon-power.

The first Christians didn't invent this understanding of miracles, they inherited it from the pagan culture around them.

By the way, this Star Wars force-and-the-dark-side understanding of miracles isn't something Christianity picked up late. It's right there in the bible. Here's Mark's gospel describing a sick woman touching Jesus' garment; the power flows out of Jesus and instantly heals her. Jesus feels His power draining away, so He turns to say, Who touched me?

Friend, it don't get no more Pagan than that.

And a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, having heard the things concerning Jesus, came in the crowd behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I touch but his garments, I shall be made whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her plague. And straightway Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power from him had gone forth, turned him about in the crowd, and said, "Who touched my garments?"
[Gospel of Mark, 5:25 - 30]

Miracles were everywhere.   Trying to explain how common miracles were in ancient culture is like trying to explain how stinking big the ocean is: naming wet places doesn't get the idea across. You run out of patience before you run out of ocean.

It's like that with pagan miracles -- there were too stinking many to count. Miracles were everywhere. Here's what I mean. This blue ancient-quote box >> has a list of miracles taken from one page of my copy of an ancient book called The Jewish War, written by a fellow named Josephus, who lived through it.

Josephus is telling how the war should have been foreseen, because >>

"the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their [the Jews] future desolation."[Josephus, Jewish War, ,6.5.288] He goes on:

"Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year." [6.5.289]

And in the Temple, "at the ninth hour of the night of the night a great light shone round the altar....This light seemed to be a good sign to the naive, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes as to portend the events that followed." [6.5.291- 293]

And, "also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple." [6.5.292]

"Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner temple. ..was seen to be opened of its own accord. This also the vulgar thought a happy prodigy...but the men of learning understood it."[6.5.293 - 295]

And, "...chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds. [6.5.298 - 299]

And "Jesus, son of Ananus...came to that feast whereon.. everyone makes tabernacles to God in the temple...and began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house." [6.5.300- 301]

On account of which, here at POCM I can't list every pagan miracle I know about; we'll run out of patience before we run out of miracles. So I'll tell you about just a few -- a few that, if you've read your Bible, are going to sound mighty familiar. Here we go.

If you're interested in primary evidence, you'll like professor Cotters book -- two-hundred-something pages of pagan miracles direct from the pens of the ancients themselves:
Miracles in Greco-Roman Antiquity: Sourcebook for the study of New Testament Miracle Stories, by Dr. Wendy Cotter.

By the way, Duh

Asclepius healed the sick and raised the dead.

"Asclepius was the son of Apollo [a god] and Coronis [a mortal woman -- is the pattern sinking in here?]...he healed many sick whose lives had been despaired of, and... he brought back to life many who had died." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 4.7.1.1- 2]

Asclepius raised at least six dead men:

"I found [in writing this history] some who are reported to have been raised by him [Asclepius] , to wit, Capaneus and Lycurgus, as Stesichorus [645- 555 BC] says... Hippolytus, as the author of the Naupactica reports[6th century BC], Tyndareus, as Panyasis [c. 500 BC] says; Hymnaneus, as the Orphics report; and Glaucus...as Melasogoras [5th century BC] relates." Apollodorus, The Library, 3.1.3- 3]

"When Hippolytus was killed,...Asclepius raised him from the dead." [Pausanias, Corinth, Description of Greece, 1.27.5]

"Alcetas of Halieis. The blind man saw a dream [while sleeping in Asclepius' temple]. It seemed to him the god came up to him and with his fingers opened his eyes....At daybreak he walked out sound." [Inscriptiones Graecae, 4.1.121 - 122, Stele 1.18]

" Hermon of Thasus. His blindness was cured by Asclepius." [Inscriptiones Graecae, 4.1.121 - 122, Stele 2.22]

"To Valerius Aper, a blind soldier, the god revealed that he should go and take the blood of a white cock along with hone and compound and eye salve and for three days should apply it to his eyes. And he could see again and went and publicly offered thanks to the god." [Inscriptiones Graecae, 14.96 ]

"A voiceless boy. He came as a supplicant to the Temple [of Asclepius]...the temple servant demanded the boys father...to bring...the thank offering for the cure. But the boy suddenly said, "I promise." His father was startled at this and asked him to repeat it. The boy repeated the words and after that became well." [Inscriptiones Graecae 4.1.121- 122; Stele 1.5]

"Nicanor, a lame man. While he was sitting wide-awake [in Asclepius' temple], a boy snatched his crutch from him and ran away. but Nicanor got up, pursued him, and do became well." [Inscriptiones Graecae 4.1.121- 122; Stele 1.16]

"Cleimenes of Argus, paralyzed in body. He came to the Abaton and slept there and saw a vision... When he woke up he took a bath and walked out unhurt." [Inscriptiones Graecae 4.1.121- 122; Stele 2.37]

Isis healed the sick

"Isis...finds her greatest delight in the healing of mankind... In proof of this...they advance not legends...but manifest facts...For standing above the sick in their sleep she gives them aid for their diseases and works remarkable cures upon such as submit themselves to her..." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 1.25.2 -5]

Isis cures blindness

"Numbers who have lost the use of their eyes or of some other part of their body, whenever they turn for help to this goddess, are restored to their previous condition. ." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 1.25.5]

"Furthermore, she [Isis] discovered also the drug which gives immortality." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 1.25.6]

Pythagoras: prophecy, healing, calming storms

"Verified predictions [by Pythagoras] of earthquakes are handed down, also, that he immediately chases away pestilence, suppressed violent winds and hail, [and] calmed storms o both rivers and seas. [Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras 29]

"Then gamboled the sea beasts beneath him [Poseidon] on every side from out of the deep, for well they knew their lord, and in gladness the sea parted before him." [Homer, Iliad, 29]

Alexander the Great parts the sea

Quoting Callisthenes [now lost], "[the sea] withdrew from before his [Alexander's] march as though recognizing him, and that it too did not fail to know its lord. " [Eustathius, On the Iliad, 29]

"We came in sight of many men running over the sea..." [Lucian, A true Story, 2.4]

and: "I saw him soar through the air in broad daylight and walk on water..." [Lucian, The Lover of Lies, 13]

"At fixed times in their city a fountain of wine, of unusually sweet fragrance, flows of its own accord from the earth." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History 3.66.3]

"The water flowing from a spring in the temple of Father Liber [Dionysus] on the island of Andros always has the flavor of wine on January 5th: the day is called God's Gift Day. [Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.106]

Which is a big deal. Like the ancient man giving his mother- in- law a sacred penis, this is one of the ways ancient civilization was incomprehensibly different from ours. We know about science; we explain everything we see with a few invisible rules -- Newton's laws, radio waves, germs. Those rules create our picture of what the world is and how the world works.

Take away our rules and Dorothy, you're not in Kansas any more.

But to an ancient, a God raising the dead didn't break the rules, it fit the rules perfectly. Gods had extra powers, and they used them. That's what made them Gods. Which made for a system with a lot of miracles.

Cool, huh?

Christianity: Miracles everywhere
You probably know Jesus apostles -- his earliest followers -- had the power to perform miracles. What you maybe don't know is that from very early on, even before our Gospels were written, having the power to do miracles was understood as a sign you were "filled with the Holy Spirit." -- that you were 'tuned-in' to Jesus. That the Force was with you.

And "the apostles" weren't just Jesus disciples (that part of the myth developed later anyway), the apostles were, basically, Jesus earliest followers who had the Force with them. That theology made for a lot of miracles.

Thumb through an early Christian book; just like Pagan books it will be full of miracles. Trying to explain how common miracles were in early Christian culture is like trying to explain how stinking big the ocean is ... yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill.

Here's the apostle Peter again, describing how the Samaritan Christ Simon flew, and how he, Peter, knocked Simon out of the sky with God's power. After which folks watching, seeing that Peter's Jesus-power was greater than Simon's demon-power, came over to Jesus' Christianity.

That's how early Christianity used miracles. To convert. And you've already noticed, they used miracles not in our modern way-way-unusual-must-be-god sense. They used them in the ancient Pagan force-and-the-dark-side sense. Simon had miraculous power -- no one denied it -- but Peter's Jesus-power was greater. Better switch to Jesus.

In fact force-and-the-dark-side miracle working was the main technique earliest Christianity used to get people to join up. The early Church wasn't filled by preaching. It wasn't filled by good works or living a life of holy example. It was filled by magic. Wow.

Is this just Greg talking? Nope. For a thorough review of the ancient evidence, try Christianizing the Roman Empire, by Yale's Dr. MacMullen.

How Simon, Desiring to Fly by Some Magical Arts, Fell Down Headlong from on High at the Prayers of Peter, and Brake His Feet, and Hands, and Ankle-Bones.

IX. Now when he [Simon Magnus] was in Rome, he mightily disturbed the Church, and subverted many, and brought them over to himself, and astonished the Gentiles with his skill in magic, insomuch that once,...he...promised he would fly in the air; and when all the people were in suspense at this, I prayed by myself. And indeed he was carried up into the air by demons, and did fly on high in the air, saying that he was returning into heaven, and that he would supply them with good things from thence... I stretched out my hands to heaven, with my mind, and besought God through the Lord Jesus to throw down this pestilent fellow, and... When I had said these words, Simon was deprived of his powers, and fell down headlong with a great noise, and was violently dashed against the ground, and had his hip and ankle-bones broken; and the people cried out, saying, "There is one only God, whom Peter rightly preaches in truth." And many left him; but some who were worthy of perdition continued in his wicked doctrine. And after this manner the most atheistical heresy of the Simonians was first established in Rome; and the devil wrought by the rest of the false apostles also.
[Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 6.9 (Third century? AD)]

	Constantine

Magic power was magic power. Even the Pagan dark-side powers could -- did -- prophesy Christian victory. When Constantine defeated the Emperor Maxentius, with God's help, even the Pagan Sibylline books saw it coming >>

Discord arose in the city and the emperor [Maxentius] was upbraided for abdicating responsibility….. Disconcerted by this cry, he scurried away and, summoning some senators, he ordered the Sibylline books to be consulted. In them was found the statement that on that day the enemy of Rome would perish.
[Lactantius, On the Death of the Persecutors, 44.7-8] 

[I]n the period after the emperor Alexander [Severus, 193 - 211 AD],….. There were numerous frequent earthquakes… some towns were even swallowed up by cracks opening in the ground and taken down to the depths.…

Suddenly a woman came to the fore who presented herself as a prophetess experiencing states of ecstasy and acted as through filled with the Holy Spirit. But she was so overwhelmed by the onset of the leading daemons that for a long time she seduced and deceived the brethren…. that evil spirit [in the woman], being able to foresee that an earthquake was about to happen, sometimes pretended that it was going to bring about what it saw would happen anyway….

He also made the woman go barefoot in the freezing snow in the harsh winter, without her being troubled or harmed in any way by the outing….

[S]uddenly there appeared before him an exorcist, a man of proven character…. By subtle deceit, the daemon had even foretold shortly beforehand that an unbelieving assailant would come against him.
[Cyprian, Cyprian's letters, Letter 75.10]