The Bible says that we must believe in Jesus alone—not self—for eternal life. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and others say that we must contribute our works—not believe in Christ alone—for eternal life. There are stories about Catholic and Orthodox saints performing miracles, so does that mean that they were saved? The short answer is “no.”
Miracles and false religions
The Bible records miracles performed by false religions. Aaron’s rod became a serpent, but so did Pharoah’s magicians’ rods (Exodus 7:8–12). The second beast of Revelation will perform great signs (Revelation 13:11–17). Cessationism is true, but even our noncessationist friends should recognize that a prophet is to be discerned by his words, not miracles (Deuteronomy 18:20–22).
Roman Catholicism is a false religion. One of many clear Roman Catholic statements that teach a works-based salvation is evident in this quote from the Catechism:
Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.[1]
Eastern Orthodoxy is a false religion. One of many clear Eastern Orthodox statements that teach a works-based salvation is evident in this quote from The Confession of Dositheus:
We believe that the souls of those that have fallen asleep are either at rest or in torment, according to what each hath wrought… For after the common resurrection, when the soul shall be united with the body, with which it had behaved itself well or ill, each shall receive the completion of either enjoyment or of condemnation forsooth.[2]
Several other false religions have miracle records as well. Muslims claim that Muhammad split the moon in two. Buddhists claim that Buddha could levitate. Hindus believe that statues of Ganesha drank milk offerings. The examples continue ad nauseum. We could spend a lifetime debunking individual examples and more “miracles” would still emerge. If a friend asks about a miracle in a hagiography (stories about saints), we could use the opportunity to point him to Christ and in doing so debunk the miracles.
How does hagiography work anyway?
We know that Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox miracles are not from God because Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are not from God. Whence then come the legends in the Catholic and Orthodox hagiographies? We could ask the same about Zoroastrian or Islamic hagiographies, by the way. The fact of the matter is that there are many sources of miracle stories that range from natural phenomena to exaggerations to flat out lies.
There has always been a suspicion of hagiography and rightly so. For example, in 1825, the Russian poet, Alexandr Pushkin, expressed the process well in the words of Pimen, a hermit-chronicler living in 1603, in the closet play, Boris Godunov:
One more final legend
And my chronicle is finished,
Fulfilled is the obligation bequeathed by God
To me, a sinner…
Someday an industrious monk
Will find my nameless hard work,
He will light his lamp like I did
And brushing off centuries of dust from the papers,
He will rewrite the legends…[3]
Notice Pushkin’s depiction of Orthodox chroniclers as anonymous men writing legends with no accountability. A nameless monk wrote some stories and Pimen exaggerated those legends for future generations to build upon. Pushkin wrote historical fiction in the 19th century, but more recently, a scholar named Roger Pearce has been translating Life of St Nicholas; yesterday he put out a blog post about the conflicting sources with a noteworthy quote:
…hagiographical texts are NOT literary texts. In a literary text, the precise word used is important. But a hagiographical text is a written version of a legend, and often a version intended to be read aloud in church services. The exact words are nothing – what matters is the content.[4]
Hagiographies are unlike the well-attested manuscripts of the Bible. Rather than having strict word-for-word copies over generations, hagiographies are reworded and expanded legends that cannot be relied upon for truth about miracles.
Do miracle stories disprove the exclusivity of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone? Not by a long shot.
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed., 2010. http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2010.htm
[2] The Confession of Dositheus, Chapter VI. of Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem (A.D. 1672), Decree XVIII. J.N.W.B. Robertson, trans. 1899. http://catholicity.elcore.net/ConfessionOfDositheus.html
[3] Еще одно, последнее сказанье —
И летопись окончена моя,
Исполнен долг, завещанный от Бога
Мне, грешному…
Когда-нибудь монах трудолюбивый
Найдет мой труд усердный, безымянный;
Засветит он, как я, свою лампаду
И, пыль веков от хартий отряхнув,
Правдивые сказанья перепишет…
[4] Roger Pearce, “Textual instability in hagiographical texts” https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2022/11/08/textual-instability-in-hagiographical-texts/