Date
12-19-2023
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics (MA)
Chair
Benjamin Shaw
Keywords
Krishna, Krsna, Miracle, Redemption, Creator
Disciplines
Religion
Recommended Citation
Fuller, Sallie R., "The Miracles of Christ and Kṛṣṇa and the Authority to Redeem Creation" (2023). Masters Theses. 1092.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1092
Abstract
The purpose of this study is not to prove the veracity of miracle claims of Jesus in the Bible, nor to disprove those of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa. Rather, the research for this thesis reviews the miracles of Jesus and Kṛṣṇa as documented in their respective scriptures to determine which can authoritatively claim to be God, the Creator of the universe, and thus the one true source of the miraculous on Earth. Further, both claim to be not only God the Creator but Savior. It is the contention here that the Creator has the desire to redeem and restore his Creation (to be its Savior) and proves his power to do so by the types of miracles he performs and the methods he uses to perform them. The one who cannot or has no desire to redeem Creation is not the Creator and therefore not God, the source of miracles. Due to time and space constraints, this review is limited to the miracles of Christ as described in the New Testament and to the traditional miracle stories of Kṛṣṇa’s life as told in Books 10-12 of Vyāsa’s Purāṇa, the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa (completed c. 400 CE). The debate surrounding the definition of a miracle is discussed first and a suggested definition is offered at the end of Chapter One which incorporates aspects gleaned from the scholarly debate. Chapter Two provides details of the types of miracles performed by Jesus and Kṛṣṇa, and the methods they used. It demonstrates the wide gap between the types of miracles each performed. While Jesus performed miracles of healing and deliverance, Kṛṣṇa performed miracles of valor. The miracles Jesus performed gave signs of his divinity, as do the miracles of Kṛṣṇa. The methods they used, however, show Jesus as the Creator and Redeemer of his Creation and Kṛṣṇa as the destroyer of his Creation which he forsakes to finish the work of its destruction. Chapter Three delves into the religious significance and function of miracles for the spread of the gospel in Christianity and the worship of Kṛṣṇa.
