In a previous blog post, I tackled this question directly, explaining that God does heal amputees, giving them and millions of others the greatest and most evident miracle one can find on earth. You can read this post here.
But the fact is, amputees aren’t in need of healing. They are not sick, by definition. They are disabled. But there is no disease present to be tackled by an immune response. Therefore, healing is not necessary.
What amputees may desire is regeneration of limbs. But unfortunately for us, in human beings, limbs do not regenerate. They do not grow back. Therefore there is no normal and natural healing process. So when an atheist speaks of a healing, there is no standard present in humans to account for what he is talking about. This is important, that there is no natural expectation for this kind of healing in the world. Given this, they go on to demand a supernatural intervention of which there is no precedent, either in the natural world and in the biblical literature, as well.
Fact is, nowhere in the biblical covenants is there a promise of the regeneration of amputated limbs or missing limbs. This is not an example of God’s failure, but of an atheist understanding of the covenant contract between God and man.
But wait. Hold out on all of this.
The Bible does say that nothing is impossible with God.
There have been a few reports of amputated limbs growing back throughout human history.
Probably the most well-known is called The Miracle of Calanda. It is even documented in a Wikipedia article here.
“The Miracle of Calanda is an event that allegedly took place in Calanda, Spain in 1640, according to 17th century documents. The documents state that a young farmer’s leg was restored to him after having been amputated two and a half years earlier.”
That said, it is important to note a differentiation between an expectation of healing and an expectation of extraordinary miracles. There are many documented healings in the biblical canon. They are healed of fevers, of epilepsy, of colds and viruses and deafness.
But then there is another, higher level of miracle. This concerns the dead being raised, or someone being taken up to heaven. These are remarkable events, rare and infrequent.
I believe there is a reason for this. It really comes down to choice, and free will, and the ability and freedom to choose your own spiritual fate. If physical and extraordinary miracles were commonplace, this trend might or would impinge on a person’s ability to freely choose or reject God and his gospel message. The truth is that, believing in God means to believe in love, in Christ, in the gospel message, more than anything else. There are no shortcuts to heaven. There are no cheat codes. God probably wants your heart, and not just your head.
If you saw a man’s limb regrow under the hand of a prophet, by force of natural logic, you would have to believe. And you would have missed the point of the scriptures and God’s message completely. Which is all about charity, personal sacrifice, love, kindness, and the church.
Now, there is a reference in the New Testament to the loss of a limb. Jesus says:
“And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
Notice that Jesus says that when you lose an arm or a leg, it has perished. Things that perish do not often return, if they ever do. They become nonexistent. There is nothing left to heal.
What atheists are really asking for is equivalent to asking that a man blown to a million pieces by a landmine be re-cogitated magically. This is a ludicrous ask, as such a man has already perished. He is gone. He has died and is awaiting judgment.
I also want to make the point that our sufferings on this earth are negligible, in the grand scheme of things. If a child is missing an arm for his childhood, and dies, and has 3 billion years in heaven whole and complete, do you think he or she will consider his time maimed on earth to be significant in any way?
Almost definitely not.
That said, some miracles require more faith than others, as Jesus constantly said: “according to your faith” it will happen to you, this when He performed miracles. I believe that it is possible for a man’s limb to be regenerated by faith in God, but who has that kind of faith? It is possible to part a sea, and it was done only once, but who has that kind of faith?
I suppose it is not hard to have faith if the Son of God is physically present in front of you.
Furthermore, we must remember that God always works persuasively, and not coercively, so as to not violate our right to freely choose to serve or reject Him.
Looking deeper into this topic, I discovered that most limb loss is due to diabetes. The loss of a limb itself does not pose a threat to a being’s life or eternal salvation. There is almost always an underlying illness, of which amputation is a treatment, in most cases.
Now, one last point is that, Jesus did perform miracles in front of many, sometimes. And still people would not believe on him. Maybe it is no different today. If you witness a miracle right in front of you, you can always justify it somehow, or explain it away, or ignore it, and many did exactly this.
In that case, a genuine miracle is of little evangelistic value. Maybe it violates freedom to reject God or choose God. Maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe this will answer the question for you:
Why won’t God heal amputees?
He will, one way or the other, sooner or later.
Why Won’t God Heal Amputees? Part 1
