We believe in miracles because we know that miracles don’t come from us. We believe in God because we know that God does not originate with us. But God does not believe in the existence of God as we do because He knows that He exists. Similarly, God does not believe that miracles happen as we do because He is the one who makes them happen.

I present the following dialogue to show that African Christians are in no way inferior to North Americans when comes to contemplating God, and are, in fact, the hope and the future of Christianity.  Sean is Pastor Sean Kampondeni, a graduate of African Bible College, Malawi. It all started when Pastor Sean posted on his Facebook page, “God does not believe in miracles.”

Sean wrote: “We believe in miracles because we know that miracles don’t come from us. We believe in God because we know that God does not originate with us. But God does not believe in the existence of God as we do because He knows that He exists. Similarly, God does not believe that miracles happen as we do because He is the one who makes them happen. Being the originator of miracles gives God a vantage point on miracles that is far greater than belief. And the paradox of our faith is that God promises that all who believe will one day be with Him in that realm where their faith shall be sight. In other words, the greatest benefit in believing is that God promises to one day let you see what you believed and bring all your believing to an end, for there is no faith in heaven.”

Nico Nthawi Katimba also commented on Sean Kampondeni’s status.

Nico wrote: “If God is a miracle giver then He should believe in miracles. God cannot give us something that He does not believe in. As earthly fathers we believe in giving our children the best that we believe is the best to them and to us as well. Similarly God gives us what He believes is the best for us as his children, e.g, miracles. He cannot and never will give us something that He does not believe in. So my opinion and I believe the opinion of many, we believe God believes in miracles.

Sean wrote: “Nico Nthawi Katimba, I think you are using the word “believe” in a difference sense than I, so it is easy to think that you are disagreeing with me. Let me illustrate. When I say that ‘I believe in God’ I don’t mean the same thing as when I say ‘I believe in my son.’ In the first instance, I mean that ‘I believe that there is a God even though I cannot prove it.’ In the second instance, I mean that ‘I believe that my son has the capacity to make it in life.’ I don’t mean that ‘I believe that I have a son even though I cannot prove it.’ And saying ‘I believe in miracles’ uses belief in the same sense as ‘I believe in God,’ but not in the same sense as ‘I believe in my son’ or ‘I believe that this gift will be good for my son.’ So if you said that ‘God sent His Son because He believed in Him,’ the statement would be true if you mean that ‘God sent His Son because He believed that His Son would accomplish the mission,’ but would be false if you mean that ‘God sent His Son because He believed that His Son exists even though He could not prove it.’ So when I say ‘God does not believe in miracles,’ I don’t mean that ‘God does not believe that miracles are good for his children.’ I simply mean ‘God does not believe in the existence of miracles as do those who believe in them but cannot prove it.’ I doubt that you disagree with that.”

Larry Brown is a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a member of Central South Presbytery, and serves as Professor of church history, world history, hermeneutics and missions at the African Bible College in Lilongwe, Malawi.