13. The oldest books of the New Testament do not discuss the miracles of Jesus
The first stories about and references to Jesus of Nazareth to appear in writing are the works now known as the Epistles of Paul, written circa 60 CE. In one of these works, Romans, Paul somewhat sadly mentions to the followers of the emerging sect of Christians that they do not know how to pray. Paul’s comment indicates that the story of the Apostles asking Jesus to teach them to pray, and His response of providing what is now universally known as the Lord’s Prayer, was an event of which he, Paul, had no knowledge. The prayer would not become known until the gospel of Mark, which was also the first to document the miracles which were performed by Jesus during his ministry. Paul did not record any of them in his letters.
Mark called upon the prophecy of Isaiah to create the miracle stories which appear in the Old Testament, many of which were expanded upon by Matthew. Isaiah provided the guidelines for the miracles to be performed in his prophecy; the blind shall see, the deaf shall be made to hear, the lame to walk, and those incapable of speech would be given voice. Isaiah predicted that the dead would rise again to rejoin the living. Thus, without eyewitness testimony to confirm (or deny) the miracles being ascribed to the ministry of Jesus, those of the Old Testament and other ancient myths and legends found a new source. Even the virgin birth, which had long been a feature of mythological tales of many civilizations, found a new manner of presentation, and eventually became one of the tenets of the Church.
