James crossley says
There are (as is sometimes noted) rabbinic stories about figures who act similar to Jesus in the Gospel stories (e.g. Pesiq. R. 36.1; Pirqe R. El. 10; b. BM 59b). From b. BM 59b we might also note the naughty R. Eliezer who has mastery over the elements without appeal to God. And his ability to carry out miraculous deeds does not appear to be controversial (unlike Eliezer’s halakic decisions):
It had been taught: On that day R. Eliezer brought forward all the arguments in the world, but they did not accept them. Said he to them:‘If the halakah agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!’ Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of place – others affirm, four hundred cubits. ‘No proof can be brought from a carob-tree,’ they retorted. Again he said to them: ‘If the halakah agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!’ Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards. ‘No proof can be brought from a stream of water,’ they rejoined.
Another rabbinic story worth mentioning in relation to walking on water is Gen. R. 2.4 (on Gen. 1.2) where the spirit of the Messiah hovers just above the water. I know what you are thinking, Alan: aren’t such stories late, much later in certain cases? Of course! But, even after ‘Christianity’ (or whatever you want to call it) had emerged, such miraculous stories could continue without problem. And there are, of course, earlier stories. Philo’s description of Moses, who is called ‘god and king of the whole nation’, included some mastery over creation:
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Mark says ,
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
1 kings 17:17
20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life[a] come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Question, what possibly changed for nt writers and philo that miracles could be done without invoking a diety ?
Elijah and especially Elisha can both be said to perform a miracle without invoking a deity. Elijah calls down fire with an if, then statement long before the advent of AI. Some authors have cited Elijah’s call for a drought to be of his own making, and there are several angles to tackle that. Some portions of the story seem to make his proclamation dependent on Yahweh.
Elisha though clearly does some miracles almost off handedly, as if he just miracles all day long and it is nothing new to him. That may be because he has a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, IDK. He leaves the Jordan after Elijah’s ascension and heals the water in Jericho.
I have read that Moses may have originally done 5 plagues in Egypt, and those were done without invoking Yahweh. Most of the time it seems he is following strict instructions. However, the most important failure of Moses came when the people asked for water and he was told to speak to the rock and it would spill water. Moses taps the rock twice and the water flowed. Did Moses miracle that rock on his own?
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