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Andy Peterson, Emily Ding, Matt Reiskytl & Will Davidson

CORE 307

19 February 2019

Dr. Poelarends & Dr. O’Connor

Case Study #1: Miracles & Science

Brandon Connor was born in Atlanta with a tumor on his spine, and at five weeks old, he

was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. The tumor was first identified in an ultrasound during the

eighth month of gestation, and since spinal cord nerves ran through the tumor, doctors decided to

watch and wait before taking any dramatic action. The tumor was described as high-risk, so a

passive approach to treatment could have potentially led to death. However, there was also a

high risk of paralysis involved with operating close to Brandon’s spinal cord. Thus, Brandon’s

parents did not immediately jump on the option of surgically removing Brandon’s tumor. At the

age of 2, Brandon began experiencing an inexplicable fever and abdominal pains for three

weeks, so his parents finally decided that Brandon should undergo surgery to remove the tumor.

The family quickly flew out to San Francisco for Brandon to be operated on by a world-

renowned neurosurgeon. During the final MRI just before Brandon’s scheduled surgery,

however, the doctors were surprised to find that Brandon’s tumor had spontaneously

disappeared; not only that, but healthy, fatty tissue was found where the tumor once was located.

Brandon’s parents were relieved, and his mother declared that a miracle had happened.

Greater understanding of the complexities of neuroblastoma is necessary in order to

understand the context of this incident, before a case can be made as to whether or not Brandon’s

mother was warranted in describing this as a miracle. Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that
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affects immature or developing nerve cells anywhere along the sympathetic nervous system,

most often found in an embryo or fetus (American Cancer Society). Treatment of neuroblastoma

often varies depending on the risk group that the child is in, and may involve chemotherapy,

surgery, radiation therapy (low risk), a combination of these forms of treatment (intermediate

risk), or more aggressive treatment involving chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, stem cell

transplant, immunotherapy, and retinoid therapy (high risk). News reports suggested that in such

conditions, the tumor “has been known to vanish spontaneously in as many as 10 percent of

cases,” (CNN) which is in line with the American Cancer Society’s explanation that some

children categorized as low risk may not need treatment since some neuroblastoma cases

eventually mature or disappear on their own.

This case study raises the question of whether or not Brandon’s mother was warranted in

describing this event as a miracle. As such, it is necessary to first lay down an understanding of

what defines a miracle, and therefore whether or not the premises of this case fit the criteria of a

miracle. In the event that this case is considered a miracle, it must be determined on what basis

this argument is made, such as possible divine intervention or the occurrence of supernatural

elements or processes. Did Brandon have neuroblastoma in the first place? How did his tumor

disappear? Is there a scientific explanation for the disappearance of his tumor? What was the role

of God in all of this? These are the kinds of questions that we will address in this paper.

We believe that the healing described in this case study was indeed a miracle–namely, a

conversion miracle in which cancerous cells were converted to fatty tissue. We recognize that

statistically, neuroblastomas disappear spontaneously in ten percent of cases, and such high

frequency may lead many, as it did us initially, to believe that this incident is too common to be

considered a miracle. However, it is necessary to consider what constitutes a miracle. According

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to the Oxford dictionary, a miracle is “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by

natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency”

(“Miracle”).  Based on this definition, we have modified our position and concluded that the

disappearance of Brandon’s tumor can indeed be considered a miracle. This is because what

happened in Brandon’s body left even the most expert doctors shocked (CNN) and therefore

cannot be explained “by natural or scientific laws” and as such, points to the work of divine

agency. Drawing on the options presented in the case study assignment sheet, we believe that

this is a miracle because it “is simply the sort of thing that God would do but not the sort of thing

we have come to expect of natural processes.” We believe that this is God’s doing because of His

nature and character revealed in Scripture as being our Healer. Jesus Christ, the ultimate, most

tangible expression of God’s nature, supernaturally healed many physical ailments during his

ministry on Earth, as recorded in the Gospels. To the skeptic, supernatural healings may sound

like foolishness, but as Christians, we believe in what Jesus said in Mark 10:27 that “with man

this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (NIV). Thus, we can

indeed label Brandon’s healing as miracle performed by God, since it is very much in line with

what Scriptures reveal about God’s character.

Brandon’s spontaneous healing is not the sort of thing that we have come to expect from

natural processes. Current medical knowledge cannot explain the disappearance of the tumor.

Nevertheless, we recognize that a scientific explanation for Brandon’s healing is not impossible,

in the sense that future medical research could eventually discover a scientific explanation for the

tumor’s disappearance. However, as far as we know at present, there is no current scientific

explanation for why Brandon’s tumor vanished. The fact that not only the tumor was gone but
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fatty tissue was found in its place suggests that God miraculously converted the cancerous cells

into healthy cells.

Through the presentations of other groups and our own presentation of our argument to

the class, we have identified several key rebuttals to our argument that we would like to address.

For one, a possible objection to our argument is the possibility that the doctors misdiagnosed

Brandon’s condition, and that he never had neuroblastoma in the first place. We would respond

by saying that there is not much evidence to support this assertion, and thus, it is highly unlikely.

The doctors first detected and diagnosed Brandon with neuroblastoma while he was still in his

mother’s womb during an ultrasound. Not only that, but “Brandon had occasional bugs and

stomachaches” (Free Republic) that were attributed to the cancer, as well as a very intense fever

right before his parents sought emergency surgery. Furthermore, Dr. Bradley George was

“shocked” to hear that the tumor disappeared and asserted that Brandon did indeed once have

neuroblastoma “because of the way the tumor acted and its location” (Free Republic). All of this

evidence strongly suggests that Brandon did indeed have neuroblastoma.

Another possible objection to our argument is that since neuroblastoma is known to

disappear in 10% of cases, it may have been a natural, biological process and not a miracle. We

would argue that a miracle is not defined by the frequency or probability that an event occurs as

much as the fact that it defies the natural laws of science as we know it. Just because something

happens more than once does not disqualify it from being a miracle. Even if a certain event

happens somewhat frequently–like the disappearance of neuroblastoma–if it cannot be explained

by science, then it is still a miracle, according to the way that our understanding of the definition

of a miracle.
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An additional objection to our argument is that it employs the “God of the Gaps” mode of

thinking. This is a slighting term used to refer to when people rush to explain surprising

phenomenon by saying that God miraculously did it. To this objection we would respond that

there is indeed wisdom in looking for natural, scientific explanations before jumping to the

conclusion that God must have miraculously done something because this could potentially be

harmful to the Christian’s witness if a natural explanation is found. However, when there is no

apparent human, scientific answer to a surprising and welcome event, then Christians have good

reason to testify to the power, goodness, and glory of God. We believe that if Christians become

too hesitant to give God glory for an apparent miracle, then they run the risk of trying to look for

a rational, scientific explanation for everything instead of believing by faith that God is indeed

more than capable of the supernatural. We do not know with absolute certainty whether God

used natural or supernatural means to heal Brandon; what we do know is that regardless of the

means that He used, God is always in control and is constantly holding everything together. If a

scientific, biological explanation for Brandon’s healing were to be discovered, then we would

not consider this a miracle. However, this would not jeopardize our faith, because we believe that

God works through natural means as well as supernatural means. Nevertheless, we maintain that

the most reasonable explanation is that God miraculously healed Brandon.

In conclusion, whether one sees Brandon’s healing as miraculous or not largely depends

on one’s definition of a miracle. In this paper, we have accepted the definition of a miracle as a

welcome event that cannot be explained by science and therefore is attributed to God. Reports

have suggested that Brandon’s tumor disappeared inexplicably. Although this is known to

happen around 10% of the time, which makes it fairly common, we define this healing as a

conversion miracle, since it inexplicably changed from tumor to fatty tissue.

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Works Cited

American Cancer Society. “Neuroblastoma.” American Cancer Society, 19 Mar. 2018,

www.cancer.org/cancer/neuroblastoma.html.

Anderson, Virginia. 'It's Just a Miracle' - On Eve of Surgery, Child's Deadly Tumor Vanishes.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 13 Nov. 2003, www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-

news/1020721/posts.

“Miracle | Definition of Miracle in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries |

English, Oxford Dictionaries, 2019, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/miracle.

“Toddler's Tumor Vanishes.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Nov. 2003,

www.cnn.com/2003/US/11/14/wbr.toddler.tumor/.

The Holy Bible New International Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments.

Zondervan Publishing House, 1985.