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Miracles or Illusions

I am a magician. I am not a preacher and I do not pretend to know a great deal about theology and religion. However, there is one subject that I do know a great deal about and that is the subject of magic. I have over 1,000 inventions in my field of magic. I used to discipline myself to invent at least three illusions a day, and I would not allow myself to go to sleep at night until I had accomplished that goal. The International Magicians' Society presented me with an award naming me as "The Magical Inventor of the Decade." All of the seven best-known magicians in the world today have performed some of my magical inventions.

For the past 20 years one of my closest friends in magic has been David Copperfield, who most people agree is the greatest magician who has ever lived. Through the years David and I have collaborated on over 100 different illusions for his stage and television shows. We have worked together on accomplishing some of the greatest magical illusions in history, including making planes and trains and the real Statue of Liberty completely disappear for a period of time.

I have also developed seven methods for making the moon disappear -- the real moon. One of the latest illusions I have developed is a magical way to make the Washington Monument levitate high enough for a long string of people holding hands to walk under it while it is levitating above their heads.

I am a Christian. David Copperfield is Jewish. But together as magicians we probably know more about the subject of magic than any other two people in the world today. We are both in total agreement that Jesus could not have been, in any way, shape, or form, a magician and accomplished what He did by magic.

Recently in a worldwide television program, David Copperfield made this statement:

"The miracles of the Bible go beyond anything that any magician or illusionist could ever perform, but greater than any physical miracle was the ability of a man named Jesus to bring purpose and meaning to the lives of millions of people throughout the centuries."

At the present time I am working on a new book with the title, Jesus - Magician or God. In this book I will be presenting 11 different and very significant reasons why it would have been impossible for Jesus to have been a magician. Here I will mention only one:

I carry tons of equipment to present my magical programs throughout the world. In order for David Copperfield to accomplish his "miracles", he presently carries over 30,000 pounds of equipment with a staff of at least 40 people.

The point is obvious. In order for Jesus to have been a magician and to do what He did by magic, you would have to visualize Jesus and the disciples walking through the dusty streets of Galilee in their long robes and sandals 2000 years ago -- with three diesel trucks following along behind to carry all of the equipment Jesus would have needed to perform His miracles by magic!

For anyone to even suggest that Jesus could have been a magician is to demonstrate an absolute, complete, total ignorance of the subject of magic. Conversely, magicians, perhaps more than most people, have the capability of differentiating between the genuine and the imitation, truth and fiction, the authentic and the counterfeit, reality and illusion. For over 100 years, Christians and skeptics have been arguing over the subjects of creationism, evolution, intelligent design, and a half dozen other controversial issues about God. However, the greatest evidence for the existence of God is the person of Jesus Christ. And the greatest evidence that He was and is God were the incredible miracles that He performed. These miracles were witnessed by tens of thousands of people over a period of 3 years.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come into a personal relationship with God except through me." Either that statement was the biggest lie or it was the greatest truth that has ever been spoken by any person in the history of the world. Following that statement Jesus said, "If you have a difficult time believing my words - then believe because of the mighty miracles you see me do." The miracles confirmed the fact that Jesus was and is God.

As a magician I deal with many illusions in my business, but in my own experience I discovered that God is no illusion; rather He is a reality, and that Jesus Christ truly is the "magic ingredient" Who really makes life worth living!