Any attempt to explain Jesus' nature miracles or healing miracles starts from the proposition that the gospels are reliable accounts of events that actually happened. Both types of miracles can easily be explained by questioning the reliability of the gospels themselves.

Some would say that the existence of four independent accounts demonstrates their reliability, but this argument has been destroyed by the discovery that the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John were based, directly (Matthew, Luke) or indirectly (John) on Mark's Gospel. Since the reliability of Mark has been placed in doubt, the reliability of the other gospels is also in doubt.