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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 2093265" data-attributes="member: 7240">The reason these things are called spells is that they function like spells. They don't function like miracles, with the exception of the spontaneous cures that good clerics use. A miracle entails the deity empowering a character based on the specific needs of the situation in which he finds himself. A miracle does not normally refer to a pre-memorized unalterable set of magical effects. However, this isn't that much of a problem because often in polytheistic systems, priests are spell casters. They receive secret knowledge from their deities to allow them to manipulate the physical world through spells. Even early Christian and some Judaic understandings of magic and prayer had these categories comfortably cohabiting. The figure of Simon Magus in is an example of a heretical Christian magician whose power came from secret knowledge conferred by the godhead (possibly through hypostasis with the god). So, I don't have a problem with clerics who cast spells. I do, however, have a problem with the fact that there are no additional/separate rules for praying for miracles.I recently produced a set of rules for Christian prayer for a D20-BRP hybrid game I'm running these days. I'd be happy to pass these on if people are interested in what Christian prayer looks like.</blockquote>