This is another one of those "duh" efforts by Pikachu, though not as bad as others he's done. Let's start the ball rolling with a point by Glenn Miller: It must be remembered that SOME general similar traits of leadership MUST apply to any religious leader. They must generally be good leaders, do noteworthy feats of goodness and/or supernatural power, establish teachings and traditions, create community rituals, and overcome some forms of evil. These are common elements of the religious life--NOT objects that require some theory of dependence. [For example, the fact that that Aztec divine heroes were said to have done wonders similar to those from Asia Minor doesn't necessitate us coming up with a theory of how one of these religions 'borrowed' from the other...smile.]...The common aspect of homo religiosus is an adequate and more plausible explanation than dependence, in such cases. Now compare this to Pikachu's clumsy assertion that the first Christians did more than borrow the idea of Pagan miracles, they accepted the fact that Pagan miracles were real. This is simply asinine. Pikachu actually expects that a real, divine Jesus would have to slap his forehead and yell, "Darn! I can't go out and heal people -- someone will think I BORROWED that from Asclepius!" Or: "I don't care of you people suffer from leprosy and other diseases. I will withhold healing because it looks too much like Dionysus."

Come on, Pikachu. Let's talk seriously about miracles.

Lousy with naturalism
Pikachu never makes his own religious biases clear (probably because he's been so busy trying to hoist others on that petard that he knows the minute he does reveal himself, he loses that argument) but he seems to infer that any and all reports of miracles were just plain fraudulent. Let me make my position clear -- when it comes to "pagan" miracles, I am a "miracle agnostic". I do not assume that miracles claimed of i.e., Asclepius did not actually happen. The Christian worldview allows for such things by various means (such as, that demonic influences withdrew their hand).

Pikachu wants to stack the deck as quickly as possible, so he begins with what he calls a "Christian miracle..." -- which probably isn't.

An early Christian leg pulling exercise
Pikachu pulls what he thinks is a "miracle described in by an early Christian." IN an early Christian, yes; that's all he says. But the first one he picks is a real lulu.

What he selects is an account of Simon Magnus -- a self-proclaimed "Christ" according to later church literature, by the way -- where there's a story of he and Peter having an aerial battle (like Superman vs Captain Marvel) to decide who was superior. Here's the quote as used by Pikachu:

" Now when he [Simon Magnus] was in Rome, he mightily disturbed the Church, and subverted many, and brought them over to himself, and astonished the Gentiles with his skill in magic, insomuch that once,...he...promised he would fly in the air; and...indeed he was carried up into the air by demons, and did fly on high in the air, saying that he was returning into heaven, and that he would supply them with good things from thence... I [Peter] stretched out my hands to heaven ... and besought God through the Lord Jesus to throw down this pestilent fellow, and... When I had said these words, Simon was deprived of his powers, and fell down headlong.
[Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 6.9 (350 AD)]

Pikachu puts a date of "third century" on the story, but he's about 100 years too early -- try fourth century. But here's the real bonehead error: He thinks that this story was meant to be taken seriously. No, really. In his rush to demonstrate that those stupid ancients "saw miracles as everyday events," Pikachu picks a story that is so obviously late, and so obviously designed to be an amusing parody, that it goes right over his head that no one meant for this to be read as history.

And there's more -- Pikachu is making out the ancients to be remarkably stupid to the point that miracles were "everyday," but come on now -- the accounts we have are but a microcosm of ancient events; millions of people lived all over the Roman Empire, and the Empire lasted for centuries; count the number of reported miracles pro rata, and you'll find (as in the Bible as well) that miracles were actually infrequent and happened to only the tiniest portion of the population. Pikachu makes the classic error of looking through a narrow window and thinking he is seeing from one end of the horizon to the other.

In all of this, Pikachu asserts that "miracle power" was regarded as some sort of Star Wars force-and-the-dark-side thing, but that as usual is beside the point. One may as well speak of electricity the same way, since we have to "plug in" to a "force" to use it. This is the nature of power -- it isn't something "stolen" or "borrowed" from somewhere else.

Friend, it ain't no more "Pagan" than plugging in your microwave.

And a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, having heard the things concerning Jesus, came in the crowd behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I touch but his garments, I shall be made whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her plague. And straightway Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power from him had gone forth, turned him about in the crowd, and said, "Who touched my garments?"
[Gospel of Mark, 5:25 - 30]

Miracles were NOT everywhere.   Pikachu's analogical comparison to the ocean being "wet" is a patent and irresponsible absurdity. He claims they were too stinking many to count and were everywhere, and then lists a handful that occurred over a range of hundreds of years. I mean, come on!

Josephus is telling how the war should have been foreseen, because >>

"the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their [the Jews] future desolation."[Josephus, Jewish War, ,6.5.288] He goes on:

"Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year." [6.5.289]

And in the Temple, "at the ninth hour of the night of the night a great light shone round the altar....This light seemed to be a good sign to the naive, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes as to portend the events that followed." [6.5.291- 293]

And, "also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple." [6.5.292]

"Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner temple. ..was seen to be opened of its own accord. This also the vulgar thought a happy prodigy...but the men of learning understood it."[6.5.293 - 295]

And, "...chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds. [6.5.298 - 299]

And "Jesus, son of Ananus...came to that feast whereon.. everyone makes tabernacles to God in the temple...and began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house." [6.5.300- 301]

And now one Pikachu purposely glosses over. "Besides these...a certain great and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem a fable, were it not related by those who saw it; and were not the events that followed it if so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals..." Whereupon Josephus relates the above miracle of a vision of soliders running around in the clouds.[6.5.297- 298]

By the way, Duh is right!

Since even Pikachu admits that miracles practically HAD to be a staple of any religious leader or divine being worth his or her salt, there's no need to comment on most of his list of miracles by Asclepius and the others. Once again, it's not as though a genuine, divine Jesus will have to say to Mary and Martha, "I'm sorry, I can't raise your brother Lazarus, because Asclepius already did that one." I mean, let's be serious here. There are just a few comments worth making otherwise.

"Asclepius was the son of Apollo [a god] and Coronis [a mortal woman -- is the pattern sinking in here?]...he healed many sick whose lives had been despaired of, and... he brought back to life many who had died." [Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, 4.7.1.1- 2]

Pikachu gets a lot of his cites from this Diodorus guy, but don't get too happy. Diodorus isn't taken at face value, as noted here: The history, which is a compilation of other sources, is often repetitive and contradictory. Historians generally regard it as uncritical and unreliable. It's more than just, "he reports miracles," folks -- it's how well he does history; in that regard, the NT writers (Luke especially) tend to be a cut above.

Christianity: Miracles just as unusual Yes, Jesus' apostles -- his earliest followers -- had the power to perform miracles, and Pikachu has his head in a bucket again if he thinks we're not aware that being able to do this was understood as a sign you were filled with the Holy Spirit. It's plain as day in the NT: All of the charismatic gifts are regarded as from the activity of the Spirit, and Jesus himself calls the Spirit the "finger of God". It wasn't a "Star Wars" force, despite Pikachu: The Force was impersonal and could be manipulated for good OR evil. Not so with the Spirit, which was personal and holy. Yes, thumb through an early Christian book; just like Pagan books, miracles will be unusual and regarded as unusual. Pikachu is staring through a narrow window... yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill. So there's no need to comment on every one of the miracles Pikachu lists -- even a full list would be only a microcosm of history; even with "thousands" (which is a great exaggeration) you still have miracles clustered around very short periods (assuming they were even meant to be taken seriously in the first place), limited to small audiences.