Jason,
A miracle has to be something that doesn`t occur naturally, or else it is a random event. I`m not trying to humanize it, or alter it in any way. If you pray for something and it happens, it`s a miracle, but if the prayer is not answered we don`t call it a non-miracle.
Jesus`s story was obviously hyped up considerably, we don`t have anything he wrote, just what others wrote down years later, probably mostly gathered through word of mouth. This is how myths are propegated, similiar to urban legends. There is usually some facts in there somewhere, but the stories are stepped on, situations are changed to match the timeframe, names are changed, etc. All it takes is one slip up in the re-telling of the tale to alter it considerably.
Even events in a nation`s history alter through time, victories become more resounding, defeats become inevitable and blameless.
I think the bible is precious in the history it preserves, but the supernatural accounts are highly unreliable. In comparison with all religions alive or dead, yes christianity has the most paperwork surrounding it, but it`s history of being taken up by the more educated peoples and the underlying command of converting others into it, have made it quite enormous after all these years. It doesn`t, IMO make it any more sensible than other religious thought of today, or the gods and godesses of yesterday.
It all goes back to that primal need to understand why we exist, and humans have had a very, very long time to ponder this. I don`t see religion as a curious oddity, I see it as an inevitable product of early man`s struggle to understand.