3E Different Definitions of Miracles

Question 1

What are the issues surrounding defining miracles?

Answer 1

• What is involved in a proper conception of the miraculous?
• What are the grounds for deciding whether a miracle has taken place; Lareece Butler survived a free fall of 3,000 ft after jumping with a faulty parachute, suffering only a broken leg - is that a miracle?

Question 2

What is the etymology of the word ‘miracle’?

Answer 2

• Derives from the Latin word for ‘wonder’

* The main characteristic of a miracle is that it is an unusual event that produces wonder

Question 3

What was Augustine’s view of miracles? [not named on spec]

Answer 3

• Miracles ≠ contrary to nature ∵ the hidden potentials that make miracles possible have been placed there by G.
• They are only contrary to our knowledge/understanding of nature

Question 4

How did Aquinas develop Augustine’s view of miracles?

Answer 4

• “That which has a divine cause, not that whose cause a human person fails to understand”
• Everything that exists has a nature
• A miracle = event beyond the natural power of any created being
• G alone can do miracles ∵ he is un-created

Question 5

What did Aquinas identify as the three types of miracle?

Answer 5

1) G does something that nature could never do; e.g. sun going back on its course across sky
2) G does something which nature can do, but not in this order; e.g. someone living after death
3) G does something that the working of nature does, but w/o the operation of the principles of nature; being instantly cured of an illness that usually takes much longer to cure
• In all three events, G = active

Question 6

What does Hume write in Section X of ‘Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’?

Answer 6

• Miracles = “a violation of natural law”
• “a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent”
• A miracle had to break the laws of nature AND express divine cause; e.g. raising someone from the dead

Question 7

What is the ‘hard’ interpretation of Hume’s definition?

Answer 7

• Assumes that the laws of nature are unalterably uniform
• If miracles are a “violation” of what cannot be altered, then miracles = impossible
• Similarly, what appears to be a violation of a law of nature is a misstated law of nature. The laws postulated need to be adjusted to take in the new circumstance, so that a new law of nature is now derived that has no exceptions

Question 8

What is the ‘soft’ interpretation of Hume’s definition?

Answer 8

• Natural laws ≠ fixed laws; they can have exceptions - can be altered by G’s intervention
• This makes the issue for belief in miracles not about a logical impossibility, but about whether the evi. for the altered law is credible/convincing

Question 9

Why is R.F. Holland’s approach to defining miracles different?

Answer 9

• He said that a miracle need neither involve breaking the laws of nature, nor intervention by God

Question 10

What is R.F. Holland’s definition of miracles?

Answer 10

• “a remarkable and beneficial coincidence that is interpreted in a religious way”
• Referred to it as a “contingency miracle”
• A miracle can only be spoken about against a religious background where the miracle is taken as a sign.

Question 11

What example did R.F. Holland use and what is its significance?

Answer 11

• Child on the train tracks: train coming towards him, stops metres away; the mother interprets it as a miracle; the real reason = the emergency braking system was activated ∵ driver suffered a heart condition
• To a r. person, it is a miracle, even though it does not break the laws of nature
• A non-r. person would simply call it ‘luck’
• The interpretation of the event is what makes it a miracle

Question 12

In what way does Swinburne agree with Hume?

Answer 12

• Accepts that a miracle is an objective event in which G intervenes
∴ miracles = signs from G; “sign” is used in John’s Gospel to refer to J’s miracles which always seem to point to something beyond the actual event

Question 13

What is the first change that Swinburne makes to Hume’s definition?

Answer 13

• Believes that Hume’s phrase (“a violation of a law of nature”) is misleading ∵ the word “violation” suggests too close an analogy btwn laws of nature and civil, moral laws
∴ borrows a phrase from Ninian Smart: “an occurrence of a non-repeatable counter-instance to a law of nature”
• If, after a miracle, you were to modify the law of nature, it would give false predictions in all other circumstances

Question 14

What is the second change that Swinburne makes to Hume’s definition?

Answer 14

• Miracles hold deeper r. significance than simply breaking the laws of nature
• To be a miracle, the event must contribute towards a holy divine purpose

Question 15

What are the four reasons of why religious believers accept that miracles occur?

Answer 15

1) Historical evidence
2) Scriptural evidence
3) Affirmation of faith traditions
4) Personal experience

Question 16

Explain why the following reason makes religious believers accept that miracles occur: historical evidence.

Answer 16

• If the hist. evi. = strong, seems reasonable to believe the miracle has occurred
• Swinburne: natural theology establishes the probability that G would produce a revelation, which miracles can do, as long as it is verified by historical investigation and confirmed as authentic
• Many historians, e.g. Carl Becker: miracles cannot be the object of historical investigation since they claim to involve a supernatural being.
• However, J’s res. can be verified since it is ass. w/ other hist. data e.g. crucifixion/empty tomb
• The historian cannot identify the supernatural agent, but can detect aspects of it through hist. investigation.

Question 17

Explain why the following reason makes religious believers accept that miracles occur: scriptural evidence.

Answer 17

• Sacred writings record supernatural events to vindicate claims of those accepted as G’s messengers
• Islam: accepts the supernatural, although Muhammad refused to do wondrous signs to strengthen his authority; some believe his only miracle = prod. of Qur’an
• Buddhism: rejects miracles as a sign of G ∵ they are non-theistic

Question 18

Explain why the following reason makes religious believers accept that miracles occur: affirmation of faith traditions.

Answer 18

• Many r. believers claim that only the ‘true’ r. has ‘true’ miracles
• Miracles act as a divine signature, confirming authority
• Miracles = to be expected if G has an interest in communicating w/ ppl
• Each r. contains a valid response to the reality of G.

Question 19

Explain why the following reason makes religious believers accept that miracles occur: personal experience.

Answer 19

• Lourdes: since, 1858, 69 verified miracles, e.g Danila Castelli, who had a tumour healed - “unexplained according to current scientific knowledge” (medical committee)
• Many go to Lourdes as they believe in a personal G
• Prayer sometimes leads to miracles
• Testimonies of personal healing = often a feature of char. C.ty