E: miracles Flashcards
Early definition from Augustine
Miracle is not contrary to nature because hidden potentials in nature that make miracles possible have been placed there by God.
Only contrary to our knowledge of nature.
Modifications by Aquinas
Aquinas’ definition: “That which has a divine cause, not that whose cause a human person fails to understand”
Believed everything in existence has a nature (things it is able to do). A miracle is an event beyond this natural power of a created being.
Divine cause -> not normal function of nature
God alone can do miracles
Aquinas’ three kinds of miracle
- Events where God performs something nature could never do, like the sun going back on its course across the sky
- Events where God performs something nature can do, just in a different order, like someone living after death
- Events where God does something the workings of nature has the capacity to do, but without the operation of principles of nature, like instantly curing an illness that usually takes much longer.
David Hume’s definition context
At his time of writing it was thought that natural laws were universal and governed all events, rather than objects being governed by their nature which gave them a certain power to act.
Hume basic definition
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Miracle as “a violation of natural law”
Hume’s fuller definition
“a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent”
Event had to break the laws of nature, and expressed a divine cause.
Examples:
- raising of a person from the dead (breaks regular experience of natural laws, demands divine intervention)
- healing of a man with a withered arm (Mark 3)
- walking on water (Matthew 14)
McKinnon
Preferred “an event involving the suspension of the actual course of events” to discussion of natural laws- “The idea of a suspension of natural law is self-contradictory”
‘Hard’ laws of nature
- Laws of nature are unalterably uniform
- If miracles are a ‘violation’ of that which cannot be altered, then miracles are impossible
OR - law of nature has been misstated
- Postulated law needs adjustment according to the new circumstance.
- New law of nature is derived that has no exceptions
Ultimately there cannot be violations of laws of nature.
‘Soft’ laws of nature
- Natural laws are not fixed laws that are unalterable in any circumstance
- Can have exceptions
- regular patterns within nature but can be altered, by example, by the intervention of God.
- Miracles not logical impossibility, but dependent on whether evidence for altered law is credible and convincing.
Hume quote
“A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence”- could be used before discussion of hard and soft laws.
Basis of Holland’s definition
Thought a miracle can only be spoken about against a religious background where the miracle is taken as a sign.
Holland’s definition
“a remarkable and beneficial coincidence that is interpreted in a religious way”
“contingency miracle”
Holland’s illustration to exemplify definition
Child caught between rail tracks in a toy car, with a train approaching out of child’s view.
Mother can see child and train, knew there was too little distance for it to stop.
Train starts to slow down and stops a metre away from child. Later found out that driver passed out from heart condition and automatic braking system was activated.
Mother thanks God, non-religious person would deem this event extraordinarily lucky.
Seen as a miracle by a religious person despite it denying no laws of nature- INTERPRETATION OF ORDINARY EVENT. Interpretation is what makes a miracle a miracle.
Interpretations of Holland’s view
- Interpretation means there is no standardised view of miracles- should we trust one individuals interpretation?
- If several reasonable witnesses viewed coincidence then law of nature would have to be revised or falsified as non-existent- this is not a simple thing so coincidence view is preferred.
Hume’s influence on Swinburne
Endorses Hume’s definition, miracle as objective event with the intervention of God.
Makes two changes/ additions
Swinburne- addition one
Phrase from Ninian Smart to overcome ‘misleading’ phrasing from Hume; “an occurrence of a non-repeatable counterinstance to a law of nature”
If event is a counter instance to a law of nature, then this event could be predicted by changing this law of nature to a more successful/ encompassing law. However, this modified law would provide false predictions for all other events. If original law of nature is left, there is reason to believe it would give correct predictions in all other circumstances apart from this one counter-instance.
Swinburne- addition two
Miracles hold deeper religious significance than just breaking a law of nature.
To be a miracle an events must contribute significantly towards a holy divine purpose for the world.
Miracles are signs from God.
Swinburne quote
“If He (God) has reason to interact with us, he has reason very occasionally to intervene and suspend those natural laws by which our life is controlled”
- perhaps God can suspend laws on occasions in a similar way to a parent relaxing boundaries.
- miracles are occasional events; if they were more regular we would know whether natural laws would operate eg. gravity.
Issues
No clear agreement by any of these scholars- all hold a differing perspective of the nature and purpose of miracles.
