Lecture 11: The Reliability of Scripture, Miracles Flashcards
Give an example of Aquinas’s example of miracle as something God does that nature alone could never do.
The sun standing still.
What did Aquinas understand miracles to be?
They were suspensions of regularity or overturning the laws of nature.
What do the lecture notes say is the best approach to start with regarding the reliability of scripture?
Historical evidence and other evidentialist
Give an example of Aquinas’s example of miracle as something God does usually done by nature but done apart from the principles of nature.
God could speed up the process of being sick with a cold and heal someone instantly.
Define miracle.
God acting in such a way that is out of the ordinary and creating awe and wonder in us.
How did R. F. Holland view miracles?
They are extraordinary combinations of ordinary events, but this is purely coincident and not divine intervention.
Give three examples of prophesies fulfilled.
- Christ as the suffering servant
- Christ’s birth in Bethlehem as foretold in Micah
Give two categories of miracles, as defined by Gaskin.
- Violation of the laws of nature
- Striking coincidence within the laws of nature
Describe the evidentialist approach to the reliability of scripture.
First, establish on other historical grounds that the Bible is trustworthy. Secondarily, give internal supporting evidence such as prophesy fulfilled.
Give an example of Aquinas’s example of miracle as something God does that nature can also do, but not in that order.
Walking after being paralyzed or living after having died.
Define the soft presuppositional approach to the reliability of scripture.
It asks people to read the Bible as though it were true, and see if it helps them to better understand the world.
Give a criticism of thinking of God as intervening in specific moments.
It is deist and views God as largely distant from us and the world.
Give three other words for miracle used in the Bible.
signs, wonders, works
Which book had a copy in the Dead Sea scrolls discovered 1,000 years old than previously found?
Isaiah
