miracles Flashcards
What is a realist?
Refers to a miracle as a real world event that breaks laws of nature or is unexplainable
What is an antirealist?
Refers to the impact of an event in the ppl who experience them
Who is a realist?
Hume
Does Hume believe miracles are subjective or objective?
Objective
Who are anti realists?
Wiles, Holland + Tillich
What do realists believe miracles are?
Extraordinary coincidence of nature
Brought up by a spiritual power, working through ppl
When was Hume alive?
18th century
What is Hume’s definition of a miracle?
A transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of a deity
What’s an e.g. of a miracle as an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature?
Julian Koepcke being the 1 survivor on a plane crash out of 86 passengers
How many miracles did Jesus perform? Where is this stated?
37 miracles in New Testament
What is natural law?
What is possible + not possible for nature to do on its own
What is a miracle in terms of natural law?
Something that couldn’t have happened if nature alone was at work
What does John Mackie think?
Doesn’t believe in God but doesn’t think its unreasonable to think a God could break laws of nature
What is the problem to the account of miracles being a violation of natural law?
Modern science doesn’t accept that natural laws can be violated
If a natural law is broken is it more likely that it was God or that we didn’t get the law right in the first place
What does science think about violation of natural laws?
Natural laws can’t be broken, only revised
How else can we consider natural laws?
Probabilistic - shows what’s likely not what’s defo gonna happen
What do antirealists tend to believe?
The impact of the miracle over whether its possible or not
Does Wiles believe miracles are objective or subjective? Why?
Subjective
Its an interpretation by the mind
Why doesn’t Wiles like the idea of miracles as real world events?
It makes God seem like he has. favourites
What would an anti realist say about the church explosion?
Its not a sign from God + didn’t break laws of nature but its interpreted that way bc of the impact
What is the example of the sunset for the anti realists?
One person may see a sunset as a daily event; another may see it as a spiritual awakenings
What is the baseline of an antirealists view of miracles?
It doesn’t matter what happens, if it feels like a miracle, it can be called a miracle
What did Holland say about miracles?
Theres nothing miraculous about miracles except the way they’re interpreted
What example does Holland give?
- A child rides a toy car onto a railway + is stuck when train due to pass can’t stop
- The train breaks inches from the child
- The mother thinks of it as a miracle BUT the driver of the train fainted + his breaks were applied auto.