Miracles Flashcards
Outline the realist view of miracles
Miracles can be understood as mind-independent events that exist in an objective reality that have been caused by God.
Outline the anti-realist view of miracles
We should be sceptical of the mind’s ability to objectively interpret reality. Therefore, the focus of miracles just be on the subjective state of mind of the person who has experienced said event and the significance of this, rather than the authenticity of it.
Describe miracles as an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature
West life Baptist Church gas explosion. All 15 members of the Church choir were late for the scheduled choir practice, all for different reasons, resulting in them escaping certain death.
Juliane Koepcke was the lone survivor of a plane crash which killed 85/86 passengers. She not only survived the initial crash but also her 9 day journey through the jungle on her way to find help, despite having a broken collarbone.
A02 miracles as an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature
Contradicts God’s omnibenevolence as suggests God is selective with whom is chosen to be saved.
Undermines human free will and Hick’s epistemic distance as it suggests God manipulates the personal circumstances of individuals to save them.
Alternative explanations: in childhood Juliane’s father taught her survival skills such as foraging. This learnt skill set would have better equipped her to survive her journey through the jungle
Describe miracles as an event brought about by God or by the power of God working through other people.
Through the power of Yahweh, Moses was able to perform the 10 plagues on Egypt and carry out the great miracle of Israel’s deliverance. Moses was described to stretch out his hand, parting the red sea between the fleeing Israelites and the perusing Egyptian chariots. free the Israelites. Resulting in the sea engulfing the Egyptian army and allowing the Israelites to escape to freedom.
The 37 miracles of Jesus recorded in the New Testament are interpreted through a realist understanding and therefore as seen as evidence for Jesus’ divinity.
The Congregation for the causes of saints investigate claims of miracles performed by individuals considered for canonisation; this reflects the realist understanding of miracles the Catholic Church hold as they look for evidence to verify such events have occurred.
AO2 miracles as events brought by God
The red hue in the Nile can be alternatively explained as merely an algae bloom. Early theists epistemic limitations meant they lacked the scientific knowledge to understand such biological processes and thus attributed natural phenomena as works by God.
We shouldn’t interpret events recorded in the New Testament as factual accounts. The Gospels were written by evangelists with an aim to convert people to Christianity and convince others that Jesus is the messiah. Therefore, scripture was produced with an agenda and should be understood as such. Aslan states that the gospels contain “embellishments” and even “flat out fabrications.”
Outline miracles as violations of the natural law.
Hume describes miracles as “transgressions of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent.”
Hick rejects violation miracles as a type of miracle. Unlike legislative laws, natural laws cannot be broken or violated, they can only be revised.
Therefore if an event appears to break the laws of nature either, evidence for said event is faulty, an unknown factor is at play that the law has not accounted for, or the law needs to be adapted and expanded to account for an event which seems to be an exception from it.
Outline Hume’s realist view of miracles
Whilst as an atheist, Hume rejected the idea of miracles and of them being evidence for the existence of God, he held a realist view towards them and saw biblical accounts of miracles to be taken as literally true.
Hume described a miracles as “a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or interposition of some form of invisible agent”
Outline Hume’s rejection of miracles
As an empiricist Hume argued “a wise man must proportion his belief to the evidence” and therefore for a miracle to be true, the denial of it must be more miraculous than the acceptance. Here Hume points to Ockham’s razor which would argue the simplest explanation is typically the most probable. Therefore, as a maximally improbable event, the likelihood of a miracle occurring is more improbable in comparison to alternative explanations such as a witness being mistaken.
For example, if we take the miracle of Jesus walking on water from the bible, Hume would suggest that there is more evidence to support the fact people cannot walk on water rather than the one time that Jesus did, and so we should not believe it.
Hume argues for a testimony to be reliable it must come from an educated, intelligent witness, who gains nothing from the claims they make. Through accounts of miracles, theists could be seen to be evangelising, therefore their testimony may be fabricated or exaggerated in order to promote their faith. Many of the claims of miracles within the bible are made by poor, uneducated fishermen and peasants, which Hume argues is not an adequate source. Finally, humans are naturally credulous and drawn to the wonderous. Hume argues that this inclination to fascination makes us more likely to interpret an event as divine despite the belief not being justified.
Multiple claims issue: Hume argues that all religions cannot be true as they all make conflicting claims. Miracles seek to establish the truth of a religion and therefore if the testimony of a miracle from one religion is said to be true, this immediately discredits the miracles from all other religions.
Outline Wile’s anti-realist view on miracles
Wile’s is a Christian but rejects the notion of miracles being real events from a moral standpoint. For example, choosing to heal a child at Lourdes but not prevent tragedies such as the Holocaust would indicate God is selective with who he chooses to save. From this, Wiles argues that if miracles were real God would not be worthy of worship, as the arbitrariness and caprice of his interventions would contradict his omnibenevolence.
Wiles points to the problem of evil in reference to miracles, suggesting that if we were to believe that God directly intervenes with the world, this would have “disastrous implication for the problem of evil” as it would suggest God chooses not to prevent evil despite having the power to do so.
Similarly Wiles rejects the 37 miracles of Jesus on the grounds of it seeming questionable that in times of great suffering, Jesus would choose to use his supernatural powers of divine intervention in such trivial manners ie: turning water into wine. Therefore, Wiles holds an anti-realist approach to miracles and that Jesus’ miracles should be taken as a symbolic myth presented to express something about God, rather than being a literal event.
Moreover, Wiles claims “the whole world is a single act of God”, and so the world was created in its entirety including all of its natural laws. Therefore, God only continues to sustain the universe rather consistently returning to intervene.
Outline RF Holland’s view on miracles
Holland discussed how “a coincidence can be religiously as a sign and called a miracle.” This reflects how our own schemas shaped by social, cultural and religious influences can shape the way we interpret events.
Outline Tillich’s view on miracles
