Miracles Flashcards
Hume’s definition (1711 - 1776)
Miracles are a violation of the laws of nature by a supernatural being
Hume’s Principle of Induction
The more experiences we have of an event, the less likely it is that the opposite will occur. Each experience we have of normal events seems to make miracles less likely. We should only believe in a miracle if it would be more improbable that all the witnesses were mistaken than if the event were true. Which is more probable; a miracle or an ordinary event? All this shows that miracles are highly improbable. As it is irrational to believe in the highly improbable it is irrational to believe in miracles.
Hume’s Practical Arguments
Firstly, there has never been a miracle with many witnesses that are sane and educated. Second, people exploit our philosophical natural interest in the unusual.
Third, “ignorant and barbarous nations”. Finally, all religions have claims of miracles. These testimonies cancel themselves out as each have “evidence” in favor of their religious miracles.
Swinburne
Miracles are within nature; a set of coincidences manipulated by God. His argument of probabilistic patterns states that laws of nature are not fixed; they tell us what will most likely happen. i.e. Kepler’s law of planetary motion and quantum theory show us what will probably happen but particles can still behave randomly. God may occasionally bend natural laws like a parent relaxing rules after a child’s pleading. If God is all loving he would want to interact with his creation but it must be occasional to maintain free will.
C.S. Lewis (1893-1963)
States the difference between naturalist where reality is just physical and super naturalist where god, miracles and the supernatural can exist. Naturalism is self defeating as you are a physical being subject to cause and effect so your belief’s must also have been caused meaning you have no choice in what you believe. When naturalists reject God/miracles they are making assumptions that the world is purely physical.
Anthony Flew (1923-)
Miracles may be caused by the powers of the human mind, as yet unexplained. If we repeatedly test events we can reject miracles (similar to Hume’s principle of induction). I.e. water to wine; everyday water stays the same so it makes it unlikely that one day it will change into wine. The only real evidence of a miracle is if you actually observed it yourself.
Polkinghorne (1929-)
Science cannot disprove events; only that it goes over normal expectations. God may just be acting in a new way - the laws of nature do not change but the consequences of them can. Miracles such as resurrection is crucial to bring around a new age of personal God.
Tillich
A miracle is a sign event; something of religious significance that tells you something about God. He states the miraculous nature of miracles is overemphasized, instead you should be focusing on the role of signs. For the example of Jesus healing the paralyzed man the sign of this miracle is that God has the authority to forgive sins. Miracles do not “contradict the rational structure of reality”
Wiles (1923-2005)
God never interferes in the world with individual acts but the whole world is one big miracle. Biblical miracles only have spiritual significance not historical. A God who intervenes at Lourdes to cure a man of cancer but does not stop millions starving in Africa is not worthy of worship. This shows an arbitrary, partisan will of God. Miracles like water to wine is juvenile! God cannot change natural laws to make them unpredictable as we would not be able to survive if the were.
Aquinas
Events which happen by divine power beyond the normal natural order. Some people mistake things for miracles when they don’t know the cause of something for example, a non-astronomer and the eclipse of the sun. If no one knows the cause then it is a miracle by God. There are three ranks of miracles: the highest is when God does something nature can never do (sun going backwards in the sky); the second, where God does something that nature can do but not in that situation (wheelchair person walking again); and lastly, something that nature can do but God does it without nature/ without time (an instant cure for broken arm).
