Miracles

Question 1

How might miracles lead some people to lose faith in God? Do they act as evidence for Atheists?

Answer 1

xplaining, coincidence?
unfair — why doesn’t he save everyone?
better explanations for what appears to be a miracle
hoax miracles give miracles a bad name
science
manipulation of miracles
petty miracles e.g. Aquinas and fish
overuse of ‘miracle’ 
miracles are subjective 
having a scientific outlook on life
easy to dismiss a miracle if person claiming it is extravagant, or they are untrustworthy/disliked/source’s reliability is questionable

Question 2

How might miracles lead some people to believe in God?

Answer 2

gives hope
saves lives in desperate situations
chances
could only be God
37 miracles of Jesus
miracles are subjective
sometimes belief in God leads to belief in miracles
miracles are rare because God doesn’t want to intervene with free will
having a romantic outlook on life
easier to say it was God, wanting a definitive
manipulation of miracles

Question 3

what are miracles?

Answer 3

miracles are actions carried out by God that break a natural law

Question 4

what is a natural law?

Answer 4

something that happens so often within the world that it would be considered the working of nature if it happened directly, or to failed to happen when it was expected to do so
e.g. the sun rising in the morning

Question 5

how can disease relate to miracles?

Answer 5

if someone’s healed of a disease and there is no other explanation for it, then it may be convincing enough to lead people to believe that God did it and must exist

Question 6

what do believers believe about God and miracles?

Answer 6

believers say that God is unchanging (immutable) and eternal and performs miracles because, as an omni-benevolent and omnipotent being, he wants the best for his creation

Question 7

give an example of a miracle in the bible

Answer 7

Jesus feeding five thousand which can be found in the New Testament

Question 8

what are the problems (3) with miracles?

Answer 8

there could be other, better explanations for what appears to be a miracle
sometimes a person may recover from an illness unexpectedly
sometimes apparent miraculous events are simply coincidences