Miracles Flashcards
Key Philosophers
Hume and Wiles
Hume’s view
Miracles aren’t impossible but are impossible to prove
Hume’s 6 key points
1) Principle of induction
2) Miracle would only be true if it would be more miraculous to be false
3) Never had enough credible witnesses
4) People want to believe the miracle is true
5) Ignorant countries
6) Cancel each other out
Principle of Induction
We know the laws of nature exist and can conclude that they will probably reoccur
Challengers to Hume
Wilkinson and Campbell
Davies
Vardy
Swinburne
Wilkinson and Campbell
The PoI only leads to probable conclusions
Davies
Improbability does not mean impossibility
Vardy
Modern miracles observed by scientists
Swinburne
Pluralism means religions don’t cancel each other out
Supporters of Hume
Dawkins
Atkins
Dawkins
Hume didn’t say miracles were impossible, but improbable
Atkins
Miracles are people seeking publicity or hallucinating
Wiles’ view
- Creation is the one and only miracle
- God could perform miracles whenever he wanted to but does not as this would mean we could not predict what the natural world would do
- Hume’s definition would paint God as arbitrary and partisan
Supporters of Wiles
Bultmann
Vardy
Bultmann
Miracles are not literal events but reveal a deeper spiritual truth
Vardy
If God performed miracles he would face ‘hard moral questioning’
Opposers of Wiles
Swinburne
Swinburne
God may perform miracles for those who are desperate like a parent would bend the rules for their child
Miracles are significant / positive
- Show God’s nature
- Example of his direct revelation
- Ward: God intervenes rarely to do the best and to build up faith in him
- Swinburne: Great religious significance, foundational
Miracles are insignificant / negative
- God of the gaps, we attribute things we do not understand via science to God so he will eventually become meaningless
- Dawkins: Coincidences
- Hume’s definition = arbitrary and partisan God
- Miracles cancel each other out
Scientific answers
Colin Humphreys:
- The miracle is in the timing
Parting of the Red Sea:
- Sustained gust of wind in the right place could have caused this and there is a similar place nearby
Realism
- Real
- Brought about by God or someone empowered by him
- Evidence for God’s existence
Anti-realism
- Symbolic
- Epistemic distance
- In the mind
A realist
Anthony Flew
- Truth is based on historical evidence
- For a christian to believe they must accept the bible is historically accurate
An Anti-realist
Bultmann
- Bible needs to be stripped of myth to reveal its kerygma (religious truth)
- Deeper spiritual meaning
- Myths
- Feeding of the 500 shows God’s boundless love
Forms of life philosopher
Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein’s forms of life
- Theism and atheism are different ways of seeing the world
- Both accounts are correct as they are found in different forms of life
Supporter of forms of life
Hick and Holland
Hick’s ‘experiencing-as’
- Miracles are ordinary events seen through the eyes of faith
Holland
Train-track account
- Miracle to the mother even though there is an explanation
