Reincarnation, Miracles

Question 1

Reincarnation

Answer 1

Literal meaning: repeated return of spirit into body

Transmigration of the souls (atman- Hindu)
Rebirth in another body of some critical part of a persons personality or spirit
In Buddhism, rebirth/rebecoming is preferred as reincarnation implies there is a fixed entity reborn
this notion of reincarnation raises questions about the relationship of the soul to the body and brain
if people remember previous lives or show similar physical marks from their previous life, does the soul affect the brain and give it from their previous life does the soul affect the actual physical body?

Question 2

Karma

Answer 2

the principle of cause and effect in Hinduism+Buddhism all acts and deeds influence the future transmigration of the person or the current situation or the current situation of a human is the consequences of the persons actions and thoughts in current and past lives, is not judgment but natural law, people are reborn entirely because of their behaviour

Question 3

Life and death in Hinduism

Answer 3

• part of the cycle of existence
• soul is reborn again into another body many times until the soul reaches ultimate reality or ‘nirvana’ and is united with Brahman
—“so does the disembodied soul cast off worn-out bodies and take on others that are new” (Bhagavad Gita)

Question 4

The soul in Hinduism

Answer 4

• a person’s reincarnation is determined by the karma of their previous life
• in Vedantic tradition, the soul (jiva) is eternal and identical to Brahman but dwells in a state of maya which is unreal and infinite
• soul exists in an illusion and separate from Brahman
• soul (in the illusion) sees itself as being in gross body, ‘sthula sharira’ (physical) and subtle body ‘linga sharira’ (intellectual and emotional), these are subject to changes, ‘samskaras’, or impressions
—Hick: “The subtle body may accordingly be characterised as a psychic organism consisting of a structure of mental dispositions, but differing from ‘person’ in that it lacks self-consciousness”

Question 5

Atman

Answer 5

• an ‘essential self’ in each person which is eternal and seeks unity with God (Brahman)
• in Upanishads, spiritual wisdom is from recognising ultimate identity of the atman
• after births and rebirths, the person comes to understanding and union of the atman with God
• release of the atman, after union, is moksha
• is a persons true nature and is what transmigrates after death
• karmic ‘fruits’ are attached to the atman
—“the Self, having come together at the end of one life, and shed all ignorance, gathers in its faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new” (Brihadaranyaka, Upanishad III)

Question 6

Hinduism’s other realms of existence

Answer 6

• there are other realms, joyful and painful
• the soul has to face consequences for karma in these
• these do not lead the soul on to nirvana, because it is only the physical body in which the soul has freedom and responsibility to make decisions, so only in the physical body can it discover the path to perfection and enlightenment (moksha)

Question 7

General evaluation of Hindu reincarnation

Answer 7

• Hindu scholars say evidence is in the odd phenomena of life, such as fear of death and why children can be born geniuses
• John Hick: such phenomena as child geniuses may be due to “exceptionally fortunate genetic combinations”
• on reincarnation: body is lost, memory is lost, so only personal character is remaining (can this be called the same person?)
• karma suggests that the poor and unfortunate are so because of their own actions, however, their situation allows for compassion and everyone is connected as part of a divine essence

Question 8

Ian Stevenson

Answer 8

• ‘Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation’ 1974, 20 cases which appear to evidence reincarnation
• mainly cases from India, Ceylon and Brazil where children had memories of past lives
• confined study to children as adults may be motivated to seek attention and children were less likely to be able to fabricate evidence

Question 9

Swarnlata

Answer 9

(one of Stevenson’s cases)
• child in India who, at three years old, was taken to Kanti, 170 miles from hometown
• she pointed out where her old house was described the family of which she was a member (Pathak) and commented on changes the place had undergone
• she performed songs she claimed to learn with the family, although she sung them in Bengali despite growing up knowing only Hindi
• accurately described features of a house which couldn’t be seen from the road and the events of the Pathak family who had lived there
• the Pathak’s daughter Biya had lived to adulthood, learnt Bengali songs and dances, married and died
• recognised Biya’s siblings and greeted them warmly

Question 10

Stevenson’s conclusion

Answer 10

• considered possibility of fraud: children have little to gain and many found the media attention to be a nuisance. Swrnlata’s family was offered money for her education from the Pathak family but refused. It could be disadvantageous to claim to have had a husband in a past life if she wanted to marry.
• considered cryptomnesia: when a person thinks they remember something but had actually heard about it from someone else’s experience. However, there was rarely written or broadcast evidence of the deceased, nor were they known to the child’s family.
• considered genetic memory: would be plausible if the deceased had lived hundreds of years before, as no genetic links were found otherwise, though would memories from centuries ago be that vivid
• considered extra-sensory perception: this involves the paranormal and telepathic links, wouldn’t be accepted by skeptics and children never claimed to be in communication with another person
—Therefore, Stevenson concluded that reincarnation is the most likely explanation

Question 11

Hick on Stevenson and reincarnation

Answer 11

• (Death and Eternal life, 1994): “There can be general similarities of character found in such qualities as selfishness and unselfishness, introverted or extroverted types of personality… but such general similarities would never by themselves lead or entitle us to identify the two as the same person”
• “…reincarnation, in some forms, makes sufficient connection with actual or possible human experience to constitute it a factual claim”

Question 12

(Criticisms of reincarnation) weaknesses in the cases suggestive of reincarnation

Answer 12

• John Hick: Stevenson’s cases are mostly from countries where reincarnation is a respected belief
• Hick suggests also that extra-sensory perception, by which traces of the deceased’s memory are picked up by individuals with a telepathic extra-sensitivity
• he doesn’t claim this explanation is correct, but that it is another possibility, meaning reincarnation is not the only conclusion to be drawn
• however, Stevenson believes evidence points towards reincarnation

Question 13

(Criticisms of reincarnation) issue of personal identity and injustice

Answer 13

-issue of personal identity
• isn’t resolved by reincarnation
• there is no reason to identify the person who is living now with someone who has died
• shared memory and features do not constitute same identity
• for two different people to be the same person is contradictory

-injustice
• it could be unjust for someone to suffer punishments for crimes they don’t remember committing
• crimes would be unremembered, committed in a different body

Question 14

Buddhism

Answer 14

• Buddhists don’t believe in soul (doctrine of no soul: ‘anatta’)
• Person is made up of the physical body and 4 mental elements: feelings, perception, moral will and consciousness (nama rupa)
• when the body dies the nama-rupa is released and reborn into the new person, forming his/her non-conscious psychic element
• rebirth isn’t always back to earth, it can be in spiritual worlds
• the body is impermanent and changing and the real self is eternal and non-changing
• for the soul to be eternal it must rid itself of change to reach Nirvana- the end of rebirth
• it does this over many lifetimes- finally realising ‘the ultimate reality’- and so may remember past lives

Question 15

Problems with Buddhist ideas

Answer 15

• although it may feel real, it isn’t, for there is no soul or self- only a temporal reality
• issue of verifiability: if there are other worlds/realms how can LAD be proven?
• if they can be reborn as animals, ghosts etc does it actually count as LAD? so much is outside earthly understanding
• much depends on memory and if they can really recall their previous lives. If there is no memory, does it constitute the same person?

Question 16

Karma and Rebirth

Answer 16

• it is the intentional action that carries moral consequence
• two factors determine if an action is good or bad: the intention behind it and the type of result it produces
• for karma, intention is more important than result
• Karmic results affect us mentally, physically or both and colour the way we experience the world as well as the way we relate to ourselves
• they can come immediately, medium, long term, in this life or future lives
• the law of karma is seen as a natural law, not a result of judgement
• we determine it

Question 17

Four types of Karmic effect

Answer 17

• the fully ripened or maximum effect of an action (hateful intentions cause rebirth in the hells)
• the effect is similar to the cause (we are lied to if we have lied)
• the conditioning effect; it acts on our environment (we may steal and be reborn in a famine stricken area)
• the proliferation effect (the way in which an action done before will tend to be repeated, becomes habit)

Question 18

Definitions of a Miracle

Answer 18

“A miracle occurs when the world is not left to itself. when something distinct from the natural order as a whole intrudes into it” JL Mackie

“A breach or suspension of natural law, or…an unusual and striking event that evokes and mediates a vivid awareness of God” John Hick

Question 19

Attributes of Miracles

Answer 19

-It must break the laws of nature- extraordinary intervention

-The event has a religious purpose and significance

-It must have the possibility of a religious interpretation, associated with God

Question 20

Aquinas on Miracles

Answer 20

• Aquinas in 13th century, attempted to define events- miracles Summa Contra Gentiles
• calling an event a miracle places an interpretation onto what happened and express an opinion about it
• “things that are done occasionally by divine power outside of the usual established order of events are commonly called miracles” (cited by Hick)
• Proposed the below categories

Question 21

Aquinas’ three categories of Miracles

Answer 21

1. Events done by God that nature could never do, like Joshua 10:13 stopping the sun
2. Events done by God that nature could do but not in that order, like Jesus healing the blind man. These events are not impossible but highly unexpected.
3. Events done by God that nature can do but God does without the use of natural laws, like the healings and forgiving of sins in Mark 2:5

Question 22

Difficulties with Aquinas’ three categories

Answer 22

• suggests an interventionist God, who only acts on certain, almost random occasions
• Brian Davies in ‘Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion: to talk about God intervening suggests that he is normally just a spectator in human affairs who watches us struggle and suffer
• this seems contrary to the classical theistic view, that God is loving and always interacts with his creation
• if God breaks natural laws, then we may not know all the natural laws or how they operate. We cannot tell if a natural law has been broken or not. If a natural law is broken this may be no more than saying that something we didn’t understand or expect happened. Natural laws are just what happen frequently enough that we think they always happen

Question 23

Hume on Miracles

Answer 23

“A transgression of a natural law by a particular volition of the Deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent’’
Known as the violation definition, depending on law being broken

However:
* assumes we know all laws of nature
* science constantly changes
* unless we know all laws we cannot comment
* leaves open the idea that miracles could be performed by angels or demons

Question 24

Swinburne on Miracles

Answer 24

• nature is predictable so if something ‘impossible’ happens its a miracle
• “the resurrection from the dead in full health of a man whose heart has not been beating for twenty four hours… water turning into wine…a man getting better from polio in a minute” (Miracles 1989)
• people do recover from death and illness, counts as a miracle when there is a certain way or timescale
• Miracles take place outside the normal conditions of such occurrences and have a deeper meaning

However:

Doesn’t take coincidences into consideration (CA: doesn’t mean the definition doesn’t work, just that we wouldn’t be able to tell)

Question 25

Holland on Miracles

Answer 25

• In ‘The Miraculous’, a miracle is just an extraordinary coincidence seen in a religious way
• example of boy caught on railway line who was only saved because the train driver fainted and landed on the brake lever
• “a coincidence can be taken religiously as a sign and called a miracle “

However:

• makes miracles dependent on personal interpretation and this will vary between people

Question 26

Macquarrie on Miracles

Answer 26

• something which is attributable to God, as well as a miraculous event; “a miracle is an event that excites wonder. Certainly every even might be called a ‘miracle’…the word ‘miracle’ carries more than just this minimal sense. It is believed that God is in the event in some special way”
• said that some 19th century scholars claimed everything is a miracle because it came from God, not that miracles are performed selectively
• Macquarrie accepts it in theory, but rejected it in reality because it raises issues

Question 27

Why do people believe in Miracles

Answer 27

-The Bible, belief in God, Jesus, hope, religious experience

-Evidence

-some things lack natural explanation

-falsification principle: we should accept until disproven

-demonstrates God’s love, goodness and compassion

-show God’s power over nature and that God is continually active

Question 28

(Arguments for Miracles) Consistent with the nature of God

Answer 28

If one believes in God, one will believe in miracles as his intervention, consistent with supreme loving God

Bible bends laws of nature to reveal himself in the Bible, through Jesus and elsewhere, for example, the burning bush

Question 29

(Arguments for Miracles) Not contrary to science

Answer 29

• science involves observation+explanation, it cannot rule out miracles and so is neutral
• Swinburne and Polkington both argue science doesn’t prove miracles are impossible
• Swinburne argues evidence for a non-repeatable happening is acceptable historical evidence
• Swinburne attacks argument against miracles: “if a law of nature seems to be broken, we just don’t know that law yet”, says laws so well established wouldn’t make sense to modify them for the ‘odd encounter’

Question 30

(Arguments for Miracles) Accounts of Miracles

Answer 30

many accounts have witnesses (Lourdes for example)

NT resurrection, lots of witnesses and information

If God is outside of the universe, his entering and leaving would be by miracles

Question 31

(Arguments for Miracles) Miracles as natural events interpreted

Answer 31

• beneficial coincidence or having religious significance definitions could mean miracles are consistent with everyday experiences and don’t require violation of natural law
• if we assign a religious significance, then it implies we have a belief in God
• arguments for miracles is strengthened if the event occurs in answer to a prayer and is consistent with God’s nature

Question 32

Wiles against Miracles

Answer 32

• in ‘God’s Action in the World’, Christian teaching has interwoven prophecy and miracles as pointers to main message: incarnation of God. Early Christians could accept miracles for they understood everything to depend on God. Followed that God would work in different ways sometimes
• does not reject miracles: “the notion of miracle cannot simply be ruled out on scientific grounds…since the world we know in not a closed, deterministically ordered system”
• rejects miracles on moral grounds: “it would seen strange that no miraculous intervention prevented Auschwitz or Hiroshima”
• God intervening too often would mean we had no laws of nature, but it still seems unacceptable that God wouldn’t prevent tragedies
• a God of miracles would be unfair and would have favourites

Question 33

Hume’s four reasons to reject the existence of Miracles

Answer 33

• “There is not to be found in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of
men, of such unquestioned good sense, education and learning, as to secure us against
all delusion’
• ‘The passion of surprise and wonder, arising from miracles…gives a tendency towards
belief of those events. A religionist may be an enthusiast and imagines he sees what
has no reality”
• “It forms a strong presumption against all supernatural and miraculous relations that
they are observed chiefly to abound amongst ignorant and barbarous nations.”
• “In matters of religion, whatever is different is contrary…every miracle, therefore,
pretended to have been wrought in any of these religions…destroys the credit of those
miracles.”