Miracles Flashcards
What are the two interpretations of miracles?
Realist and anti-realist
What is the definition of the realist interpretation of miracles?
miracles are real events brought about by God, or someone empowered by God
When a realist says that a miracle has taken place they are…
Telling us about something that has happened in the external world
Telling us about the nature of the event
Making a claim about the (supernatural) cause of the event
What is the realist ideas of miracles?
- Miracles could be an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature eg, West Side Baptist Church gas explosion sick choir
- Miracles could be an event brought about by the power of God or another spiritual power, working through people eg, Moses parting the Red Sea, or miracles of Jesus
Important in Catholic tradition
Invite belief in God and strengthen faith - Miracles as a violation of natural law
David Hume
A miracle is a transgression of a law of nature
By a particular act of will or by a Deity
Mackie also agrees with this definition, despite not believing in God
What is the problem with describing a miracle as breaking a law of nature?
science disagrees with this definition because they see natural law as descriptive, not prescriptive. They don’t dictate what must happen, they just summarise what has been found to happen. Hick supports this and says that if there appears to be an exception to a law of nature, the law simply expands to include the exception
What is the definition of the anti-realist interpretation of miracles?
a miracle may be seen as something that lifts the spirit or transforms a community of people
What is the anti-realist interpretation of miracles?
- Argues that we can have no knowledge of a mind-independent world
- This means we can have no knowledge of a transcendent realm, so the idea of a transcendent God intervening is not sensible
- Miracles are mental states or attitudes that are to be understood by psychology and sociology
When an anti-realist is talking about miracles they are…
informing us about their state of mind, they are not making a claim about the event itself
What is Tillich’s view of anti-realism?
Sees God as being itself
So he sees miracles as sign event
To be considered a miracle it haas to be astonishing, but not defy a law of nature, it must point to the mystery of the being and it has to be a symbol within a religious experience
What is Holland’s view of anti-realism?
Argues that there is nothing miraculous about coincidences, except the way they are interpreted
Eg, mother and baby train driver fainting. She sees this as a miracle because she believes in God so conforms this to her form of life and interprets this lucky coincidence as divine intervention
What is Hume’s definition of a miracle?
A violation of a law of nature
For Hume, where can miracles come from?
- A miracle has to be willed by the Deity, as only God would have to power to bring about such an event
- Alternatively, the miracle must be willed by an ‘invisible agent’ in relation to non-religious miracles, eg, Buddhism
What is Hume’s inductive argument against miracles?
- Witness testimony has to be more reliable in direct proportion with the improbability of the claim
- The most improbable event would be a violation of the laws of nature
- So, by definition, the event in maximally improbable
- The probability that the witness is mistaken or lying is always greater than the probability that a miracle has occurred
What are arguments to support Hume’s argument against miracles?
- It is impossible to look back in history and find a witness who claimed to have experienced a miracle that is a man of good sense, integrity, education and learning
- Humans are naturally credulous. The feeling of surprise and wonder arising from miracles is enough to make people of common sense less than sensible
- A religious observer may know that his account is untrue, but may persevere to tell it because he believes his cause to be holy
- Most accounts of miracles come from ignorant and barbarous nations
- Miracle claims are discounted by contradicting miracle claims
What does Wiles believe about miracles?
- Argues that God does not act in the world through miracles
- If God did act in this way, God would be acting immorally, due to the highly selective quality of miracles
- If God intervenes to save some, the problem of evil would be unsolvable because because there would be no reason why God can’t intervene all of the time
- Agrees with an anti-real take on miracles
- Believes that biblical accounts of miracles are misinterpreted, they are myths, presented to express something about God
