Realist and Antirealist Views Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is a miracle?
A miracle is an event that appears to break the laws of nature and is believed to be caused by God
What do realists believe?
Realists define miracles as objective events caused by divine intervention that violate the laws of nature, demonstrating the omnipotence of God
What do anti realists believe?
Anti-realists reject the idea that miracles are violations of natural law, instead viewing them as subjective interpretations with personal significance
What St Aquinas a realist or anti realist?
St Thomas Aquinas was a key and highly influential realist
What did Aquinas believe about miracles?
-He provided a foundational definition of miracles as “those things… which are done by divine power apart from the order generally followed in things”
-Aquinas argues that miracles occur when God directly intervenes to suspend natural laws, such as in biblical examples like Jesus turning water into wine
-As Aquinas asserts, “God’s power is infinite,” meaning God can suspend natural laws to fulfil His will, using miracles as signs of His omnipotence
-For realists, these events are extraordinary and cannot be explained by natural causes, thus affirming their supernatural origin
Was Richard Swineburne a realist or
antirealist?
Realist
What did Richard Swineburne believe about miracles?
-Richard Swinburne develops Aquinas’ point further by describing miracles as “an occurrence of a non-repeatable counter-instance to a law of nature”
-Swinburne argues that for an event to be classified as a miracle, it must violate well-established scientific laws, be impossible to replicate through natural means, and serve as evidence of God’s action in the world
-For example, the resurrection of Jesus is considered a miracle because it defies biological principles and affirms Christian belief in divine power
-therefore realists view miracles as literal violations of nature, caused by divine intervention, and serving as tangible evidence of God’s omnipotence and activity in the world
Was Hume a realist or anti realist?
-he was a realist
-He puts forward a further realist perspective comes and although sceptical of miracles, defines them in a way that realist thinkers often respond to
Who was R.F Holland and was he a realist or anti realist?
-R.F. Holland was a 20th century philosopher
-he was also an anti-realist and illustrates this through his example of a child playing on a railway track
What does R.F Holland’s train track scenario entail?
In his scenario a train driver faints, causing the train to stop just before hitting the child. Holland argues there is no violation of natural law here, as the event can be fully explained by the driver’s fainting and the train stopping automatically
-However, it is interpreted as a miracle because of the extraordinary timing and emotional impact
-Holland calls this a “contingency miracle,” where the event’s miraculous nature is shaped by interpretation rather than a defiance of natural law
Who was Paul Tillich and was he a realist or anti realist?
- a German-American theologian
-he was an antirealist
What did Paul Tillich believe about miracles?
-Paul would further support Holland’s view, defining miracles as “astonishing events” that reveal divine meaning without contradicting the rational structure of reality
-For Tillich, miracles are “sign-events” that hold significance due to their impact on individual faith, rather than supernatural causation
-This anti-realist approach shifts the focus from the physical laws of nature to the psychological or existential significance of miracles
-Thus, anti-realists understand miracles as meaningful interpretations rather than literal violations of nature
Who was Maurice Wiles and was he an antirealist or realist?
-Maurice Wiles was a prominent British theologian and Anglican priest
-he was an antirealist
How could you argue the realist view is stronger?
-While anti-realists provide insight into the personal significance of miracles, their view fails to address the theological necessity of objective miracles
-Christianity relies on miracles as divine acts that demonstrate God’s omnipotence. Without literal violations of natural laws, miracles lose their evidential power, becoming mere coincidences or emotional experiences
-As Richard Swinburne argues, “A miracle must involve God bringing about a state of affairs that could not have occurred naturally,” or else it cannot affirm God’s existence and power
-The resurrection of Christ exemplifies this necessity. If the resurrection were merely a subjective “sign-event” and not a literal defiance of biological law, it would undermine the core of Christian theology
-Paul’s declaration in Corinthians “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile,” highlights the centrality of this event as an objective, supernatural account
-The resurrection demonstrates God’s ability to overcome the ultimate natural law—death—proving His divine power and fulfilling His promise of salvation
