Miracle - a study of how God might interact with humanity, by looking at the concept of miracle Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: different definitions of miracle, including an understanding of Hume; the biblical concept of miracle and the issues this raises about God’s activity in the world; the concept of miracle, and criticisms made by Hume and Wiles; the implications of the concept of miracle for the problem of evil. Candidates should be able to discuss whether modern people can be expected to believe in miracles, and whether miracles suggest an arbitrary or partisan God. Candidates should be able to discuss these areas critically and their strengths and weaknesses.

From the Latin miraculum – ‘wonder’

different definitions of miracle, including an understanding of Hume;

In common English usage

It’s a miracle no one was killed!

More specific than a wonderful event or escape Something extraordinary which has been brought about by God for a particular purpose Something must be more than just unexpected It must be in apparent violations of the laws of nature Must have some kind of religious significance

Macquarrie Aquinas Evans

1. Macquarrie ‘Principles of Christian Theology’ 1966 A miracle has to be something which is attributable to God, in addition to it being a wonderful event ‘In a minimal sense, a miracle is an event that excites wonder..but it is evident in a religious context the word ‘miracle’ carries more than just this minimal sense.. It is believed that God is in the event in some special way, that he intends is the author of it and intends to achieve something special by the end of it ’

2. Steven Evans – ‘The Philosophy of Religion’ Argued that miracles are not just magic tricks. ‘Obviously the miracles of a religion such as Christianity are not merely bizarre events or stunts. They have a function and a purpose, and usually that function is a revelatory one’

3. Thomas Aquinas – Summa Contra Gentiles 13 th century Attempted to define different events which could be interpreted as miraculous Recognised that to call an event miraculous is to put an interpretation onto what happened and express an opinion about it Argued that for an event to be properly worthy of the name miracle it has to be an event which is intrinsically wonderful, not just wonderful to this person but not to that person (this would rule out the ordinary birth of a healthy baby) It must have a cause which is absolutely hidden

4. (late addition) Richard Swinburne It is important to be clear about what the laws of nature are - they are not necessarily fixed truths Perhaps God can suspend natural laws on occasions – e.g. sometimes a lovng parent relaxes certain rules in response to a child pleading. Miracles have to be occasional – if they were more regular life would be confusing

5. John Polkinghome (late addition) Defends the possibility of miracles particularly the resurrection of Jesus. All that science can tell us is that a given event is against normal expectations not that it cannot happen at all

6. C.S Lewis Defended Christian belief in miracles We’re faced with a choice about how we view the world. We are either naturalists (reality is totally physical) or supernaturalists (non –physical things may exist soul/God) Naturalism is self-defeating. If you are just a physical being subject to laws of cause and effect as all physical objects are then your decision to believe in naturalism is physically caused, you have no choice about what you believe. Your decision is caused by physical factors.

Attempted to rank miracles

‘Those in which something is done by God that nature can never do’ Examples from the Bible: God makes a shadow move backwards (Isaiah 38) God does something that nature can do, but not in that sequence and connection’ People being able to see after being blind – in the natural order people can see first and then become blind ‘something done by God, which is usually done by the operation of nature, but is done without the working of natural principles, as when one is cured by divine power of a fever, in itself naturally curable’

‘A wise man proportions his belief according the evidence’

Our knowledge of the world should come from the observations made by our senses Thought we cannot reason accurately beyond what we see and hear as this requires us to make assumptions

By very definition, miracles are beyond the realms of reasonable belief. They can’t happen! For a miracle to be called a miracle, it must be something that never happens in the normal world – and therefore miracles do not happen by their very definition!

David Hume - Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding A miracle may be accurately defined, a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent Known as the violation definition - its key claim is that a miracle is a violation or breaking of a natural law

No sensible person could ever believe that a miracle had happened – other interpretations are far more likely

‘I flatter myself, that I have discovered an argument of a like nature, which, if just, will, with the wise and the learned, be an everlasting check to all kinds of superstitions and delusions and consequently will be as useful as the world endures’

Based on our past experience, we know this doesn’t happen!

Stories of miracles tend to come from ‘ignorant and barbarous places and nations’ rather than from well educated people Therefore their testimonies are not to be trusted!!! These people are more likely to be gullible and less familiar with rational/scientific theories!

‘Myth of God Incarnate’ (group of authors) Rejects miracles but for different reasons than Hume

Didn’t reject the concept of miracle for scientific reasons ‘Certainly the notion of miracle cannot simply be ruled out on scientific grounds as logically impossible, since the world we know is not a closed, deterministically ordered system’

The problem with miracles: making sense of the morality and wisdom of God

Another philosopher shook his head and said with a weariness of disgust ‘while the cancer wards and the hospital wards of the world are full of suffering and dying people, you get your beach ball back. Somewhere in the world at that very moment, people were being murdered and you got your beach ball back’ Tom Morris

Wiles objection to the traditional view of miracles is on moral grounds is If there is a God who sometimes performs these sudden miraculous interventions in the world, then it must be an arbitrary God ‘A God who has favourites, a God who can be unfair and a God who lacks compassion ’ ‘A God who has favourites, a God who can be unfair and a God who lacks compassion ’

Any occasion where God intervenes with the natural order to help individuals or groups raises issues about consistency and fairness arbitrary partisan God would have to be arbitrary and partisan

Is a God who performs occasional arbitrary miracles worthy of worship?

‘Wiles believed it is better theologically to believe in a God that does not do any miracles, than in one that was not morally good ‘ (Ina Taylor)

Wiles believed that there was in effect a single miracle of creation and that God’s creation was good – it doesn’t require intervention in the form of other miracles

Conclusion 1Conclusion 2 God performs random, arbitrary miracles and is therefore not worthy of worship God does not intervene at all

Wiles views allow people to believe in God yet still uphold the laws of science

Allows believers to reinterpret the idea of prayer. Prayer is not about presenting a wish list to God but about allowing an individual to connect to God’s will.

Wiles might not like the concept of a God who performs occasional miracles, but nevertheless, the Bible is quite clear that that IS how God operates

Wiles is wrong to judge God’s actions by human moral standards. If God wants to cure a blind man but not save the people of Hiroshima, because it is God’s choice it will be the right thing to do – even if we cannot understand it.

Wiles misses the point of miracles – they are not meant to be simply helping people in need, but have the purpose of revealing something of God. Therefore, a comparatively small miracle might be more significant because of what it shows about God

‘Miracles are not possible in the world today’ Discuss (35) YesNo Mcquarrie Aquinas Evans Tom Morris (beach ball) Hume Wiles

different definitions of miracle, including an understanding of Hume; the biblical concept of miracle and the issues this raises about God’s activity in the world; the concept of miracle, and criticisms made by Hume and Wiles; the implications of the concept of miracle for the problem of evil. Candidates should be able to discuss whether modern people can be expected to believe in miracles, and whether miracles suggest an arbitrary or partisan God. Candidates should be able to discuss these areas critically

Critically assess the view that the concept of miracle is inconsistent with belief in a benevolent God. Examples of miracles which show God to be benevolent God can’t always intervene – parent God wouldn’t only help a few Wiles – logical inconsistency no miraculous intervention prevented auschwitz or hiroshima Response – if he did this too often we wouldn’t hav elaws of nature at all. If the sea dried up every day to prevent people from drowning. We’d never know what the natural world would do next. BUT if there is a GOD who performs miracles he must be an arbitrary God rather than an omni – benevolent God. (He seems to perform miracles on a whim rather with any real love/consistency) FREE WILL – interference ? BUT Are we wrong to judge God’s actions by human standards? We can’t fully understand the mind of God Does Wiles miss the point of miracles? They ar enot meant to be simply helping people in need, but hav ethe purpose of revealing something about God therefore a comparatively small miracle might be more significant ‘Another philosopher shook his head and said with a weariness of disgust ‘while the cancer wards and and the hospital wards of the world are full of suffering and dying people, you get your beach ball back. Somewhere in the world at that very moment, people were being murdered and you got your beach ball back’ ‘The gods give to mortals but not everything at the same time’ Homer 9 th Century BC

MAE HW