Miracles ROHAN DRONSFIELD AND THOMAS MOHAN

Key Terms  Laws of nature – descriptions of how scientists expect nature to work  Tradition – something that has been done for a very long time and is therefore thought to be true  Miracle – an event caused by God that appears to break the laws of nature  Happy coincidences – they do not break the laws of nature, but a coincidence occurs at exactly the right time to bring about a good outcome  Immanence – the idea that God is present in and involved with life on earth and in the universe (a quality of God)

Does God work in the world through miracles?  Many theists believe that a miracle happens when God wants to show his power or show his approval of someone speaking or acting on his behalf.  Buddhists and atheists reject miracles from God  Christians believe God works in the world directly through miracles; Jesus was God in human form.

Examples from scripture and tradition  Moses and the Red Sea – Moses was leading the Israelites away from the Egyptians when they were blocked by the sea. Moses parted the sea and allowed the Israelites to go through. As the Egyptians followed the water closed over them.  The Buddha tames an elephant – the Buddha’s cousin was jealous of the Buddha and released a violent elephant to trample the Buddha. A baby was dropped in the path of the elephant, and at the last moment before the baby was trampled the Buddha put his hand on the elephant’s forehead. The elephant stopped, became calm and knelt down before the Buddha.

Examples of miracles from History (Hinduism)  Miracles associated with Varanasi; one of the most important places of pilgrimages for Hindus. It is believed that at one time Lord Shiva lived there. Hindus enter the River Ganges and bathe in the water and hope for their sins to be miraculously washed away. Some Hindus bathe in the Ganges in hope of miracle cures

Evidence of Miracles  Many people see the miracles happening (E.g. statue of Ganesh drinking milk)  People experience a miracle for themselves (E.g. person cured of a terminal illness after doctors have given up on hope)  Miracles are associated with the founders of religion (E.g. These miracles were seen by many people and recorded at the time)

Evidence for Miracles  There have been too many accounts of miracles for at least some of them not to have happened  Miracles are not just events from the past; but still occur today  Many miracles have been investigated and no scientific explanation for them can be found  Miracles performed by the founders of religions and other holy people convince people to convert to, and even die for, the religion. If these miracles weren’t genuine, these people would not have become followers of the religion  There have been several research programmes into the power of prayer to heal.

What can be revealed about God through miracles?  God’s love and care for his creation, his benevolence  God’s immanence – This shows that God is active in the world, he sometimes performs miracles directly  God’s knowledge and power – God occasionally interferes with the laws of nature for a miracle to occur. This shows that God is all powerful (omnipotent)  Also miracles that are coincidences demonstrate that God is all knowing (omniscient)

Problems associated with miracles  God might not perform the miracles (E.g. there is no proof that some miracles are caused by God)  Miracles could give the miracle worker too much status (E.g. the miracle – worker will have too much fame and God’s message will be lost)  Miracles make God’s behaviour seem unfair (E.g. because he picks and chooses who to help and who to ignore)  The belief that God is transcendent is proved untrue, as if God is outside time and space then how can he still work the world

David Hume: the impossibility of miracles  There can never be enough evidence to deny the laws of nature. (There has to be sufficient evidence to outweigh the evidence for the laws of nature)  The witnesses to miracles are unreliable: witnesses tend to be biased and generally exaggerate their stories for fame/attention.  Most witnesses to miracles are primitive, uneducated people  Religions depend on miracles to prove they are genuine – all the religions cannot be right.