1. Miracles: Definitions
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 17-06-17 21:08
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- 1. Miracles: Definitions
- Hume
- "a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by...some invisible entity"
- This makes miracles easy to identify
- But it restricts God's actions to the laws of nature, and it does not focus on God's interaction with the world
- Holland
- "A remarkable and beneficial coincidence hat is interpreted in a religious fashion"
- The onus is clearly on the interpretation of the individual
- Most likely there is no hand in God intervening
- What is seen to be a miracle is open to interpretation
- This could mean that miracles become meaningless
- With this definition, God can intervene without breaking the laws of nature
- Swinburne
- Is there a God?
- Miracles must hold a deeper meaning or significance
- e.g. God making a feathher land in a particular place has no "deep ultimate purpose"; "these events would not naturally be described as miracles"
- "If he (God) has reason to interact with us, he has reason very occasionally to intervene and suspend those natural laws by which our life is controlled"
- Ramsey
- Miracles are disclosure situations
- A usual complex of incidents with which a new insight into truth is wrapped
- Not all miracles are disclosure situations, and not all disclosure situations are miracles
- Miracles are disclosure situations
- C. S. Lewis
- Miracles are a type of revelation
- This incarnation of Christ is central to Christian belief.
- All other miracles are related to this event
- Durkheim
- Miracle stories are attributed to a 'holy person'.
- These events bear testimony to that person's status
- Personal experiences of miracles have a spiritual values, as a 'free gift' from God
- Miracle stories are attributed to a 'holy person'.
- Hume
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