5. Miracles: Maurice Wiles (God's Action in the World)
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 18-06-17 11:02
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- 5. Miracles: Maurice Wiles (God's Action in the World)
- Wiles was religious but rejected the idea of miracles as he disputed the idea of an interventionist God
- This notion is "implausible and full of difficulty"
- An interventionist God also conflicts with free will
- A miracle by definition is an unlikely event, so God intervening in the world occasionally creates the picture of a disinterested/arbitrary God or one that favours some of His creation
- Example why did He not intervene in the Holocaust or at Hiroshima
- Example - the parting of the Red Sea and the 10 plagues of Exodus show God favouring some (the Israelites) but not all (allowed harm to Egyptians)
- Creation is the only miracle; the "one single act off God"
- Miracles present an obstacle to religious faith:
- The existence of evil alongside the existence of miracles degrades the classical image of an all-powerful and all-loving God
- An arbitrary God would not be worthy of worship
- Criticisms
- Wiles's beliefs are inconsistent with certain Biblical stories such as Joshua 10, where God calls to Joshua t tell him to lead the Israelites and conquer the Promised Land
- Peter Vardy
- Says it is arrogant for us to judge God on what we don't understand.
- Wiles may have missed the point of miracle
- They may just be signs of God's existence
- Swinburne uses the analogy of God being a parent who sometimes bends the rules (in this case the rules of nature) to benefit his children
- Wiles was religious but rejected the idea of miracles as he disputed the idea of an interventionist God
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