Miracles


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  • Miracles
    • Maurice Wiles
      • Wiles was a Christian who argued against the miraculous. His disbelief in miracles stems from God’s morality – not from science or physical improbability
      • Arbitrary or Partisan
        • Arbitrary: God makes decisions that are not based on reason
          • why should we dedicate ourselves to him as our Lord and Saviour?
        • Partisan: God decides when and who to perform miracles for because he loves certain sects of people above others.
          • God cannot be omnibenevolent and is arguably unfair
        • Biblical Stories indicate God interacts with the world, some miracleswere crucial (the virgin birth & the resurrection of Christ.)
      • Wiles’ Argument
        • 1. Miracles have to occur infrequently otherwise they would cease to be violations & laws of nature would loose their meaning
          • 2. If God can enact miracles, why did he part the red sea but allow 6 million Jewish people to die in the Holocaust?
            • 3. evil events which have not been prevented by God raise questions about God’s omnipotence & goodness
    • Anti-Realist
      • Miracles are not literally ‘caused’ by God. They are symbolic and only make sense for a believer
    • Realist
      • Believers actually believe God has caused a miracle.
    • Natural law
      • For
        • Aquinas: miracles are events that “God produces outside the usual order established in the creation”
      • Against
        • Humes: a miracle is “a violation of the laws of nature"
          • miracles may not be a violation of laws, because we could be able to explain this event in the future by gaining knowledge of its natural causes.
        • Spinoza claims that miracles are ontologically impossible becauseGod perfroming a miracle would contradict his own laws of nature
    • R. F. Holland suggested that a miracle is nothing more than an extraordinary coincidence that is seen in a religious way.

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