Feb-22
2. Miracles
Realist vs anti-realist accounts of miracles
Realist: miracles are a part of what happens in the world (external)
Brought about by a transcendent and unknowable God (directly or indirectly); acts as evidence of
his existence.
Realist interpretations of miracles:
1. Miracle as an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature
o E.g., West Side Baptist choir gas explosion, Juliane Koepcke surviving plane crash
and escaping jungle.
o If instances like these can be considered miracles, questions are raised about the
selectively benevolent nature of God.
2. Event brought about by God through people
o E.g., Moses and the red sea, Jesus’ miracles. These are historical events to literalist
Christians.
o Valuable for Catholics. A person can only be a saint if they have performed miracles
(as a result of God). There must be strong evidence and no scientific explanation to
verify.
3. Violation of a natural law
o Must be a result of God’s will, religious in nature and violate NL.
o The violation of NL is what makes a miracle stand out as one.
o Hume: miracle = “violation of a natural law by a particular volition of a deity”
o Mackie: miracle = “intervention into a closed system of nature by the supernatural”
HOWEVER: Science does not accept this definition. NL is descriptive and probabilistic.
o Natural law = descriptive, not prescriptive: shows what has been found to
happen as of now. Does not predict future.
A natural law cannot be ‘violated’. It will be revised with new evidence.
New evidence miracle.
God (and, by association, miracles) is used to fill in the gaps of scientific
knowledge.
HOWEVER: Ward argues there are some events too extreme for a NL to
be redefined and include. May need to be deemed unexplainable by
science.
o Natural law = probabilistic: shows what is likely to happen, not what will.
Anti-realist: miracles cannot be external because there is no internal/mind-independent world
We interpret phenomena in the world with our minds, so we cannot commit to anything
unobservable (i.e., divine intervention). Miracles cannot be a part of what happens in the world.
Miracles are ‘mind-states’ that lift the spirit of a person or transform a community. Can be
explained by psychology.
Talking about a miracle is not making a claim about the physical world.
2. Miracles
Realist vs anti-realist accounts of miracles
Realist: miracles are a part of what happens in the world (external)
Brought about by a transcendent and unknowable God (directly or indirectly); acts as evidence of
his existence.
Realist interpretations of miracles:
1. Miracle as an extraordinary coincidence of beneficial nature
o E.g., West Side Baptist choir gas explosion, Juliane Koepcke surviving plane crash
and escaping jungle.
o If instances like these can be considered miracles, questions are raised about the
selectively benevolent nature of God.
2. Event brought about by God through people
o E.g., Moses and the red sea, Jesus’ miracles. These are historical events to literalist
Christians.
o Valuable for Catholics. A person can only be a saint if they have performed miracles
(as a result of God). There must be strong evidence and no scientific explanation to
verify.
3. Violation of a natural law
o Must be a result of God’s will, religious in nature and violate NL.
o The violation of NL is what makes a miracle stand out as one.
o Hume: miracle = “violation of a natural law by a particular volition of a deity”
o Mackie: miracle = “intervention into a closed system of nature by the supernatural”
HOWEVER: Science does not accept this definition. NL is descriptive and probabilistic.
o Natural law = descriptive, not prescriptive: shows what has been found to
happen as of now. Does not predict future.
A natural law cannot be ‘violated’. It will be revised with new evidence.
New evidence miracle.
God (and, by association, miracles) is used to fill in the gaps of scientific
knowledge.
HOWEVER: Ward argues there are some events too extreme for a NL to
be redefined and include. May need to be deemed unexplainable by
science.
o Natural law = probabilistic: shows what is likely to happen, not what will.
Anti-realist: miracles cannot be external because there is no internal/mind-independent world
We interpret phenomena in the world with our minds, so we cannot commit to anything
unobservable (i.e., divine intervention). Miracles cannot be a part of what happens in the world.
Miracles are ‘mind-states’ that lift the spirit of a person or transform a community. Can be
explained by psychology.
Talking about a miracle is not making a claim about the physical world.
