Miracles as Evidence for the Existence of God (original) (raw)

Miracle claims are common throughout the world and in most religious traditions. The most common miracles appear to be those of healing, but other types also appear across cultures and ages. The discussion in this chapter is limited to monotheistic systems and to Western thought. The European rationalist age was the first in which philosophers and scientists openly doubted the reality of miracles. In that context the sciences, rather than religion, became the model of truth wherein miracles were dismissed as unscientific superstition. Granted, not everyone today thinks that the sciences explain everything worth knowing. Nevertheless, rationalism and a mechanistic worldview created skepticism toward the very idea of miracles, and this attitude is with us still. As we dig into the subject, the first task is to clarify just what counts as a miracle. Is a beautiful sunset, or a newborn healthy baby, a miracle? To deepen our understanding we will investigate what some of the great philosophers have had to say about miracles, including a careful examination of David Hume's famous argument against rational belief in miracles. After considering miracles in general we investigate what evidence, if any, miraculous events provide to support the idea that God exists. THE CONCEPT OF MIRACLE Growing up, one of my favorite TV shows was The X-Files. This science fiction and horror series depicted two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, investigating cases involving elements of the paranormal. Unlike his partner, Mulder is open to paranormal phenomena like monsters, extrasensory perception (ESP), and extraterrestrials; his mantra: "be open to extreme possibilities." But what of this term paranormal? And what has this to do with miracles? It is not uncommon for "paranormal," "miraculous," and "supernatural" to be lumped together in the study of fiction or analysis of media. Because words like these are used in multiple ways, our task is to distinguish the idea of miracles from the paranormal, the supernatural, or the just plain weird. The word miracle comes from the Latin verb mirari, "to wonder." At the roots of Western culture, in the Jewish faith, the term signs and wonders described early stories and teachings about divine miracles. To be clear, neither the Hebrew Bible nor ancient cultures