Miracles

Miracles

From the Latin word miraculum meaning “object of wonder” enters the word miracle. Many definitions have been formed for the notion of a miracle but most would agree that it is most commonly an unexplainable extraordinary event, inspiring awe and wonder unto its witnesses. Similar definitions state that it is a “supernatural event, contrary to the established constitution and course of things or a deviation from the known laws of nature”.

The term “a priori” refers primarily to the basis on which a proposition is known. If a statement has been written a priori it has been made without prior experience or empirical evidence of what it states. The author of the proposition has used reason to deduce his idea and it is not based on any observed fact.

Similar to the definitions above the philosopher Hume (1711-1776) offered his own definition, that miracles are “a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity” and Hume adds that a miracle could be defined as a “break in the natural order of events in the material world”. For the most part Hume puts forward that miracles are ‘impossible’ and that testimony to miracles should never be trusted. This can be seen in Hume’s first reason against the existence of miracles. He states that there has never been anyone attesting a miracle “of such unquestioned good-sense, education and learning, as to secure us against all delusion in themselves” and persuade us that a violation of a natural law is possible. Hume suggests that whenever anyone has witnessed a “miracle” they have been deluded into thinking so and ...

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... natural laws have been broken it is just mere lucky coincidence that

events have turned out as they are.

It is difficult to conclude whether miracles do logically exist. It

easier to believe that there are certain events that occur within our

world that we cannot fully understand. At the time they may be deemed

as violations of a natural law however as scientific knowledge

advances the event may become part of natural law that we simply

didn’t understand before. Some people will accept that God was the

ultimate cause of a miracle; because he is omnipotent he can do

anything which would include breaking natural laws and amazing people.

Hume’s argument about testimony is very convincing but I do not agree,

that miracles do not happen. I think it is more that events occur and

we do not fully understand their making.