Transcript SO WHAT ABOUT MIRACLES?

SO WHAT ABOUT MIRACLES?
Who said they happen?
A task for the end of term!
What Does The Bible Say?
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Miracle stories appear in the Old
Testament and the New Testament.
Many of the Old Testament miracles
show the action of God in history.
Most of the New Testament miracles are
healing stories performed by Jesus and
his disciples.
How Are These Interpreted?
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Orthodox Jews and some Christians see in
them the hand of God.
Biblical theologians find that point of view
difficult to handle.
Some people try to rationalise the stories.
Most scholars think they were included
for other reasons.
What About The Church?
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The church does not hold that belief in the
miracles is entirely necessary.
Many 20th century Bishops found they didn’t
accept all of Jesus’ miracles.
Rudolph Bultmann a leading German
theologian and Pastor rejected most of Jesus’
miracles.
Probably most church goers don’t think about
them.
Philosophers?
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Again the reaction is very mixed.
Keith Ward,Gareth Moore and Richard
Swinburne would support the view that
miracles are possible.
David Hume and Anthony Flew would
reject the idea.
David Hume
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Hume believed that miracles are violations
of the laws of nature.
He felt that the evidence given by
witnesses of miracles was unreliable.
People who reported miracles were
uneducated, untrustworthy and ignorant.
Religions had a monopoly on these stories
and they cancelled each other out.
Sorting Out The Problem
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Quite a useful book to read is Peter
Vardy “The Puzzle of God” chapter 12.
Vardy explains what Hume says and
gives some answers to the criticisms.
He also outlines the views of Ward,
Wiles and Moore.
The Question Of Faith
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How important is religious faith in
understanding an action as a miracle?
Could two people see the same
happening. One believes that it is a
miracle brought about by God. The
other thinks it was a co-incidence.
Do miracles need a believing
community?
Miracles Bring About Change
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Sutherland maintains that miracles
bring about a change in people.
Human beings are always free.
The ability of the good to break through
into any situation is where the true
power of miracle lies.
This view of miracle does not need a
creator God.
Maurice Wiles On Miracles
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Wiles objects to the idea of a God who
interferes with nature.
Miracles would have to be infrequent,
otherwise they would undermine the
laws of nature.
That raises the problem of how and
when God ought to interfere.
Four Possibilities
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A miracle is a transgression of a law of
nature brought about by God.
A miracle is an act within the law of nature
but a believer sees in it the hand of God.
A miracle is an inexplicable event which
believers may wish to call a miracle.
A miracle brings about a change for the
better.
YOUR TASK to write two letters
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The first is to a sceptic who refuses
to believe in miracles, thinking it
irrational to do so. You are a
Catholic theologian who is writing
to defend the possibility of
miracles.
YOUR TASK continued
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The second is to someone who
claims to have received a miracle.
You are writing to cast doubt
upon their story.