Comments on: The Problem of Miracles

By: steve

steve — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:10:07 +0000

Interestingly The Philosopher Hume said miracles violate the laws of Nature. Yet scientists don’t say something is impossible only improbable in terms of present knowledge. which is in contrast to Humes opinion
eg of what i mean is under normal conditions lead is not a good electrical conductor. Yet today when immersed in liquid helium at minus 271C it becomes a super conductor and powerful electromagnet could have been seen by some as a miracle. Changes in state and complexity are the conditions described as miraculous.
Miracles only need source of energy unused by scientists at present. With due respect and the age and longevity of God he can easily be described as a vastly superior scientist compared to man.
Therefore Are we so eager to pronounce the death of the miracle by the entertaining comments of this blog.
The reference to lead showed how examples of past knowledge was not being able to encompass the whole. Today we see on the Hubble or Nasa sites the destruction of many theories in the past.
What can we learn “my opinion” attitude divides, it does not teach. A mature person can say my present experience will be changed by tomorrows findings so I will be prepared to learn.
What we know of Jesus power over matter is not quantifiable. we were not there. If it came via God even more so.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:47:34 +0000

I wish discussers of miracles could be objective in dealing with the possibility that by word of mouth, miracles start out as normal events and “become” miracles through retelling. I think it is possible that as the circle of people repeating and hearing accounts expands, so does the repetition and expansion of the number and complexity of miracles. I think one or two “fabrications” might easily evolve into several dozen varied and even different apparently discrete accounts. I understand that the gospels were written many years after the lives of the various “christs” lived, and think that would give their respective followers and followers of followers time to tell and retell the stories. That miraculous events crept into their stories about a god messiah is not only possible, but likely. I would be utterly astounded if shuch were not the case. I understand that such accounts crept into the legends and stories of numerous other dieties that Christians happily and readily deonounce as obvious fabrications. The various writings about the various christs that lived between ~100BC and 100AD were gleaned by individuals who ultimately sorted out those that “agreed” with his specific doctinal belief. There are some writings that have been rejected as false that also give accounts of miracles we might consider ridiculous…such as making clay birds fly and a child striking people dumb because they spoke against the child to the parent. And while I also would concur that these sound ridiculous, it only shows that it is possible for people to fabricate and write down miracles Christians happily reject. Layer on top of this the fact that the specific books now accepted as part of the current bible were selected from a myraid of other writings by individuals such as Eusibius (whose character and honesty I understand has been questioned) based on how well each aligned with his own doctinal beliefs. On top of that, not only did these early arbiters of what’s right canonize writings of their choice, they and others sponsored efforts to destroy other writings they felt did not fit. And since by chance they may have selected the incorrect ones, and rejected the correct ones, we may never know the truth. That is why I am a skeptic and am reluctant to be impressed by individuals who fail to take into account the process by which religious texts are created, passed down generation to generation and ultimately selected for canonization. It has nothing to do with my willingness to “accept” that miracles could occur if there were a God or gods capable of manipulating the physical world…indeed such would be the role of these entities. Neither do I think they would be undesirous. It is my unwillingness to be deceived to believe that which might not be true. People are fully capable of fabricating numerous happenings…alien abductions, viewings of monsters (bigfoot), seeing images of religious icons (Mary, Jesus, etc.) in inanimate objects (even though the true images of these icons have never been captured). I believe that the very same Christians that happily reject these have become accustomed by training and group confirmation to accept other miraculous and potential fabrications.

By: On Miracles: Ancient Texts | The Doctor Is In

On Miracles: Ancient Texts | The Doctor Is In — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:34:27 +0000

[...] The Problem of Miracles [...]

By: Dr Bob

Dr Bob — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:08:18 +0000

Thank you, John, and thanks for reading.

By: John Hetman

John Hetman — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:47:49 +0000

I came across your blog quite by accident–assuming that it was such. It have read thus far a couple of your posts and feel quite graced by the clarity and elegance of your thought and how you express it. So let me just offer your my thanks for using your gifts well and letting us all have the joy of reading your fine work.