Miracles
Random Notes
● MIRACLES (A LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES - AQA) - YouTube
● AQA A-level Religious Studies Year 2: Hodder Education
● Realism argues miracles are real, independent events - it’s a miracle no matter what (realism is belief in an
objective truth). Anti-realism is more relaxed in arguing that miracles are miracles if interpreted that way.
What are Miracles?
It is generally accepted that for something to be classed as a miracle, it must have three key attributes:
1. The event must be against regular experience (it must break the laws of nature (LoN)).
○ But not all miracles always break the LoN, e.g., what would you say if suddenly a person got pregnant
a year after stopping IVF treatments, but not while undergoing IVF?
2. The event has a purpose and significance, i.e., it must be a significant thing, like someone’s life being saved
despite all odds showing there was a higher chance of them dying.
3. The event can be ascribed a religious significance, i.e., it can only be a miracle if attached to religious beliefs,
e.g., a miracle could answer prayers.
A group of scientists, doctors, priests, theologians, specialists, etc. under the Vatican Church are dedicated to
scientifically testing miracles people have given thousands of testimonies of. They still cannot find an explanation for
most of them. This serves as proof of God’s existence and of divine miracles/intervention on earth for RBs (Religious
Believers). However, there will always be ways to argue a miraculous event was not divine intervention, but RBs will
ignore it all and stand their ground, e.g., if there is no explanation of how someone was cured of a terminal illness
overnight, religious doctors would explain it as divine intervention, atheist doctors would say it was a result of good
healthcare, and some would say it was simply spontaneous recovery (for which there is no scientific proof).
The Religious Significance of Miracles
Swinburne argues there must be a reason for God to act in a miraculous way and the miracle must therefore have a
deep religious significance: “If a God intervened in the natural order to make a feather land here rather than there for
no deep, ultimate purpose…these events would not be naturally described as miracles,” - it makes sense that
miracles have a purpose because examples of miracles all have religious significance and are not pointless or evil, i.e.,
no miracle is arbitrary.
However, some miracles appear to be almost without an obvious purpose or significance, e.g., in St. Clare's Basilica in
Naples, people gather to see the dried blood of St Januarius liquefying before their eyes. The Bishop holds the
reliquary that contains the dried blood of the Saint. If the blood fails to liquefy, it is predicted that disaster will follow
(this has come true five times). Some would argue against this argument, saying some miracles that may seem
insignificant actually are significant and show some kind of meaning, e.g., the fact that the statue of St. Janurarius has
predicted disasters five times could show it does have some purpose/significance.
Swinburne’s View on Miracles
Swinburne claims the LoN are reasonably predictable and that if an apparently ‘impossible’ event happens, then it
can be called a miracle, i.e., miracles (events which we cannot explain how/why the happened) happen because
impossible events happen. The LoN are fixed and unchanging, but things that go against them happen, so there must
be something there that causes this.
Extraordinary events (that break the LoN) define miracles, so coincidences cannot be defined as miracles, e.g., instant
recovery from a terminal illness is a miracle.
He suggests that people do recover from illness and are even resuscitated from death, but what determines a miracle
is the way and the timescale in which it occurs. Miracles occur outside the normal conditions in which such cures
usually happen.
Flew criticises Swinburne’s definition as it adds ‘unpredictability’ to the world - miracles redefine the LoN, so they can
change and are unfixed. However, science is fixed, so Swinburne’s definition undermines all scientific understanding.
, Realist Views
● Miracles are seen as real events brought about by God. When you are talking about miracles, you should be
talking about them in this way. Hume says miracles don’t actually happen but they should be seen as real
events brought about by God. He then tries to explain how miracles are not real: ‘faith-based fabrications’.
● Focused on the real world, objective events. So, with this view, you can categorically say whether the ‘miracle’
is real or not.
● Miracles are brought about by God/someone empowered by God. God exists as a real being, transcendent
and unobservable, who creates and cares for the world.
○ The miracle either happened or it didn’t, and if they did, they were brought about by God.
● General (scientific) realist understandings of the world:
○ Scientific theories give us (approximately) true descriptions of the world.
○ They give us knowledge of things we believe exist but cannot observe.
○ The world is mind-independent: it exists the way it is, regardless of what we think. There is an
objective reality - opposite of anti-realist view.
● Realists can be scientific realists about the world and or religious realists. Religious realists:
○ Believe miracles are a real part of the world.
○ Miracles are brought about by God/someone empowered by God.
○ God exists as a transcendent and unobservable being, but miracles are still evidence of his care for the
world.
○ Believe miracles exist despite the fact that we don't know everything about them.
● Realist understandings of miracles suggest that they are rare, and most events in the world are not miracles,
but this isn’t shared by all RBs, e.g., anti-realists believe that a beautiful sunrise, or the birth of a child can be
considered miraculous.
1. Miracles as an extraordinary coincidence of a beneficial nature
● E.g., Juliane Koepcke was the only survivor on a plane with 86 passengers and 6 crew members. The plane
landed in a rainforest, and Koepcke had to trek 9 days with all her injuries to get help.
○ Why did God help her, and not the others?
○ Was God not powerful enough to help the others? Is God evil if he could’ve, but didn’t help?
● The West Side Baptist Church burned down at the time that 15 choir members were due to arrive for their
session. All 15 choir singers were late to their session, all for different reasons, so their lives were saved.
○ Why did God only save these 15 people, and not the millions of other dying from explosions in wars?
The realist definition simply describes the event as an extraordinary experience, but it does not make any claims
about the involvement of God.
Davies argues miracles are ‘unexpected and fortuitous events’. However, how do we determine whether an event is a
miracle, e.g., boy in the tracks - some would call such an event a fortuitous coincidence, but others a miracle, all
depending on their religious beliefs.
Swinburne says all miracles fall under his definition, but others argue there are different types of miracles, e.g.,
fortuitous or coincidental miracles. The LoN don’t always need to be broken for a miracle to occur, so the example of
the boy in the tracks wouldn’t be a miracle under Swinburne’s definition, but RBs would argue it is a miracle.
2. Miracles as an event brought about by the power of God or another spiritual power, working through people
● Bible has many examples of God working like this, e.g., God tells Moses how to part the Red Sea, Jesus’ 37
miracles (interpreted as real events that happened by many Christians).
● Importance of miracles as a demonstration of divine power and compassion is especially important for
Catholic Church that investigates miracles performed by those who are being considered for canonisation. If
their miracles are confirmed as real, this shows God has deliberately chosen that person to act through them,
qualifying them for becoming a saint. This shows how important it is for miracles to be real events - you have
to have performed a miracle to be considered for canonisation.
● Evaluation:
○ Miracle of the Nile turning red as part of the 10 plagues could have just been a red algae bloom -
people may have just lacked scientific understanding.
○ Aslan warns that the gospels are unreliable as historical documents, containing embellishments and
