Philosophy 1600 - Honors Seminar

 

Topic 5: Miracles and Revelation

Miracles and Revelations – Basic Issues

1. The Concept of a Miracle

Issue: How is the concept of a miracle to be defined?

(1) Miracles versus 'Candidate Miracles'. Observed events versus a theoretical interpretation.

(2) Relation to laws of nature? (a) Conditional interpretation of laws of nature versus absolute interpretation; (b) 'Violations' of laws of nature versus events that are merely highly improbable.

(3) Religious significance and apparent purpose. Not essential for miracles, but crucial for candidate miracles.

(4) Suggested definitions:

A miracle is an event in the natural world that is caused by the intervention of a supernatural being.

A candidate miracle is an event in the natural world that displays apparent purpose, and that is either highly improbable, or a 'violation' of a law of nature.

2. Candidate Miracles and the Question of Sufficient Evidence

Issue: Is it in principle possible to have evidence that is sufficient to make it reasonable for one to believe that a candidate miracle has occurred?

(1) The initial difficulty:

Hume's first, and most general argument. For it to be reasonable for one to believe that a candidate miracle has occurred, it must be even less likely that one of the alternative explanations of the supporting evidence is correct (e.g., hallucination, illusion, mistaken memory, lying, etc.) than that the purported event actually occurred.

(2) Ways of strengthening the evidence:

(a) Evidence other than that of the testimony of people - such as photographs, or other effects of the purported event;

(b) Increasing the number of witnesses;

(c) Having witnesses who are independent of one another.

3. Miracles, Candidate Miracles and the Question of Sufficient Evidence

Issue: If one had good evidence that a candidate miracle had occurred, could one ever be justified in concluding that it was a miracle - that is, an event with a supernatural cause?

(1) Antony Flew's argument: There are alternative hypotheses - for example, that the laws of nature are different than one presently takes them to be, or that the event in question is simply one that has no cause - and it would always be more reasonable to accept one of those alternative hypotheses.

(2) Response to Flew's argument: (a) The presence of apparent religious significance makes a difference, and this is even more so if there is a pattern. (Example: the case of the appearing pills.); (b) The hypothesis that there is a supernatural cause is intelligible, and given that it is, one can appeal to hypothetico-deductive method, or to inference to the best explanation.

4. Candidate Miracles and Religious Belief

Issue: If it were reasonable to believe that a candidate miracle had occurred, could that provide support for religious belief?

(1) There are two claims that it is important to distinguish: (A) Candidate miracles provide evidence for the general religious belief that there is at least one supernatural being who sometimes intervenes in the world, and who has at least some interest in human affairs; (b) Candidate miracles provide reasons for believing that some particular religion - such as Islam - is true.

(2) Hume's argument against the second of these claims: the equally well attested candidate miracles that have purportedly occurred in connection with different and incompatible religions mean that one can not support particular religious beliefs by appeal to such events. One of his illustrations: the miracle which Tacitus reports of Vespasian, and which was in response to a vision of the god Serapis.

5. Candidate Miracles and the Evidence that Is Actually Available

Issue: Given the evidence for candidate miracles that one actually possesses, is it reasonable to believe that any candidate miracles have actually occurred?

(1) Hume offers a number of considerations in support of the claim that the quality of the evidence available is actually very low:

(a) The reports in question are usually second-hand ones, by people far removed from the time of the purported event;

(b) The witnesses are often unreliable;

(c) Typically, the witnesses have a strong desire to believe that the purported event occurred, since, for example, it would provide support for religious beliefs that they accept;

(d) In a large number of cases of purported candidate miracles, it has been established that deception has been involved;

(e) Reports of miracles are frequent in "ignorant and barbarous nations," and then decline dramatically in times of more careful observation and reporting.

(2) There are more recent studies that support Hume's claim that it is not reasonable to believe that candidate miracles actually occur:

(a) Investigations of claims that miracles have occurred - for example, Louis Rose's investigations as detailed in his book Faith Healing, ,or James Randi's investigations as described in his book The Faith Healers) Compare the 1920 report by the Archbishop of Canterbury's Committee, or the report 30 years later by the British Medical Association that Rose refers to in his book.)

(b) A. D. White's discussion of the miracles attributed to St. Francis Xavier in the chapter "The Growth of Legends of Healing" in his book A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology within Christendom (1896).