Miracles have sparked endless debate between believers and sceptics for...
Religious Studies404 views·Updated 30 Jun 2026·2 pagesAQA Religious Studies: Understanding Miracles
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Understanding Miracles: Three Key Perspectives
Realism treats miracles as genuine, objective events caused by God's direct intervention in the world. Realists believe these are real occurrences where God breaks or suspends natural laws to achieve specific purposes. Think of biblical stories like Moses parting the Red Sea, or modern examples like the church choir that avoided a deadly explosion because everyone arrived late.
The major problem with this view is the "selectivity issue" - if God can save some people through miraculous intervention, why doesn't he save everyone? This raises uncomfortable questions about divine justice and the problem of evil.
Anti-realism takes a completely different approach, focusing on the meaning and significance of miraculous events rather than whether they actually happened. Anti-realists argue we can't truly know if miracles are "real" in an objective sense, so we should concentrate on their psychological and spiritual impact instead.
Theologians like Tillich and Hick support this view, suggesting miracles are ordinary events interpreted through the "eye of faith." A sunset becomes miraculous not because it defies physics, but because it inspires awe and connects us to something greater.
Key Point: The realism vs anti-realism debate isn't just about miracles - it reflects fundamental disagreements about the nature of reality and religious knowledge.
2
of 2
Hume's Challenge and Wiles' Alternative
David Hume launched the most famous attack on miracles, arguing from his empiricist perspective that we should never believe miracle claims. His logic is brutally simple: miracles violate natural laws, making them maximally improbable events. Since witnesses can lie or be mistaken, it's always more likely that testimony is false than that a miracle actually occurred.
Hume also pointed out psychological factors - miracle stories often come from "ignorant and barbarous people" with poor education. Plus, if every religion claims miracles, they can't all be right, can they?
Maurice Wiles offers a different critique entirely. As a Christian theologian, he doesn't reject miracles because they're scientifically impossible, but because they're morally problematic. If God can intervene selectively to help some people but not others, this creates serious questions about divine justice and goodness.
Wiles argues that God's only miracle was creation itself. After that, God allows the universe to operate according to natural laws without interference. This preserves both scientific understanding and moral consistency, though it challenges traditional Christian beliefs about biblical miracles.
Remember: These debates aren't just academic - they affect how believers understand prayer, divine action, and the relationship between faith and reason in the modern world.
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Religious Studies404 views·Updated 30 Jun 2026·2 pagesAQA Religious Studies: Understanding Miracles
Poppy@poppy_vyjp
Miracles have sparked endless debate between believers and sceptics for centuries. Whether you see them as genuine divine interventions or simply meaningful personal experiences depends on your philosophical outlook and understanding of how the world works.
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of 2
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Understanding Miracles: Three Key Perspectives
Realism treats miracles as genuine, objective events caused by God's direct intervention in the world. Realists believe these are real occurrences where God breaks or suspends natural laws to achieve specific purposes. Think of biblical stories like Moses parting the Red Sea, or modern examples like the church choir that avoided a deadly explosion because everyone arrived late.
The major problem with this view is the "selectivity issue" - if God can save some people through miraculous intervention, why doesn't he save everyone? This raises uncomfortable questions about divine justice and the problem of evil.
Anti-realism takes a completely different approach, focusing on the meaning and significance of miraculous events rather than whether they actually happened. Anti-realists argue we can't truly know if miracles are "real" in an objective sense, so we should concentrate on their psychological and spiritual impact instead.
Theologians like Tillich and Hick support this view, suggesting miracles are ordinary events interpreted through the "eye of faith." A sunset becomes miraculous not because it defies physics, but because it inspires awe and connects us to something greater.
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Hume's Challenge and Wiles' Alternative
David Hume launched the most famous attack on miracles, arguing from his empiricist perspective that we should never believe miracle claims. His logic is brutally simple: miracles violate natural laws, making them maximally improbable events. Since witnesses can lie or be mistaken, it's always more likely that testimony is false than that a miracle actually occurred.
Hume also pointed out psychological factors - miracle stories often come from "ignorant and barbarous people" with poor education. Plus, if every religion claims miracles, they can't all be right, can they?
Maurice Wiles offers a different critique entirely. As a Christian theologian, he doesn't reject miracles because they're scientifically impossible, but because they're morally problematic. If God can intervene selectively to help some people but not others, this creates serious questions about divine justice and goodness.
Wiles argues that God's only miracle was creation itself. After that, God allows the universe to operate according to natural laws without interference. This preserves both scientific understanding and moral consistency, though it challenges traditional Christian beliefs about biblical miracles.
Remember: These debates aren't just academic - they affect how believers understand prayer, divine action, and the relationship between faith and reason in the modern world.
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Our AI Companion is a student-focused AI tool that offers more than just answers. Built on millions of Knowunity resources, it provides relevant information, personalised study plans, quizzes, and content directly in the chat, adapting to your individual learning journey.
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