'Miracles do not happen today'
The usual definition of a miracle is, 'An event which seems to break a natural law and for which the only explanation is God'. In this essay I want to argue that although miraculous events occur, there are problems in defining them solely as events which break a 'natural law' and for which 'the only explanation is God'.
That some things happen in life for which there is no immediate explanation is clear. For example, at the British Grand Prix in 1999 Michael Schumacher crashed and broke his leg. The heading in one newspaper quoted him as saying afterwards that 'God saved me in 140 mph crash'. In 1879 in a village called Knock, in Ireland, the community witnessed a vision of the Virgin Mary, St Joseph and St John on the wall of the local Catholic Church. Ever since then the village has become a place of pilgrimage for Catholics and many people have been miraculously cured there over the years. In the Bible there is clear evidence that miracles occurred. For example, Jesus is said to have cured a paralysed man who was lowered down to him through a roof in front of a large crowd. Upon Jesus' word the man immediately got up and walked out of the place despite being bedridden for many years. The greatest example of a miracle in the Bible is the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospels tell us that although Jesus was put to death on the cross he rose from the dead three days later, an event witnessed by many people.
The usual definition of a miracle is, 'An event which seems to break a natural law and for which the only explanation is God'. In this essay I want to argue that although miraculous events occur, there are problems in defining them solely as events which break a 'natural law' and for which 'the only explanation is God'.
That some things happen in life for which there is no immediate explanation is clear. For example, at the British Grand Prix in 1999 Michael Schumacher crashed and broke his leg. The heading in one newspaper quoted him as saying afterwards that 'God saved me in 140 mph crash'. In 1879 in a village called Knock, in Ireland, the community witnessed a vision of the Virgin Mary, St Joseph and St John on the wall of the local Catholic Church. Ever since then the village has become a place of pilgrimage for Catholics and many people have been miraculously cured there over the years. In the Bible there is clear evidence that miracles occurred. For example, Jesus is said to have cured a paralysed man who was lowered down to him through a roof in front of a large crowd. Upon Jesus' word the man immediately got up and walked out of the place despite being bedridden for many years. The greatest example of a miracle in the Bible is the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospels tell us that although Jesus was put to death on the cross he rose from the dead three days later, an event witnessed by many people.
