The question assumes a realist view of miracles, which claims, ‘the word ‘miracle’ is correctly applied if and only if the event is brought about by the action of God.’1. With this understanding of miracles, it is obvious that God’s apparent benevolence is not consistent with the problem of evil. However, how does one decide which events are brought about by the actions of God, and which are simply coincidences which have a religious interpretation imposed on it.
Gareth Moore develops this point further, and suggests that it is possible that God is irrelevant to the concept of miracle, and that miracles are simply events, which cannot be explained. With this interpretation there is the implication that if miracles cannot be explained, the motivation for God creating them out of his benevolence is even harder to establish. If there were reasons and explanations for miracles, and God was seen to decide when reasons are justified for a miracle to take place, it would be hard to equate the God of the Bible who is benevolent with such harsh and partisan actions.
However there is evidence in the Old Testament, that suggests that God is partisan, for example the idea that God will come to judge us on Judgement Day seems unjust and shallow. This goes against the benevolent God who is just and fair. Surely God’s goodness would allow Him to forgive our sins and wrongdoing. God has been described as ‘ens realissimum’, which implies that He is the source of all perfection. This proposal is supported by Aristotelian philosophy, which suggests that ‘good’ is defined by God, and ‘good’ is ‘’that to which all desire tends’’. In saying this Aristotle makes the point that God is the end purpose for all of humanity, and that perfect goodness is humanities ultimate aim.
However as Kenny points out, ‘God can only do that which is logically possible for God to do.’ Thus if God’s power or benevolence is limited then His actions will be limited accordingly. We have no way of measuring His power or goodness, because it is a relative concept. To talk of goodness as a measuring stick would imply that we know the extent of it. It could be argued that as finite beings we cannot grasp the concept of God’s infinite goodness, and therefore cannot judge Him in relation to the suffering of this finite world. By questioning God’s actions, and judging His acts of miraculous intervention in the world, it implies that we know the extent of God’s power and goodness, and thus know how He should act. However this is not the case, and we cannot understand God’s actions logically but only through faith.
