Critically analyse Wiles view on miracles

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Critically analyse Wiles’ view on miracles.

The traditional definition of a miracle is an event caused by God which violates the laws of nature – this is the view supported by Christians such as Thomas Aquinas. There is a lot of evidence of miracles in the Bible, for example, Jesus turning water into wine; evidence of miracles can also be found in the world today, for example, if a patient suddenly recovers from a life threatening illness, people would often call this a miracle. Contrarily, Maurice Wiles disagrees with this definition of miracles and claims that God does not act in the world and violate the laws of nature. This is the main point of his view on miracles.

According to Wiles, God’s purpose is to create and sustain the world and that is his only activity in relation to the world. Due to this reason, it is not possible for God to cause miracles that violate the laws of nature. Since Christian tradition depicts God acting in the world directly, it is suggested that Wiles views do not reflect the nature of God.
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In his book ‘God’s Actions in the World,’ he provides three arguments supporting his view. He claims that if miracles are violations of the laws of nature they have to occur infrequently to avoid the concept of laws of nature becoming meaningless, the pattern of the occurrence of miracles appears strange and the large number of evil events that are not prevented by God raises questions about God’s omnipotence and goodness.

If God acts in the worlds and is good but does not prevent the evil in the world such as the Holocaust then it goes against ...

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