David Hume and Miracles.
David Hume and Miracles Martin Dobson and Dominic Gibben Hume characterised miracles to be 'a transgression of the law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent'. His essay on miracles published within the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding has long been the definitive text on miracles and as such has been attacked by numerous critics. Part One of the essay is primarily concerned with a priori arguments. A priori literally means 'from what comes before'; hence arguments that can be known to be true or false without reference to experience. To establish the argument employed in Hume's first part of his essay, it may be useful to state his argument in logical form: * Miracles are violations of the laws of nature. * A firm and unalterable experience has established these laws of nature. * Improbable events need witnesses of higher credibility than witnesses required for more probable events. * Miracles are improbable events. Therefore: Miracles are the least likely event possible, and the most impressive testimony at most will counterbalance the unlikeliness of the event. In each case where a witness reports a miracle Hume requires us to evaluate the evidence presented for and against the incident occurring and always reject the greater miracle. This quite clearly means that Hume is asking us a simple
Does It Matter Whether Religious Belief Is Based Upon Rational Argument
Does It Matter Whether Religious Belief Is Based Upon Rational Argument? The obtaining of information is an inseparable part of human life, and therefore in what ever one may do; one will always collect information. To be of any value, the information collected has to be reliable, and one does not seem to doubt the reliability of evidence because they believe it to be logical, unless they are a sceptic. Some say that religion is something we cannot prove because we acknowledge religion through our feelings, mainly our feeling of trust, or of wonder and awe - sensing that there must be a high being or creator. Religious belief is to have an immense faith, but religious faith is dependant on the fact that we must exist but existence is alone, it does not depend on anything. Religious belief is based upon the foundation that we exist, it is trying to explain why we are here. One may question how and why do religions and faiths explain existence, and is the evidence that supports them rational and solid; if ones proof is just based upon a personal experience another has claimed, feeling or another's scriptures then surely it is completely uncertain and unproven. Therefore it seem illogical to base an entire existence of faith into a religion, when one cannot state why they believe in it as there are no world wide renowned arguments and facts to back up an inquisition. If a
Miracles essay.
Mark Smith Miracles essay . R.F. Holland believed a miracle to be a remarkable and beneficial coincidence interpreted with religious and spiritual meaning. When someone tells of a miracle that has taken place they are usually beneficial and awe inspiring. For example if a person who was told under the rules of science that it would be impossible for the person walk again but the person manages miraculously stands up and walks then this would be seen as remarkable and beneficial. Holland also said that a miracle is a coincidence interpreted with religious and spiritual meaning. Miracles are often associated with religion. Holland illustrates his coincidence conception of miracle in the following example: 'A child riding his toy motor-car strays on to an unguarded railway crossing near his house and a wheel of his car gets stuck down the side of one of the rails. An express train is due to pass with the signals in its favour and a curve in the track makes it impossible for the driver to stop his train in time to avoid any obstruction he might encounter on the crossing. The mother coming out of the house to look for her child sees him on the crossing and hears the train approaching, the little boy remains seated his car looking downward, engrossed in the task of pedalling it free. The brakes of the train are applied and it comes to rest a few feet from the child. The mother
What is the relationship between faith and reason?
What is the relationship between faith and reason? Pope John Paul II published a letter called 'Fides et Ratio' which told people: "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth-in a word, to know himself-so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves." After so many questions, the Pope's decision to publish such a document has helped people worldwide to begin to understand the relationship between faith and reason. To many people the link between science and religion is epitomised by the ideas surrounding evolution. The past few decades have seen a significant rise in the number of Christian "creationists" who believe the biblical story of creation must be taken literally, and that the universe was therefore created in six days just over six thousand years ago. But although there are some Christians who insist on taking the Genesis account literally, the majority of Christian believers understand this story metaphorically. Recently, the Vatican Observatory in conjunction with the Centre for Theology and the Natural Sciences held a conference on the issue of evolution to which they invited theologians, philosophers, and scientists from around the world. Here, Christian participants overwhelming agreed
Atheism and Belief in God
. What does Agnosticism’ mean? Not being sure whether God exists . Do you think miracles prove that God exists? Give two reasons for your point of view. I do because a miracle is when something happens that cannot be explained and eventually people come to believe that God made it happen. If a person witnesses an event they believe God has caused or created then their faith is likely to be strengthened but also a liberal miracle is belief and strength that against all odds something good can happen. By these miracles taking place it shows that God is with us and is causing these miracles to happen, as they have no logical explanation. . Explain why the scientific explanation of the world leads some people to become atheists or agnostics. Science can explain where the world came from and where humans came from without any reference to God. This may lead some people to be agnostic, that is, they are unsure whether or not God exists. Other people may be led to become atheists, that is, they are sure there is no God. They believe that, if God exists, he must have made the world and he must be the only explanation of the world. The scientific explanation of the world and humans without any reference to God is proof to such people that God does not exist. Scientists today would argue that the world was made by the ‘big bang’. If a person agrees with this theory, they
‘Miracles do not happen today’
'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
'Miracles are based on fact, not faith' - Discuss.
'Miracles are based on fact, not faith' Discuss By Jasmine George The validity of supposed miracles has been researched by many people over the years. Scientists do extensive research into many miracles that are reported in an attempt to prove that they are not in fact the work of some higher power, but just the working of the natural universe or the work of man. It is very difficult to define exactly what a miracle is. Some, such as Swinburne, see a miracle as 'a happening when people become aware of the divine', (religious experience) yet this is not accurate enough as somebody may find a miracle in the event of a birth or an object in nature. Others may perceive a miracle as something that happens which is 'unexpected with fortunate results', but without recognition of some higher power these events could just be seen as coincidences, for example, someone crashes their car and they had brought insurance that very morning. This could be seen as a miracle (if they have faith) or as a coincidence (if they did not). There are many important biblical words which could help clarify what a miracle is, for example thauma which means 'wonder', gerhurah and dynamis which means 'display of power' and oth and semeton which means 'sign'. David Hume interprets a miracle as being 'a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the deity or by the interposition of
Religious Studies Coursework - Power over Disease & Death
Religious Studies Coursework Power over Disease & Death RS1 Jesus, or Jesus Christ, is the "central figure of the Christian religion" so the Oxford dictionary of English tells us. His mission of preaching and healing is told throughout the gospels, and Christians often describe him as the Messiah (a leader or saviour and in Jesus' case, of mankind) Jesus is the promised saviour, the one through whom God fulfilled his promises he made to his people in the Old Testament. Jesus healed different kinds of illnesses and raised the dead throughout the synoptic (through the eyes of one; syn= together, optic= eyes) gospels. Jesus healed physically, mentally and emotionally throughout the gospels. Jesus did not only heal the "ordinary" people of society, but he healed the outcasts of society, the leapers and the possessed. In "Jesus heals a paralysed man", Mark 2 verses 1-12, Jesus only had to command the illness out of him. The forgiveness of this mans sins was very important, when the man was forgiven, his burden caused by the sins was lifted, and therefore he was healed of his illness. It was then thought that it was because of sin that you had an illness, the more worse the sin, the more worse the illness. We can see this by when Jesus said: "My son, your sins are forgiven" as if it was his sin that made him have the unpleasant illness. Telling a paralysed man to "get up...
“A belief is what we accept as the truth” (JW Apps). Is this a claim you could defend?
Theory of Knowledge Essay Ho Mei Chau D 0638 011 Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong . "A belief is what we accept as the truth" (JW Apps). Is this a claim you could defend? Introduction: Truth and belief are both terms used in the definition of knowledge. The Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names1 defines knowledge as justified true belief, a statement accepted by nearly all Western philosophers. Therefore by looking J.W. Apps' statement "A belief is what we accept as the truth", we must somehow take into account its context in knowledge and how knowledge can be justified. However, being a TOK question, the statement is quite likely to be justifiable or else J.W. Apps would not have made such a statement in the first place. Definitions Simply speaking, belief can be defined as the affirmation of, or conviction regarding the truth of a proposition, especially when one is not yet in procession of sufficient evidence adequate to justify a claim that the proposition is known without certainty. As you must believe in something to "know" it, then does belief equal the truth? Let us take a look at the definition of truth. Pontius Pilate in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Jesus Christ Superstar said "But what is truth? Not easy to define. We both have truths, are yours the same as mine?" Whilst there are many theories of the word "truth", in simple terms it
Describe the importance of the healing miracles of Jesus for Christian life today. Jesus was presented as a worker of miracles in Luke's gospel throughout many different stories
Sarah Caddle 10B R.S coursework: Christianity through a study of Luke St. Michaels Catholic Grammar School Candidate number: Centre number: 12284 Mr. Moloney A. (I) What is meant by the term 'miracle'? If I were to define the term miracle I would describe it as a gift from God that cannot be explained but is really special. I think the birth of a baby is a miracle because it is a new life and is sacred, but this has been proven not to be a miracle because there is a scientific explanation. Though this is only my opinion of what a miracle is, nearly everyone has their own views on what they would call a miracle. Some people would say that nature is a miracle because the flowers come out and this could be true because there is no scientific way of making a plant or tree. But some people say that heart operations or television are miracles but they have been proven not to be as there is an explanation for them. The dictionary definition of the term miracle is ' something wonderful that has happened, although it does not seem possible'. Although this is a definition it does not define what would be called a miracle and what would not. Miracles do happen but it is hard to know if it was a miracle or just something that you cannot understand but someone else can. Usually when something wonderful happens that people don't understand they say it was a miracle but it may