Miracles

• There are two types of miracle: anti-realist and realist. Realist miracles are ones that do defy the laws of nature. Whereas anti-realist miracles appear to be amazing but they do not break any laws of nature
• C.S Lewis on miracles

  defended miracles  - he believed we had two options about how we view the world

  • We are either naturalists and believe that reality is physical and there is nothing else
  • We are supernaturalists and we believe that non-physical things such as God and the soul exist
• Flew argues:


  He argues that we do not have direct experience of miracles – we have to rely on indirect accounts passed on from others.
• John Polkinghorne


  Defends miracles particularly Jesus’ resurrection. He contends that all science can tell us is that a given event is against normal experience but is cannot completely disprove its occurrence
• Richard Swinburne 


  Defends miracles but argues that it is important to know what the laws of nature are as he contended that they weren’t necessarily fixed truths. He believed that many of the scientific laws that we adapt are merely statistical laws – they tell us what will almost certainly happen. If God is benevolent, he would want to interact with his creation and may do so via occasional miracles