Miracles

Abstract

Now we are in a position to give a clear account of the status of a miraculous event which is the most conspicuous candidate for constituting possible confirmatory evidence in support of Theism. It seems that most people would be prepared to admit that a major miracle, announced ahead of time by a generally acknowledged religious figure (someone with an impeccable moral character, who is most of the time engaged in one kind of religious activity or another and so on), occurring at the right moment, resulting in rescuing and greatly promoting the welfare of the righteous who are known to believe firmly in God and proclaim his name and in the defeat of palpably wicked idolators, would strongly indicate the existence of Divine power and providence. The reason, of course, why recorded miracles fail to impress many people greatly nowadays is because they are skeptical as to whether such happenings ever took place. Hume, for instance, provides strong reasons why the accounts of miraculous events should not be trusted. At least part of the point of his argument is to convince people that they need not regard Theism as confirmed to any degree by these happenings, since there is good reason for saying that they never took place.