The Miracles of Jesus

Review of Chapter 17 (The Miracles of Jesus)
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Review of Chapter 17 (The Miracles of Jesus)
The Question of Miracles
For many years, many individuals, especially philosophers, have invented disputable theories regarding the history of Jesus. One fundamental facet of the life of Jesus that these individuals have attacked with abandon is the miracles he performed. For instance, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the advent of a theory known as the rationalistic worldview of the enlightenment, which, in turn, yielded the philosophies of deism and materialism (p.548). Deism asserts that after God created an ordered world, He left it to run by natural laws. On the other hand, materialism contends that the world is a closed system that does not allow intervention from the outside. These two worldviews rule out the possibility of miracles by claiming that miracles are contrary to the laws of nature. This creates a dilemma because people can only address miracles, either philosophically or historically. The two approaches address the possibility of miracles or their actual occurrence, respectively.
Philosophical Contentions
One of the most notable pessimists about miracles was David Hume, a Scottish theorist who lived in the eighteenth century. According to the author, the philosopher based his primary argument on the belief that the laws of nature are unchallengeable, a truism confirmed by human experience (p.548). Since, by definition, miracles violate the laws of nature, confirming their existence would require inordinate proof. However, Hume’s claim lacks a fundamental basis because the said natural laws are mere observations and hypotheses. The author asserts that significant scientific advances have proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the supposedly absolute laws can be modified. This, in essence, means that most of what human beings experience supersedes their expectations and present understanding. In any case, Hume's contentions do not rule out the possibility of a god altering the natural pattern (p.549).
To reinforce his stand, Hume put forward four arguments that the author finds inconclusive. Humes' first argument was that no miracle had been witnessed by a sufficient number of educated or rational people. Indeed, this is a blatant lie. There are educated people who have documented numerous accounts of miracles. These include Apostle Paul, who wrote about five hundred people who saw Jesus after his resurrection. In all honesty, all of those witnesses could not have been irrational. The author mentions Humes' second argument, which refutes the possibility of miracles. He claims that human beings incline to believe in spectacular things that cause fascination. While this is true, it does not, in any way, discount th...