In the article “Invisible Gardener, 100 percent natural” I pointed out that a person could be more or less warranted that God orchestrated a particular event like a purported answer to prayer. To the extent that the event evinces a specification of circumstances (e.g. suggestive temporal proximity, highly structured form specified to the circumstances), a […]
divine action
Levitating teapots and other miraculous things
Yesterday I noted that a miracle is, in its essence, a sign of divine action, not a violation of natural law. So then when is it appropriate to infer the occurrence of a miracle in natural events? Ray Ingles raised the issue like this: I went to the bus stop yesterday, parked my van, walked […]
When is a medical anomaly a miracle?
The following discussion of miracles is excerpted from my book Faith Lacking Understanding: “We often speak loosely of miracles: I call it a miracle that my team made the playoffs or that your old jalopy is still running. However, the formal definition of miracle concerns God’s action in the world and encompasses such biblical events […]
Do we need God to explain the wild success of the hula hoop?
A few days ago in the thread dangling from “Ad Maitzen: On ‘What must I believe to be saved?‘” Brad Haggard made an interesting claim in response to Stephen Maitzen: Finally, one thing you didn’t address in your paper are facts which I would consider recalcitrant upon a naturalistic explanation of religious diversity. The revival in […]
