Miracles

1. Miracles Require a Philosophical Foundation

What we learn from experience depends on the kind of philosophy we bring to experience.

Prioritize philosophy. Before examining historical evidence for miracles, one must first settle the philosophical question of their possibility. Our pre-existing worldview dictates how we interpret any extraordinary event.

Experience is insufficient. Neither immediate sensory experience nor historical accounts can definitively prove or disprove miracles. If a philosophy excludes the supernatural, any seemingly miraculous event will be dismissed as illusion or coincidence.

Begging the question. Assuming miracles are impossible before investigating evidence is circular reasoning. This book aims to equip readers to approach historical inquiry without such pre-judgments, by first addressing the underlying philosophical framework.

2. Naturalism is Self-Refuting

If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true…and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.

Reason's dilemma. Naturalism, which posits that everything is an interlocked system of non-rational causes and effects, cannot account for the validity of human reason. If our thoughts are merely determined by atomic motions or natural selection, they cannot be trusted as insights into truth.

Self-destruction. A theory that explains everything else but invalidates the very thinking process used to reach that theory is self-demolishing. Naturalism, by reducing reason to a non-rational product, destroys its own credentials.

Cause vs. Ground. Naturalism confuses "because" as cause-and-effect with "because" as logical ground-and-consequent. For thought to be valid, it must be determined by what is known, not solely by non-rational causes.

3. Reason and Morality Point to Supernature

Human minds, then, are not the only supernatural entities that exist.

Reason's independence. Rational thought is not merely a part of Nature's interlocked system; it operates "of its own accord" in relation to Nature. Reason can modify Nature (e.g., building bridges), but Nature cannot produce or validate reason.

Moral judgments. Similarly, moral judgments ("I ought") cannot be fully explained by non-moral, non-rational causes like conditioning or biological utility. If they were, they would be mere illusions, yet Naturalists inconsistently appeal to them.

Divine source. Both reason and morality, to be valid, must stem from an eternal, self-existent, rational, and morally wise Being—God. Our human rationality and conscience are "tell-tale rifts" in Nature, revealing something beyond her.

4. Miracles Don't Break Natural Laws

It is therefore inaccurate to define a miracle as something that breaks the laws of Nature. It doesn’t.

Laws describe, not cause. Natural laws describe the patterns to which events conform if nothing interferes. They do not cause events. A miracle is an interference by a supernatural power, introducing a new factor into the situation.

New factors, new results. If God introduces a supernatural force, the situation changes, and the outcome will differ from what was expected under purely natural conditions. The laws of Nature still apply to this new, modified situation.

Nature's accommodation. Nature is an "accomplished hostess," readily incorporating new events, even miraculous ones, into her system. Miraculous wine intoxicates, and miraculous conception leads to pregnancy according to natural laws.

5. The Propriety of Miracles

If miracles do occur then we may be sure that not to have wrought them would be the real inconsistency.

Deeper consistency. Miracles are not arbitrary breaks in God's rules, but rather expressions of a higher, subtler law. Like a master artist who deviates from superficial rules to achieve a deeper artistic unity, God's miracles reveal the profound coherence of His total work.

Central to the plot. Miracles are not random interferences but pivotal moments in the universal story. They are "precisely those chapters in this great story on which the plot turns," such as Death and Resurrection.

God's perspective. From God's perspective, if miracles occur, they are not inconsistencies but the highest consistency. They illuminate Nature by a light from beyond, revealing a purpose and design that cannot be fully grasped from within Nature alone.

6. Critique of Popular Objections to Miracles

The idea that the progress of science has somehow altered this question is closely bound up with the idea that people ‘in olden times’ believe in them ‘because they didn’t know the laws of Nature’.

Ignorance of laws. The claim that ancient people believed in miracles due to ignorance of natural laws is false. St. Joseph knew a virgin birth was contrary to nature, hence his initial reaction. Miracles are surprising precisely because they are exceptions to known rules.

Vastness of universe. The argument that the universe's immensity makes human importance and miracles ludicrous is an emotional, not rational, objection. This idea is not new (Ptolemy noted it centuries ago) and can be applied to any conceivable universe.

Emotional bias. Our sense of awe at vastness is an emotional response, not a rational measure of importance. God's love for humanity is not based on our merit or size, but on His intrinsic nature as infinite love.

7. The Concrete God vs. Abstract "Religion"

To say that God ‘is a particular Thing’ does seem to obliterate the immeasurable difference not only between what He is and what all other things are but between the very mode of His existence and theirs.

Pantheism's flaw. Popular "religion" often conceives God as an abstract, impersonal force (Pantheism), which is a primitive human tendency, not a refined spiritual insight. This abstract God would not perform miracles.

God's concreteness. The Christian God is a concrete, individual, acting Being, the ultimate Fact and source of all other concrete realities. He is "trans-personal" and "trans-corporeal," possessing a positive structure beyond our full comprehension.

Correcting abstractions. Mystics use negatives (infinite, immaterial) to describe God because He transcends human limitations, not because He is formless. These negatives are derived from positive intuitions of His fullness, which abstract thought often empties into a "nonentity."

8. The Incarnation: The Grand Miracle

The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation.

Central event. The Incarnation (God becoming Man) is the pivotal miracle, preparing for, exhibiting, and resulting in all other Christian miracles. It is the "main theme" of the universal story, illuminating all other knowledge.

Descent and reascent. The Incarnation embodies a universal pattern of descent and reascent, seen in nature (seed to plant, embryo to adult) and morality (self-denial to character). God stoops low to lift the ruined world with Him.

Nature's portrait. Christ is like the "Corn-King" because the Corn-King (and other nature-gods) are human imaginative portraits of Him. The pattern of death and rebirth is in Nature because it was first in God, Nature's Creator.

9. Miracles as Foreshadowings of New Creation

Each miracle writes for us in small letters something that God has already written, or will write, in letters almost too large to be noticed, across the whole canvas of Nature.

God's signature. Christian miracles are not arbitrary but bear the "signature" of the God of Nature. They either focus God's general operations in the Old Creation or anticipate the New Creation.

Old Creation miracles. Miracles of fertility (water to wine, feeding multitudes) show God short-circuiting processes He normally performs over time. Healings reveal the divine source of Nature's recuperative power. The fig tree's withering reflects God's role as the God of death.

New Creation hints. Christ walking on water foreshadows a future Nature where spirit perfectly controls matter. The raising of Lazarus is an anticipatory reversal of death, hinting at a universal reordering of the inorganic.

10. The Resurrection: A New Mode of Being

The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe.

Not mere survival. The Resurrection is not simply the immortality of a soul or a ghost; it is the "first fruits" of a wholly new mode of physical and spiritual existence, the beginning of a "New Creation."

Corporeal reality. The risen Christ is corporeal, eating and being touched, yet also transcends normal spatial and temporal limitations. The Ascension signifies His withdrawal into a new Nature, preparing a "place" for glorified humanity.

Healing estrangement. The New Creation heals the estrangement between Spirit and Nature, body and soul. This future harmony will make archaic thought, which blended spiritual and physical "Heaven," accurately mirror reality.

Last updated: November 1, 2025