Theory of Miracles and Theism
Theism is the act of believing in the existence of a divine reality that refers to the belief in one God. Religious people believe in the existence of God, and their beliefs, to some extent, influence other people in society. Miracles are some of the aspects that enable believers to acknowledge the existence of a divine supernatural being. Most religious denominations have different beliefs about the miracles performed by their gods. Antitheists believe that there is no god; hence there is a reason to prove whether there is really a god. Hume writes about some of the miracle beliefs to prove the existence of God. Hume believes people can be swayed by other people’s opinions into believing ideas that are not true. Hume has discussed various reasons to critique the existence of miracles in relation to religious beliefs. The following study will discuss Hume’s opinions about the existence of miracles while arguing about theism and antitheism beliefs.
Hume’s Arguments
First Reason
David Hume argues that there is no attested truth to the high standards of miracles performed in religious books such as the bible. Hume says research has not been conducted to verify the existence of such actions in real life, and studies have not been conducted to perform such miracles and fail. According to Hume, there are forces of nature that dictate the occurrence of an action (Styers,2017). Actions that occur when there is no existence of nature cannot be referred to as miracles. Hume says that educational research and experimentation should be conducted to verify if the traditional miracles cannot be achieved (Marušić,2019). Hume believes that the traditional miracles are controversial since their high standards do not resonate with natural occurrences. Hume believes there is a lack of integrity in the traditional miracles, and one can be suspicious into believing if the miracles actually happened. Hume says the miracles could have been alleged to happen.
Second Reason
Hume also argues that humans have the tendency to believe a completely new strange and marvelous thing to a high degree. Hume’s argument points out that the surprise and wonder from tales of miracles attract others to believe in their existence (Marušić,2019). Through the tales, there is a higher probability of influencing humans to believe in the occurrence of miracles. Following the argument of Hume is a psychological argument that has studied human behavior to new marvelous stories. Hume argues that there is a high tendency to believe actions of flying saucers today that can be related to miracle tales (Marušić,2019). According to Hume is easy to influence others to believe miraculous actions as opposed to believing a reality. Hume’s argument suggests that the miracles could be ideas and superstitions developed to influence a man to believe that indeed God exists since it would have been difficult to believe his existence earlier.
Third Reason
Hume says miraculous stories are observed to be introduced in barbaric and uncivilized nations before penetrating civilized nations (Marušić,2019). Hume argues that it is easier to convince uncivilized people than civilized individuals because civilized people question ideas before believing. According to Hume, the uncivilized people believed in miracle tales, and through domination of the tales, it was not possible for the civilized nations to question miracles (Marušić,2019). Hume argues that the stories of miracles could have acquired authority of received opinions before the civilized nations received the news in the world to convince people. From the following argument, Hume says the belief about miracles was developed for the barbaric people, and through influence, the civilized and wise people have not been able to question the existence or non-existence of miracles. Hume’s argument seeks to contradict the existence of miracles and a divine being for the people.
Forth Reason
Hume argues that different religions have conflicting ideas about the miracles Christ performed. According to Hume, the Christian and Muslim religions contradict Christ and the miracles Christ performed (Marušić,2019). From the argument, it is difficult to believe whether there is one supernatural divine being. Hume says there should not be any contradicting statements between the various religions to prove the existence of miracles and Christ. Hume says the contradicting statements and actions show that even in the courts, it would be difficult to understand the true God and actions that were conducted in traditional history. Hume says it is possible people worship different gods that they cannot prove their existence; hence it would be difficult for an individual to know the truth (Marušić,2019). According to Hume, the superstition between history and the existence of supernatural beings should be carefully analyzed to understand the truth and the right religion.
Fifth Reason
Hume says a miracle story is used to introduce religion or support an existing religion. If stories of miracles were not in existence, it would have been difficult to convince people to believe in the existence of Christ. Hume says miracle stories have a certain type of conviction that is difficult to understand (Marušić,2019). Many people are swayed to believe in the existence of religious objects than believing in reality. Hume also says the conviction about the miracle story and the existence of God forces people to believe the stories and not to question them. According to Hume, the fact that questioning the existence of God and miracles is considered sinful is proof that, indeed, there is no God and miracles (Marušić,2019). Hume believes that there is proof of the existence of every object. Hume also says it people should be allowed to test and experience the changes expressed about God and the miracles.
The credibility of Hume’s Arguments
Since I am a believer in God, I don’t think Hume’s reasons are credible. I have been able to witness several cases of miracles conducted in my presence. I am a Christian, and I believe God can heal the sick, raise the dead and also bless people. Hume’s arguments seek to understand how the supernatural being operates, which is difficult to understand. I believe God has his secret ways of operating, which we cannot fully understand. Questioning the actions of God is stupid since God’s actions are miraculous, and no one can be compared to him.
Conclusion
There are several religions across the world, and the believers of religion are called theists. There are, however, atheists who question the existence of God and do not believe in God. David Hume has developed several reasons to question the existence of miracles to certify the absence of God. The reasons Hume has given are tied to the contradicting religious beliefs, barbaric ways of convincing uncivilized people, and how people are attracted to new miraculous news. I don’t agree with Hume’s arguments since I am a believer in Christ. It is totally wrong to question the existence of God.
References
Marušić, J. S. (Ed). (2019) Hume. A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy, 13-27.
Smith, L. S. (2018). The Worship of God as “Sick Men’s Dreams”: A Response to David Hume. Process Studies, 47(1-2), 111-129.
Styers, R. (Ed). (2017). David Hume on Religion, In Religion, Theory, Critique (pp. 97-104). Columbia University Press.