An attitude toward miracles is something people are free to develop, relying on their interests, knowledge, and understandings. Many theologians believe that miracles are not violations of the natural laws by events interrupted and influenced by God. I like to believe that God participates in human routines and demonstrates his powers. At the same time, I cannot comprehend why the work of God is hard to interpret as a violation of the law of nature. Therefore, I need an additional approach to enhance my knowledge of miracles and their relation to faith and religion. In Chapter 8, one may find an interesting view of how miracles should be analyzed through the prism of its naturalness, God’s interference, purposes, and outcomes.
When a person observes a miracle, it means that this event is hard to explain or understand. As a rule, people like to believe that it is the work of God that is pervasive and profound. Due to the lack of evidence and poor reason, such an interpretation of a situation seems to be rational and expected. However, the approach offered by Rowe (2007) introduces several characteristics that define a miracle: inability to occur because of natural causes, supernatural (God) interference, surprise, and a beneficial purpose. Instead of using God as the only explanation of a miracle, Rowe (2007) recommends focusing on different aspects, and the presence of positive emotions is one of them. People do not say about unexpected traumas, deaths, or other problems as a miracle. Survival, recovery, avoidance of destruction, and a pleasant meeting are examples of miracles. These events are miraculous, but I cannot consider the interference of God as the only explanation. Therefore, I prefer to use the approach offered in the chapter and want to think about other features that may define a miracle in human life.
Reference
Rowe, W. L. (2007). Philosophy of religion: An introduction (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.