Miracles

[rigney]

What are miracles? Do such things actually exist? Are they simply prenomena, the act of an alien benefactor, or a benevolent GOD? These questions are ones a person might get caught up in, in their need to reply. But is there a straight forward answer?

[insane_alien]

largely the consist of events in which the observer who deems it a miracle does not know the cause and/or explanation of the event.

 

upon closer examination, they tend to be explainable.

 

a good example for this is the people who see jesus in their toast or what not. What they don't know or understand is that the human mind looks for patterns everywhere and every so often will even recognise a pattern that doesn't exist. MOST of the time when this happens you just wave it off and don't even notice it(though you may do a double take first). BUT when the 'pattern' your brain says you noticed is something of great importance to you (like jesus to a christian) then suddenly its a big deal and you don't just dismiss it like you should and claim its a miracle. even though the exact same thing happens to everbody everyday, even every hour.

[Mr Skeptic]

Miracles are good things that someone believes happened that he is sure there is no explanation for. To that person, that is a miracle, and in that sense miracles exist.

[AzurePhoenix]

Many theistic theologians would describe a miracle as a direct divine intervention in the workings of the universe, including violating the laws of physics.

 

Most spiritual laymen would claim it's any unlikely event that has a deep impact on their lives for the better (like winning a large sum of money or surviving a plane crash or recovering from cancer) or something as mundane as pretty colors in nature or birth, and was ultimately in some way directed to occur by their deity or some unidentified metaphysical force. Similar to the theologians but with less close examination of the concept, if any. The average person tends to take such metaphysical concepts for granted without ever really thinking about them.

 

The rational simply consider "miracles" as highly unlikely occurrences, possibly even perfectly explainable ones (and typically expressed with less emphasis than a spiritual person would use) as well as how Insane and Skeptic described.

[StringJunky]

You could define a miracle as any event or series of events that occurs outside the bounds of calculable probability....that means an event/coincidence could occur randomly (without divine intervention) and be miraculous because it did happen despite the odds against.

[rigney]

You could define a miracle as any event or series of events that occurs outside the bounds of calculable probability....that means an event/coincidence could occur randomly (without divine intervention) and be miraculous because it did happen despite the odds against.

 

While the other answers are pretty much reality, I believe you've hit it right on the head Junkman. I say this only because I quit gambling in 1960 because of a miracle. Or perhaps it might even be considered an anti-miracle? Some friends and I were at a race track in New Mexico. "Sunland Park". I had never bet on the horses before and everyone wanted to help me. Declining, I bet 7 races in which every horse I bet on, finished dead last. A couple of them may yet be out there on the track. I never bet again! I ask you, was that a miracle? Oh! one of my friends won $3,000.00 that day, connecting on two races. Something called the "Big Quinella"?

Edited October 17, 2010 by rigney

[StringJunky]

While the other answers are pretty much reality, I believe you've hit it right on the head Junkman. I say this only because I quit gambling in 1960 because of a miracle. Or perhaps it might even be considered an anti-miracle? Some friends and I were at a race track in New Mexico. "Sunland Park". I had never bet on the horses before and everyone wanted to help me. Declining, I bet 7 races in which every horse I bet on, finished dead last. A couple of them may yet be out there on the track. I never bet again! I ask you, was that a miracle? Oh! one of my friends won $3,000.00 that day, connecting on two races. Something called the "Big Quinella"?

 

 

You were very lucky to to have had such an improbable and resounding first time failure! It must have felt like a sign from the gods that it was not for you...your friend who won the $3000 was the real loser . It probably saved you a lot of lost future bets and family misery. I was not so lucky...my father was an incurable gambler.

 

Your experience does support Insane's point though that we are hard-wired to see patterns. Have you noticed we always see these 'miracles' after the fact and not before? It would be a different ball game if these unlikely events were predicted,

Edited October 17, 2010 by StringJunky

[michel123456]

What are miracles? Do such things actually exist? Are they simply prenomena, the act of an alien benefactor, or a benevolent GOD? These questions are ones a person might get caught up in, in their need to reply. But is there a straight forward answer?

 

Miracles are events that may or may not have happen, it really doesn't matter. What matters is that miracles are not innocent: they have some purpose.

 

After reading my own post, it may be misinterpreted. IMHO miracles are inventions of people in the purpose to spread their belief. They are based upon events that may or may not have happened, and glorified on the name of their deity, discarding automatically the power of other deities or the power of statistical effects or other well explained phenomenas.

Edited October 17, 2010 by michel123456