Atheists: Could you define "miracle" for me?

Question

This question is in conjuction with the one I asked yesterday.
I could give you hundreds of medical miracles documented by the Catholic church (for the faithful and the doubters) and verified "beyond reason" by physicians.
Or I could give you vision seen by multiple people at the same time, without them knowing each other.
And I wonder if any of you have been told about such things, but, in any case I was wondering how you deal with the term "miracle."

Here is a link hit the fourth point on the faq, if you're interested (I tried pasting, but it's too long and I got complaints):
http://www.littleflower.org/learn/faq.asp

I will have to consider if there is a good question concerning the so-called "miracle paradox."

How easily some people claim that people who place all their trust in God bear false witness.

Answer 1

I think Terry Pratchett said it best:

"When someone is saved from certain death by a strange concatenation of circumstances, they say that's a miracle. But of course if someone is killed by a freak chain of events -- the oil spilled just there, the safety fence broken just there --that must also be a miracle. Just because it's not nice doesn't mean it's not miraculous."

And Mr Pratchett again:

"occasionally something very unlikely will happen: a very tiny screw in an aircraft will come loose, jounce over a strut, and wind up in the one place where it will short out an electrical circuit, start a fire, explode the fuel tank, and result in the deaths of 150 people. That's a miracle. It's not a nice miracle, but it's a miracle just the same."

Answer 2

All miracles have only been documented by the church.Other religions do not have miracles. Medical journals don't publish any documented miracle.
Miracle is a metaphor. If they existed, we wouldn't need medicine
The entire world knows immediatly that a little Panda bear had cubs in China. We know about Britney Spears getting out of a car.Why can't we know about something so much more phenomenal, such as a miracle?
With the internet and fast speed media, there is absolutely no excuse for not publishing them. The paparazzi certainly would hate to miss something like that.
Would somebody call or blog, when there is a miracle?

Answer 3

If anyone ever actually PROVED a miracle, it would change the face of the entire world.

You are mistaken. There are no recorded and verified "miracles" that have ever happened in the history of mankind.

You may not realize this, but there is a website dedicated to this specific subject, and it shows quite clearly that miracles do not happen, prayer does not work, and it is highly unlikely that god exists at all.

It's a very simple demonstration, and its logic is undeniable.

http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

Answer 4

Wikipedia defines miracle as: a miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning 'something wonderful', is a striking interposition of divine intervention by God in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified.
In some cases I would say mass hysteria, in others I would say fraud. sometimes acts happen that defy are understanding of the natural world. This seems to happen less and less often as we grow to understand the human condition threw science. but I admit it does happen.
Would you agree with me when If I said that god defines the ordinary courses and operations of nature?
if so, then why would he break the rules for some and not so for others. If god breaks the rules of the universe would he not then be defying himself? that's paradox right there.

Answer 5

That we don't have a complete understanding of the science behind certain events, both medical and physical, that we encounter. But in time, with more knowledge and better technology, most miracles will be explained away as really interesting interactions of the properties of matter, energy and the world we live in.

Answer 6

lottery


the miracle that you are talking about is the fact that these documented people got into the almost impossible medical condition in the first place.

then by some freak chance, the meds kicked in and cured them or they held on long enough to have their own bodies cure themselves.

the catholic church makes many lies... just like the miracle that mother teresa supposedly caused.

Answer 7

A miracle is something that people dont understand. That couldn't figure out how it worked, so they just pass it off as being a miracle.

Humans can't accept not knowing. They will turn to the super natural first. Most god believers fear the unknown and they can't deal with it so they dont even accept it

Answer 8

Let's see what the dictionary says!

Miracle: An effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.

Well.. looky here. I don't believe in supernatural causes so... I don't believe in miracles!

Answer 9

This is like talking about UFO's.
Yeah, documented happenings.
Everything has a scientific explanation, even though it is possible that a particular explanation is not yet known as we are all learning, even the most knowleageble scientists.

Answer 10

Do you mean BigFoot, Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings? I suspect they are all hoaxes