Coincidences don’t require an explanation, because they’re coincidences. Rare and unusual events don’t require explanations unless they happen more frequently than probability would predict, and they don’t. Miracle stories don’t require an explanation, because we know that people make up stories all the time. What would require an explanation is an event in which a supernatural being turns up …
Category Archives: Miracles
“Miracles happen all the time. People just fail to notice them.” Do you agree?
If by ‘miracle’ you mean an event that a) breaks the laws of physics and b) is known to have been deliberately brought about by a supernatural being, then your quote fails on both counts. No events that break the laws of physics have been reliably observed; but even if they were, there would be …
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Did something extraordinary happen while I wasn’t paying attention which made worldwide headlines and changed the course of history?
Almost certainly not. So many people on Quora keep asking questions of the form ‘Has this happened?’ where ‘this’ is something which would break physics. Obviously they haven’t thought things through. Stuff that breaks physics is important, and important stuff makes headlines. If ghosts, or ESP, or an afterlife are proven to exist, you won’t …
Why I don’t believe in miracles
As a materialist, I accept the consequences of materialism. One consequence in particular is that the behaviour of atomic particles is not predictable on an individual basis. A brick falls to the ground when we release it, for instance, because most of the atoms (electrons, quarks) in it react to a downward force, but there …
On ‘spontaneous’ ‘healing’
Q: How can the spontaneous healing of supposedly incurable diseases be explained? There are many claims that supposedly incurable diseases have been ‘cured’, and many different explanations for those claims. Here are some of them: The cure never happened at all, and the claimant is lying. The cure never happened at all, but the claimaint thinks …
What are the scientific hypotheses behind the miracles of Christ?
The most popular and most credible hypothesis behind the ‘miracles of Christ’—and any other ‘miracles’—is that they didn’t happen. This is supported by the very common observation that people like to make stuff up, particularly when they find it entertaining, and believe that they’re supporting a benevolent cause. Every religion has miracle stories, and every …
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Is there any valid proof that the miracles in the Bible did not happen as written?
If the miracles described in the Bible occurred, then our understanding of physics is wrong. But we have—literally—billions of observations under highly controlled conditions which confirm that our understanding of physics is correct. All we have for the miracles in the Bible are old stories by and about people who can’t be traced and don’t …
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