Definitions

Miracles are problematic! Global communications and religious diversity have made them more so. At the heart of the problem are the twin topoi of definition and the reality and possibility, or otherwise, of miracles. As noted in the Foreword, this volume does not attempt to engage with the latter problem. It will, however, survey some of the multifarious definitions, and attempts at definitions, of the word ‘miracle’. The brief survey which follows is by no means intended to be all-embracing and to cover all possible definitions. It aims only to provide a flavour of a complex field.

So what is a miracle? Definitions are diverse and it is clear that ‘there is no one standard religious way of understanding the concept of miracle’.

This is true even for theists. David Basinger summarises the problem neatly:

Robert A. Larmer defines a miracle as, inter alia, ‘an event that has religious significance in the sense that it can reasonably be viewed as furthering God's purposes’. For Larmer, miracles do not violate natural laws; ‘events plausibly viewed as miracles can constitute evidence for the existence of a theistic God.’

In late antiquity St Augustine of Hippo (c. 354– 430) provided thefollowing definition: