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WalesReligious StudiesQuick questions
Philosophy of Religion (Units 2 and 5)
Quick questions on Miracles: definitions, Hume's challenge and Swinburne's reply - WJEC A-Level Religious Studies
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are hume's argument against belief in miracles?Show answer
Hume adds four practical ("a posteriori") points: no miracle has enough reliable, educated, numerous witnesses; humans love wonder and so spread marvellous tales; miracles abound among "ignorant and barbarous" peoples; and the miracle claims of rival religions cancel each other out, since each supports a different faith.
What is model paragraph?Show answer
The strength and the weakness of Hume's case lie in the same move: defining a miracle as a transgression of a law of nature established by uniform experience. This makes the evidential deck stack automatically against any report, since the very uniformity that defines the law is, by definition, evidence that the reported event does not happen. Critics argue this is question-begging, because if even the best-attested counter-instance is dismissed as a mistake about the law, then no possible evidence could ever establish a miracle, and Hume has settled the question in advance rather than weighing it.
What is q1?Show answer
Give Hume's definition of a miracle. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is Holland's "contingency" view of miracles? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Evaluate the view that it is never reasonable to believe in miracles. [20 marks]
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