God, Bible, and Miracles: Fact or Fiction?

God, Bible, and Miracles: Fact or Fiction?

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Term paper

PHIL 1100

21.02.2003

Through out the century, mankind has always been left with a rather complex, unanswered question. Does a god exist? This question may never become answered. Though for many people the question already has an answer, which is the all time best seller, the Bible. Though many critics and philosophers denounce the truth of the Bible. Other great questions concerning the Bible are whether it was really passed down to humans by God or if the Bible was written by humans for humans. The Bible raises another question. Can miracles happen? When Jesus presumably healed the blind and paralyzed, was he really doing this through the hand of God? Philosopher David Hume would surely not believe in any of that as he says in one of his writings. “A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.”[i] Or were miracles, part of reality? I will try to shed some light upon these questions. I will quote and opinionate scholars, philosophers and works that attack and support the groundwork of religion, feeding perhaps the hunger of both the believer and skeptical. Over the years people have created wars and mass hysteria to try to imbue God into the minds of the masses and this with great success, but as the world has changed and now heavily relies on science and technology to move forth, the process is slowly beginning to reverse.[ii] Theologians are desperately trying to stop this, but what can they do? Start wars again? The creation of God, Bible, and miracles may be fraudulent. It is as HL Mencken says, "It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking...