Miracles and Contradictions cannot be
Distinguished
A miracle is what is not naturally possible. It is a supernatural occurrence. It
is paranormal.
Religion uses miracles as evidence for the truth of its claims.
Miracles are events that seem to be against nature or the way natural law
usually runs. In other words, they cannot be explained by nature. Examples are
the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to children, the unexplained cure of incurable
illness, blood coming out of nowhere on Catholic communion wafers, the sun
spinning at Fatima in Portugal in 1917 and most importantly Jesus Christ coming
back to life after being dead nearly three days. It is thought that only God can
do these things.
To say something is logically impossible is simply to say that it's a contradiction. It is that simple. A golden statue made of cheese is a contradiction - in other words logically impossible. It is possible for us not to know if something is logically impossible. What is naturally impossible may be logically impossible when we have all the facts in. It is logically impossible to put lead in the microwave and for it to come out as cheese. It is also naturally impossible. But if we had some secret ray and used that in the machine it could be different. So the possible needs ingredients.
It is possible that though miracles may not be logically
impossible we should assume they are.
Believers say that a man walking through a wall is a miracle not a
contradiction. A man both walking through the wall and not doing it in the same
sense at the same time would be a contradiction. The reason we have to be
intolerant of contradictions is that they distort the way we approach reality.
And because a contradiction is saying something and denying it at the one time.
It is really saying nothing but rubbish. If a person both did and didn't commit
a crime we wouldn't know what to do. A man can't walk through a wall. If it is
claimed that he has, then God temporarily destroys the part of the wall that he
passes through so he really passes through a temporary hole in the wall and not
through the wall. A wall has to be solid to be a wall. If God changes that it is
no longer a wall and you cannot say a man passed through it. But what if a real
contradiction has happened? What if the man really did go through the wall?
Christians are really rationalising contradictions or possible contradictions.
That is no better than saying miracles are contradictions. We would never work
out that non-existent fire cannot burn if we were subjected to frequent
contradictions whether they are real contradictions or miracles.
To say a man walking through a wall is a miracle not a contradiction is to
refuse to admit that it is a contradiction.
The Christians say a miracle is not a contradiction and that to say Jesus rose
from the dead is not a contradiction for a contradiction would be to say Jesus
was dead and risen in the same way at the same time. It is bad to believe in
what contradicts itself for we are made to be reasonable logical people and need
logic to help the world. They are only guessing that miracles are not
contradictions for they still might be. For example, it would be a contradiction
to say Jesus rose from the dead if there is no power to raise him up. It is
better not to believe in what may be a contradiction for you don’t want to have
anything to do with contradictions. You don’t need to believe in the
resurrection so it is evil to believe in it. It is better to assume that
miracles are hoaxes or tricks of nature. Whatever they are they are certainly
bad and no good they do can justify them for they attack the foundation of good
which is reason and wrong ideas produce wrong behaviour. You have to assume that
miracles are possible before you can say a miracle has happened. You are using
an assumption to resolve a contradiction which is irrational. Only reason can
resolve contradictions not assumptions.
Miracles are contradictions. For example, we know that those who have died stay
dead. Then Christians come along saying that Jesus rose from the dead! They say
this is not a contradiction for it would be a contradiction if Jesus was said to
be dead and also risen. But it's not words we are worried about here but what it
is in practice and what it is as good as, a contradiction. Is there any
practical difference between one, nobody rising from the dead and Jesus rising
and two, the idea that people don’t rise but God made Jesus rise from the dead
so he was an exception? Practically you can’t tell the difference between one
and the other! In other words, if you see Jesus rising from the dead how do you
know that this rising was compatible with the law that people don’t rise or not?
The Christians could be supporting a contradiction though they think they are
not. Their interpretation makes no difference. Let us explore this. Christians
say they reject one. So they are saying that all people that die stay dead
unless God who has the power to restore life does so. Is that any help? No –
they say a man rose from the dead. They cannot make it into a non-contradiction
by interpreting it as one. If I state that 1=2, I can admit that it is a
contradiction or say that there is some yet undiscovered sense that it is true.
If I take the latter approach I cannot make it into a non-contradiction. If it’s
a contradiction my interpretation isn’t going to change that.
The person who considers a contradiction to be a non-contradiction is no better
than the person who says that a contradiction is true. If the doctrine that
miracles happen, is urging people to stoop that low then the doctrine is
advocating evil and irrationality. It’s evil to deny the law that something
cannot be true in the same sense at the same time and also untrue. If believing
in a miracle makes you no better than a contradictory person then miracles are
not signs. How can they be when they oppose sense? If miracles are irrational
then it is rational to reject miracles as signs or even their existence. To say
that miracles happen would be the same as saying that if God does them then he
is evil.
Those who deny that a miracle is a contradiction have to confess that a miracle
is a possible contradiction. For example, if Jesus rose from the dead and people
don’t rise then this may be a contradiction or it might not. Is it ethical to
endanger rationality by advocating belief in what may be contradictions? No!
Miracles lessen the authority of reason and commonsense. If a miracle happens,
religion uses reason to verify the miracle and to work out what God was trying
to say to us by doing the miracle. So miracles undermine the very thing that
underpins them! Thus miracles are absurd and evil.
We conclude believers merely assume that a miracle is a miracle. There is no
real belief in miracles where people are merely assuming they happen. And they
are no better than people who believe contradictions can be true!
Contradictory beliefs are really not beliefs at all. They are just
fighting each other. They are proof that one only imagines one believes.