A-Level - Realist and Anti-Realist Miracles

Realists believe that the world is...

• mind-dependent

• mind-independent

• mind-interdependent

• mind-dependable

Mind-independent means that the world...

• exists the way it is, regardless of what we think

• is all a matter of interpretation

• can think for itself

• is determining what humans think

Realists view miracles as...

• a real part of something happening in the world

• telling us something that happened in the external world

• having a particular nature, location and description

• internal and subjective

• a matter for personal interpretation

The West Side Baptist Church had an incredible miracle where...

• there was an explosion during choir practice but no-one had turned up

• God had told different members of the choir not to go to church the day it exploded

• there was an explosion while a choir was inside but no-one got hurt

• a boiler should have exploded in a church but it didn't

What type of Christian views miracles in a very Realist way?

• Catholics

• Protestants

• Church of England

• Quakers

In what way does the Catholic Church show that it sees miracles as Realist events?

• It investigates miracles using doctors and scientists

• It accepts all claims of miracles

• The Pope performs miracles in front of large crowds

• They teach about miracles being personal and subjective

What are the laws of nature?

• Deontological ethical rules

• the way nature works based on repeated experiments

• the way things are supposed to be

• how nature has to work

Which of these miracles breaks the laws of nature?

• Jesus walking on water

• The West Side Baptist Church choir miracle

• Benny Hinn faith healing

• Berndatte seeing a vision at Lourdes

Some people see the laws of nature as prescriptive. What does this mean?

• The laws of nature say how nature has to work

• The laws of nature shows what has been found to happen time and time again

• The laws of nature are flexible and changing

• The laws of nature cannot be broken

Most scientists see the laws of nature as descriptive. What does this mean?

• The laws of nature say how nature has to work

• The laws of nature shows what has been found to happen time and time again

• The laws of nature are fixed and unchanging

• The laws of nature cannot be broken