What does Keith Ward accuse Hume of doing in his argument against miracles?
Setting miracles up to fail.
What does Ward say about Hume’s attitude toward miracles?
Hume did not want to believe in miracles and thought they were absurd.
What philosophical position influenced Hume’s rejection of miracles?
Empiricism.
Why did Hume trust natural laws more than miracle reports?
He believed natural laws were fixed and more reliable than any miracle story.
What is Ward’s overall criticism of Hume’s approach?
Hume assumed miracles cannot happen before examining the evidence.
Why is Hume’s approach considered biased?
If your method rules out the supernatural, miracles become impossible by definition.
Why is Hume predisposed to reject miracles according to Dobson and Gibben?
His empiricism only accepts knowledge from sense experience, so the supernatural is excluded from the start.
How does Hume define a miracle?
As a violation of a law of nature by God or a spirit.
What does Ward mean by Hume’s “verbal trick”?
Hume defines miracles in a way that guarantees they cannot occur.
Why does Ward say Hume’s definition is historically inaccurate?
Ancient people didn’t think in terms of fixed natural laws; that idea only emerged with Newton.
Why is Hume’s definition anachronistic?
Biblical authors didn’t assume nature was governed by unbreakable laws.
How does modern physics challenge Hume’s view of natural laws?
Laws are probabilistic, not absolute; extremely unlikely events are still possible.
What does Ward say about alternative definitions of miracles?
Other definitions exist, so Hume’s dismissal is not the only possible view.
What distinction does Ward make about natural laws?
Deterministic laws (X must cause Y) vs. probabilistic laws (X probably causes Y).
Why can’t physics rule out miracles according to Ward?
Because natural laws are flexible and allow for improbable events.
Why is Hume’s argument circular according to Ward?
It is a de dicto move — true by definition — rather than a claim about reality.
Does Keith Ward believe miracles happen?
Yes — he argues that miracles do occur.
How does Ward define a miracle?
Not as a violation of natural laws, but as an extraordinary event that reveals something about spiritual reality or God’s purposes.
What makes an event a miracle for Ward?
Its capacity to disclose God’s nature, intentions, or presence.
What is the atheist response to miracles according to Ward?
Miracles cannot reveal God because God does not exist.
What is the theist response to miracles according to Ward?
If God exists, it is reasonable to believe God can act in the world.
What justifies belief in miracles for theists, according to Ward?
Testimony and personal experience.
What does Keith Ward say about religious teachers and revelation?
Religious traditions accept that some individuals (e.g., Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Guru Nanak) have a special closeness to God.
Why do miracles often cluster around religious figures according to Ward?
They reveal divine presence or purpose through these individuals.
