Definitions HQ

A Miracle (n.) proves ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠at most that Jesus was a great man, perhaps the greatest; the step to 'therefore God' always miscarries.

A Miracle (n.) or ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠sign that might have made a very Sodom reform in reality produced the exact opposite: it caused the teacher to be shunned, hated, despised.

A Miracle (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠never Moses' own: he did not know before striking the rock whether his staff was the finger of the Almighty or a stick of wood.

A Miracle (n.) like ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Peter's healing is compassion — but a miracle draws attention to itself and away from the compassion, which is never more visible than when it can do nothing at all.

A Miracle (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a story no human could have invented: men easily picture themselves like God or God like themselves, but never that God wished to appear like a man.

A Miracle (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the wrong reason to love the god: 'Do you then love only the omnipotent one who performs miracles, not the one who lowered himself to be equal to you?'

A Miracle (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no proof: the miracles and the resurrection exist only for faith, meant to show not that it all agrees with reason but that it is at variance with reason.

A Miracle (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not confined to eighteen hundred years ago; whether one was helped by a miracle depends on how passionately one understood help to be impossible — and how honest one is afterward.

A Miracle (n.) as ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a contemporary event is plaguy and importunate — it compels you to have an opinion; at 1800 years' distance it is easy to imagine, in a fashion, that one believes it.

A Miracle (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠lost either way reason handles it: shown unreasonable, it is dismissed; made understandable, it is no longer a miracle — let it be an object of faith.