>
http://star.psy.ohio-state.edu/coglab/Miracle.html [
http://www.webcitation.org/66r4TsgLx ]
Below is the Glossary entry "miracle" from pp. 132-133 of my article
"The Physics of God and the Quantum Gravity Theory of Everything"
(Social Science Research Network, April 9, 2012,
doi:10.2139/ssrn.1974708,
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1974708 ):
##########
miracle
traditional Christian theology has maintained that God never violates
natural law, as God, in His omniscience, knew in the beginning all
that He wanted to achieve and so, in His omnipotence, He formed the
laws of physics in order to achieve His goal. The idea that God would
violate His own laws would mean that God is not omniscient. In
traditional Christian theology, miracles do not violate natural
law--rather, they are events which are so improbable that they can
only be explained by the existence of God and His acting in the world.
As Augustine of Hippo wrote concerning miracles [7, Book 21, Ch. 8],
""
For we say that all portents are contrary to nature; but they are not
so. For how is that contrary to nature which happens by the will of
God, since the will of so mighty a Creator is certainly the nature of
each created thing? A portent, therefore, happens not contrary to
nature, but contrary to what we know as nature.
""
That is, traditional Christian theology has maintained that if we had
the ultimate physical law, then we would be able to explain how God’s
existence and His miracles are possible [cf. Romans 1:19,20; 419, 1st
Part, Question 2, Arts. 2-3]. According to the known laws of physics,
we now have that ultimate physical law, the Omega
Point/Feynman-DeWitt-Weinberg quantum gravity/Standard Model Theory of
Everything (TOE) correctly describing and unifying all the forces in
physics, and so we are now able to explain God’s existence and His
miracles. Within the Omega Point cosmology, miracles are physically
allowed via the Principle of Least Action, as the universe is
logically forced by the known laws of physics (i.e., the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, General Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics) to evolve
into the Omega Point final singularity, and so any event which is
required in order for this evolutionary process to occur is certain to
occur. Thus, a miracle within the known laws of physics is an event
which is so improbable that it can only be rationally explained due to
the end-state that said physical laws require the universe evolve to.
The English word miracle etymologically means "object of wonder"
[386]. The Old Testament words translated as miracle are in the
original Hebrew [402]: oth (tw'), "sign", "token"; mopheth (tpwm|),
"sign", "wonder"; and pala ('lp|), "marvelous", "wondrous". The New
Testament words translated as miracle are in the original Greek [402]:
dunamis (dÔnamij), "power", "mighty work"; semeion (shmeØon), "sign";
and teras (tèraj), "wonder". So the meaning of these words in their
Biblical context has nothing to do with violating natural law.
-----
Bibliography:
[7] Augustine, De Civitate Dei, ca. 413-426, English translation: The
City of God, Vols. 1-2 in Marcus Dods (Ed.), The Works of Aurelius
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo: A New Translation (Edinburgh, Scotland: T.
& T. Clark, 1871-1976), 15 vols., WebCite: 5wDMCpLPU,
<
http://goo.gl/SCSUw> (Vol. 1); WebCite: 5wDMHzger,
<
http://goo.gl/OTbhn> (Vol. 2).
[386] John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner (Eds.), The Oxford
English Dictionary (Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 2nd ed., 1989), ISBN
0198611862, LCCN 88005330.
[402] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (New York:
Eaton & Mains, 1890), LCCN 2007373427, <
http://goo.gl/VHd56>.
[419] Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiæ, 1265-1274, English translation:
Laurence Shapcote of the Fathers of the English Dominican Province,
revised by Daniel J. Sullivan, The Summa Theologica, LCCN 90222011,
Vols. 17-18 of Mortimer J. Adler, Clifton Fadiman and Philip W. Goetz
(Eds.), Great Books of the Western World (Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 2nd ed., 1990), 60 vols., ISBN 0852295316, LCCN
90080213.