The Curious Case of Mr. Locke's Miracles

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

6-2005

Abstract

Locke considers miracles to be crucial in establishing the credibility and reasonableness of Christian faith and revelation. The performance of miracles, he argues, is vital in establishing the credit of the proposer who makes any claim to providing a divine revelation. He accords reason a pivotal role in distinguishing spurious from genuine claims to divine revelation, including miracles. According to Locke, genuine miracles contain the hallmark of the divine such that pretend revelations become intuitively obvious. This paper argues that serious tensions exist in Locke’s position regarding miracles, which impact on the reasonableness of the assent to Christianity which he presumes they provide.

Keywords

Philosophy of religion

Discipline

Philosophy

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

International Journal of Philosophy of Religion

Volume

57

Issue

3

First Page

147

Last Page

168

ISSN

0020-7047

Identifier

10.1007/s11153-004-1682-7

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-004-1682-7

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