Open AccessThe Power of God and Miracles
Author(s) -
Georg Gasser,
Josef Quitterer
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
european journal for philosophy of religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 1689-8311
DOI - 10.24204/ejpr.v7i3.114
Subject(s) - miracle , ontology , natural (archaeology) , epistemology , power (physics) , philosophy , set (abstract data type) , disposition , theology , history , computer science , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , programming language
In this paper we explicate the notion of a miracle and highlight a suitable ontological framework for it. Our proposal draws on insights from Aquinas’s discussion of miracles and from the modern ontology of powers. We argue that each substance possesses a characteristic set of natural powers and dispositions which are operative or become manifest in the right circumstances. In a miracle divine intervention activates the fundamental disposition inherent in each creature to be responsive to God’s call. Thus, a miracle brings something about which a substance’s set of natural powers and dispositions could not bring about by itself.