What are miracles? (Describe the ways that miracles have been defined)

St Thomas Aquinas defined miracles as events done by God that nature: 1. Could never do (e.g. miracle of Fatima), 2. Could do but never in that order (e.g. bringing someone back from the dead), or 3. Can do but God does not use the laws of nature (e.g. healing someone by forgiving their sins). David Hume described miracles as ‘A transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity or by the interposition of some invisible agent’ (Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1777). Richard Swinburne described how miracles must hold a deeper religious significance than just breaking the laws of nature. For example, he says ‘If a god intervened in the natural order to make a feather land here rather than there for no deep ultimate purpose, or to upset a child’s box of toys just for spite, these events would not naturally be described as miracles.’ R.F. Holland define miracles as interpretations. Holland argues that even if an event has an explanation within natural laws it can still be considered a miracle if it is taken religiously as a sign (a ‘contingency miracle’) (e.g. of a boy on playing with a toy car between railway tracks.)