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Single Idea 20716

[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / e. Miracles ]

Full Idea

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Gist of Idea

False prophets will perform wonders to deceive even the elect

Source

St Mark (02: Gospel of St Mark [c.66], 13:22), quoted by Brian Davies - Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

Book Ref

Davies,Brian: 'An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion' [OUP 1993], p.210

A Reaction

This casts a rather different light on the miracles of Jesus, since they were performed in a context in which even Jesus believed that lots of people (and not just the son of God) could perform miracles. Undermines any Argument from Miracles.

The 13 ideas with the same theme [seeing unnatural events as proof of God's existence]:

20716 False prophets will perform wonders to deceive even the elect [Mark]
5974 People report seeing through rocks, or over the horizon, or impossibly small works [Plutarch]
7902 The Buddha made flowers float in the air, to impress people, and make them listen [Mahavastu]
4827 Priests reject as heretics anyone who tries to understand miracles in a natural way [Spinoza]
4868 Trying to prove God's existence through miracles is proving the obscure by the more obscure [Spinoza]
12571 If miracles aim at producing belief, it is plausible that their events are very unusual [Locke]
5030 Miracles are extraordinary operations by God, but are nevertheless part of his design [Leibniz]
12909 Everything, even miracles, belongs to order [Leibniz]
12784 Allow no more miracles than are necessary [Leibniz]
2227 A miracle violates laws which have been established by continuous unchanging experience, so should be ignored [Hume]
2228 All experience must be against a supposed miracle, or it wouldn't be called 'a miracle' [Hume]
2229 To establish a miracle the falseness of the evidence must be a greater miracle than the claimed miraculous event [Hume]
7636 It can't be more rational to believe in natural laws than miracles if the laws are not rational [Ishaq on Hume]