(November 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: So these claims exist, we coin a word for them "miracles". This words grants special exception for what would otherwise be delusional? Is this right?Not exactly. The word ‘miracle’ distinguishes between two types of events: those that a rare and, yes, exceptional, and those that are common and regular.
(November 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: Are you saying that God temporarily suspends these physical laws that accurately describe the universe as we know it, and that coincidentally, the instances during which these laws are suspended, is where the claims of miracles occur.Pretty much. Though I would put it this way. Through His intervention, God reveals to us that the laws we have formulated to describe the natural world do not fully encompass the spiritual reality of which we are a part.
(November 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: ...and they always occur in such a way that we cannot know it until we're hearing it second hand?Unless of course they happen to you. And doesn’t everything we know about things far away and in the past come to us second hand?
(November 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: ...(you are not) saying that it happens, it's verifiable and we just can't explain it.The lack of explanation alone does not make something qualify as a miracle. I’m not an expert in miracles, but inexplicability seems to be a necessary aspect of miracles.
(November 20, 2013 at 9:24 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: ...it's said to have happened, it's not witnessed or verifiable,...Not so. Proported miracles have been witnessed. That’s why they have been said to have happened, i.e. someone witnessed it. If the witness is credible and there is more than one such witness, that may qualify as verification. But the old adage applies, for the atheist no evidence is sufficient while for the believer any will do.