Are miracle reports credible? Throughout history there have been countless accounts of miraculous events attributed to a divine authority. The British philosopher David Hume (arguably one of the greatest philosophers in history) wrote about these reports in a way that undermined their credibility. I agree with Hume's position in this regard, and this essay will discuss the reasons for Hume's arguments, some definitions of miracles, and Hume's specific arguments against the validity of miracle accounts. Furthermore, I will attempt to provide some additional arguments and discussions that further support Hume's position and reveal the lack of credibility found in most miracle accounts. The first question that must be asked is: why did Hume write about miracles? Most people believed that people were created in the image of God. Hume, however, was more interested in human nature and believed that people were essentially just very intelligent animals (Craig, 2002, p. 26). His goal was to change these ideas and demonstrate that, although people are very intelligent and capable of planning and reasoning, they have much more in common with animals than with a divine being. Indeed, Hume's beliefs and arguments lead us to consider the concept of the non-existence of God. It does not appear that Hume wanted to completely eradicate religion. He wanted, however, to eliminate the superstition rooted in religious practices and beliefs. Hume believed that religious belief systems are formed in two ways: from personal experience and reason or through revelation (via a religious text or religious authority) (Craig, 2002, p.28). The problem, according to Hume, is that people will never ... middle of paper ... it is impossible to believe the news of a miracle. The very nature of miracles seems to preclude the possibility of being "credible". Even if, at some point, an event occurs that defies the laws of nature and is witnessed by a sufficiently large number of people and is repeatable, the most likely response from a logically minded individual would be to begin search for empirical evidence and the search for its scientific explanation. In my opinion, it is extremely unlikely that such an event could, today, be attributed to a supernatural deity. Works Cited Craig, E. (2002). Philosophy: a very brief introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Miracle. 2011. Dictionary and Synonyms - Merriam-Webster Online. (n.d.). Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved January 21, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miracle