Miracles: A Very Short Introduction

Description

From a chicken nugget shaped like Jesus, to Mohammad splitting the moon in two, to a Japanese doll whose hair grows, Yujin Nagasawa considers reported miracles in ancient scriptures and modern day life, and uses cutting-edge scientific research on belief formation to address some of our most fundamental questions concerning miracles.

• Offers a rare survey of reported miracles in a wide range of religious traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and discusses the different types of miracles there are
• Discusses how philosophers, theologians, and scientists have tried to answer fundamental questions about miracles.
• Introduces cutting-edge scientific research on how people form and spread beliefs in miracles.
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over eight million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Yujin Nagasawa, Professor of Philosophy, University of Birmingham

Yujin Nagasawa is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the John Hick Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He is author of God and Phenomenal Consciousness: A Novel Approach to Knowledge Arguments (CUP, 2008), The Existence of God: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge, 2011), and Maximal God: A New Defence of Perfect Being Theism (OUP, forthcoming).

Table of Contents

Preface
1:What is a miracle?
2:What miracles are reported in religious texts?
3:Why do so many people believe in miracles?
4:Can we rationally believe in miracles?
5:What are true miracles?
References
Further Reading
Index

Reviews

"a thought-provoking book" - Raiyan Azmi, Catholic Herald

"a very fair-minded treatment of miracles" - Paradigm Explorer

"Nagasawa has a fairly detached view of the whole subject, which neither denigrates the believer nor exalts the sceptic ... [He] writes engagingly, and with a relatively easy to understand style ... this is a book I would recommend to both believer and sceptic." - Jonathan Cowie, Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation

"Miracles inhabit the human psyche. They evoke intense, polarizing reactions - uncritical acceptance from believers, derisive denial from nonbelievers. In this much-needed book, Yujin Nagasawa, an innovative and fearless philosopher, expands our understanding of miracles and provides a sweeping, thoughtful, penetrating, objective account of their origins and meaning." - Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Creator and Host, PBS TV series Closer To Truth

"'Miracles' is just the sort of topic that is perfect for Oxford University Press's extensive 'Very Short Introductions' series in that it is specific enough to allow for a focused treatment, and yet expansive enough to be of interest to a wide readership...The book would certainly be a helpful addition to any undergraduate course that touches on miracles, particularly because of the many lively illustrations and examples that Nagasawa includes in the text." - Brett Hendrickson, Reading Religion