A Critical Analysis and Response to Hume from a Pneumatological Perspective
[Article]
Bradford McCall
Leiden
Brill
In the course of the history of Christianity, one of the most advocated and denigrated concepts is the miraculous. The situation in which Scottish philosopher David Hume lived was ripe for the refutation of the miraculous. After a lengthy critical analysis of Hume, this paper argues that he did not successfully negate either the possibility of the miraculous or the plausibility of the miraculous. Instead, this paper asserts that the modern Renewal movement - with its renewed emphasis on pneumatology - has given new weight to the affirmation of miracles. In keeping with classical theists, the Renewal movement also grounds both the possibility and plausibility of the miraculous on the nature of God. The panentheistically informed pneumatological understanding of the God/world relationship herein advocated posits that the Spirit acts in a personal, direct, and specific manner.