Thursday, July 12, 2007

miracle: a definition

Should be a verb, not a noun. It’s definition should be...
“the act of grace which spontaneously restores a noun or a relation toward its intended created order.”
(which means it would include the rescue of matter from entropy, according to Peter Atkins' original association of "entropy" with "disorder".)

3 comments:

Chris B. said...

not to be a stickler, because I see the point you're trying to make, but your definition still implies that miracle is a noun.

Daniel Kent said...

Hm. Well, a miracle may be a noun, but miracles are certainly 'active.'

espíritu paz said...

so would "the acting grace" and "rescuing matter and relationality from entropy" would that verb-ize the definition.
Sticklerism has its particular benefits.
As for miracles being active. I wish there was a way to refer to the flux or process of miracle. The issue with it being a strict noun is like the same issue that pass/fail classes have.
Like in Mark 8. Did Jesus perform a miracle on the blind man with his first act or the second. I would say both times but the first leap toward restoration to the original created order wasn't sufficient, so is it truly a miracle unless it's complete.