"For some people, miracles serve as evidence of God's existence"
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Miracles are less an argument here than a mirror. Isaacson’s line quietly shifts the burden of proof away from theology and onto psychology: for some people, God isn’t inferred from first principles or philosophical rigor but recognized through rupture, the moment reality behaves badly and meaning rushes in to patch the tear. The key phrase is “for some people,” which does a lot of diplomatic work. It acknowledges belief as a lived, uneven human practice rather than a universal logical conclusion, and it sidesteps the trap of declaring miracles either decisive evidence or pure superstition.
The subtext is Isaacson’s biographer’s instinct: people don’t adopt worldviews because they are airtight; they adopt them because they are useful, consoling, or narratively satisfying. A miracle, in this framing, functions like a personal data point that becomes emotionally unignorable. It’s not that the event compels everyone; it’s that it organizes experience for those already primed to read the world as intentional.
Contextually, Isaacson writes in an era when “evidence” has become a cultural fetish, borrowed from science and applied to everything from faith to politics. By pairing “miracles” with “evidence,” he exposes the friction: miracles are, by definition, non-repeatable and resistant to verification, yet they’re treated as proof precisely because they feel like a direct message. The line lands with a mild, secular restraint, not mocking believers, but noting how belief often travels through story, not syllogism.
The subtext is Isaacson’s biographer’s instinct: people don’t adopt worldviews because they are airtight; they adopt them because they are useful, consoling, or narratively satisfying. A miracle, in this framing, functions like a personal data point that becomes emotionally unignorable. It’s not that the event compels everyone; it’s that it organizes experience for those already primed to read the world as intentional.
Contextually, Isaacson writes in an era when “evidence” has become a cultural fetish, borrowed from science and applied to everything from faith to politics. By pairing “miracles” with “evidence,” he exposes the friction: miracles are, by definition, non-repeatable and resistant to verification, yet they’re treated as proof precisely because they feel like a direct message. The line lands with a mild, secular restraint, not mocking believers, but noting how belief often travels through story, not syllogism.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
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