ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers the idea of a 'miracle' as an emotionally and/or morally uplifting event. It suggests that even R. F. Holland's definition, which speaks of 'an extraordinary coincidence of a beneficial nature interpreted religiously', cannot avoid the idea of some special divine action. It is the merit of the 'wonderful event' definition that it points out the failings of an approach to miracles which sees them as acts of divine 'intervention', as if God is only involved with the world when God performs miracles. There may be disagreements concerning the laws of nature themselves, as the author has tried to illustrate in the case of the weapon-salve and the ideas of Isaac Newton. God's actions follow a certain 'custom' — chosen by God alone, of course.
