The purpose of this course is to understand the richness - and paradoxes - of religious belief by looking at miracles.  What is a miracle? Are miracles possible? What role do miracles play in religion, and in everyday life?  These, and related issues, will be explored in this course.

Though the focus of this course is primarily historical, we will include a variety of philosophical, psychological and theological perspectives.  Although most of the readings will look at Christianity, we will examine other religions as well: Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism.  The course will range from nineteenth-century France to the modern-American South, and from first-century Palestine to Ancient India.  It is hoped that by looking at the many forms of "the miraculous", we can gain a greater appreciation of our diversity.  At the same time, by looking at what these diverse stories have in common, we can gain a deeper appreciation of human nature, and the hopes and fears of all men and women, in all places, in all times.