Miracles: A Preliminary Study

In Lewis’s day, Britain (along with Europe more generally) was entering what many now refer to as a post-Christian period. This was a stage in a longstanding cultural shift which had been ongoing since the Enlightenment of the 18th century, and which especially began to accelerate in the late 19th century. Along with a growing rejection of traditional religious doctrines more broadly, many people had come to regard miracle stories as the fanciful creations of a less enlightened age. To believe in miracles was seen as childish and superstitious, a primitive form of religious faith. Lewis addresses this widespread sensibility throughout his book, arguing that this perception is not based on solid philosophical, scientific, or experiential evidence, but is rather an example of cultural bias. He refers to this cultural bias as “a deeply ingrained habit of truncated thought” and notes that the current state of affairs is “recent and, by historical standards, abnormal” (66). Lewis develops this theme primarily by examining the prevailing prejudices around miracles one by one, showing the paucity of their philosophical foundations. If they cannot be substantiated by the reasons commonly attributed to them, then they are merely a feature of a cultural