What is a miracle? In the dictionary sense, it is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs” (Merriam-Webster). In A Course in Miracles, a miracle is something quieter and far more available: a shift in perception from fear to love.
So which one is it? Seas parting, or a softening in your chest when you stop rehearsing an argument? I want to walk you through every answer honestly. We’ll look at the dictionary, at nearly 300 years of philosophical argument, and at religious tradition. Then we’ll look at what A Course in Miracles means by the word. And no, finding a parking spot at the mall on Christmas Eve does not officially count. (I know. It feels like it should.)
I trained with Pathways of Light and I teach A Course in Miracles in English and Spanish. The Course’s definition is the one I live by, and I’ll tell you why. But you deserve the full picture first.
Key Takeaways
- Dictionary: a miracle is an extraordinary event showing divine intervention in human affairs. The word comes from the Latin mirari, “to wonder at.”
- Philosophy: David Hume defined a miracle as “a violation of the laws of nature,” a definition philosophers still debate.
- Religion: Catholic tradition calls a miracle a sensible work of divine power, given as a sign.
- A Course in Miracles: a miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love. It changes how you see, not the outside world.
- The Course teaches that miracles should be everyday habits, not rare exceptions (T-1.I.5:1).
What Is the Dictionary Definition of a Miracle?
Merriam-Webster gives two meanings. The first is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.” The second is everyday speech: “an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment,” as in a bridge being “a miracle of engineering” (Merriam-Webster).
The word itself is lovely. It traces back to the Latin miraculum, from mirari, “to wonder” (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911). At its root, a miracle is simply something that makes you wonder.
Encyclopaedia Britannica goes a step further. A miracle is an “extraordinary and astonishing happening that is attributed to the presence and action of an ultimate or divine power.” It adds that a miracle’s meaning often lies “not in the event as such but in the reality to which it points” (Britannica). Hold on to that idea. It is the bridge to everything the Course teaches.
How Do Philosophers Define a Miracle?
The most famous philosophical definition comes from David Hume. In Section X of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, he wrote: “A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature” (Hume, Project Gutenberg). In a footnote he sharpened it to “a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent.”
Hume then set a famously high bar for believing anyone’s miracle story. He argued that no testimony is enough, “unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish.” Translation: he always asked which was more likely, a law of nature breaking or a witness being wrong.
Not every thinker accepts Hume’s framing. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that many writers have found the “laws of nature” definition untenable. One reason: “the concept of a miracle predates any modern concept of a natural law by many centuries.” An older approach, going back to Thomas Aquinas, defines a miracle as “an event that exceeds the productive power of nature.”
Notice what all of these definitions share. The miracle happens out there, in the physical world, and the argument is about whether it really happened.
What Does Religious Tradition Mean by a Miracle?
The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia explains that the New Testament uses three Greek words for miracles: terata (wonders), dynameis (powers), and semeia (signs). Together they describe “wonders performed by supernatural power as signs of some special mission or gift and explicitly ascribed to God” (Catholic Encyclopedia).
It quotes Aquinas directly: “Those effects are rightly to be termed miracles which are wrought by Divine power apart from the order usually observed in nature.” And it names the purpose: “the glory of God and the good of men are the primary or supreme ends of every miracle.” In this view a miracle must also be visible. It “falls under the grasp of the senses.”
This understanding is widely held. In Pew Research Center’s 2007 Religious Landscape Survey of more than 35,000 Americans, 79% agreed “that miracles still occur today as in ancient times” (Pew Research Center, 2008).
I honor this tradition deeply. Curious how the Catholic view and the Course compare? I wrote about that in the Catholic view of A Course in Miracles.
So What Is a Miracle, According to A Course in Miracles?
Here is where everything turns inside out. The Foundation for Inner Peace publishes the Course. It summarizes the Course’s definition plainly: “The miracle is defined as the shift in perception from fear to love” (acim.org).
The Workbook for Students even has a section titled “What Is a Miracle?” (W-pII.13). Its answer begins: “A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false” (W-pII.13.1:1-3).
Read that again, slowly. The miracle does not rearrange the furniture of the world. It corrects the seeing. The Text puts it in the first person. Helen Schucman, who scribed the Course, identified that voice as Jesus: “A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me” (T-1.I.37:1). And the Workbook adds that the miracle “undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness” (W-pII.13.1:4).
That is why the Course is not in a contest with Hume. Hume asked whether physical laws can break. The Course asks a different question: what are you choosing to see right now, fear or love? Britannica’s line fits perfectly here. A miracle points to a reality beyond the event. For the Course, that reality is love, and it was never gone.
If you are new to the Course itself, start with what A Course in Miracles is all about, then come back here.
How Do the Definitions Compare?
| Lens | What a miracle is | Where it happens | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | An extraordinary event showing divine intervention in human affairs | In events, in the world | Merriam-Webster |
| Philosophical (Hume) | “A violation of the laws of nature” | In physical nature | Hume, Enquiry, Sec. X; SEP |
| Religious (Catholic tradition) | A work of divine power “apart from the order usually observed in nature,” given as a sign | In the senses, visible to witnesses | Catholic Encyclopedia |
| A Course in Miracles | “The shift in perception from fear to love”; “a correction” | In the mind, in how you see | acim.org; W-pII.13.1:1 |
Why Does the Course Say Miracles Should Be Habits?
Chapter 1 of the Text opens with 50 principles of miracles (T-1.I). The very first one sets the tone: “There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not ‘harder’ or ‘bigger’ than another” (T-1.I.1:1-2).
Think about what that means. Forgiving a stranger who cut you off in traffic and forgiving a parent for something that hurt for decades are the same kind of shift. The ego ranks grievances. Love doesn’t.
Then come the lines that rearranged my whole idea of spirituality: “Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary” (T-1.I.5:1). And: “Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong” (T-1.I.6:1-2).
Habits! Not once-in-a-lifetime events for saints on mountaintops. The Course also says “Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love” (T-1.I.3:1). So your job is not to manufacture miracles. Your job is to stop blocking them. I go through the principles one by one in my guide to the 50 miracle principles.
How Are Miracles Connected to Forgiveness?
In the Course, the two are almost the same breath. “Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness” (T-1.I.21:1). Workbook Lesson 78 turns it into a practice: “Let miracles replace all grievances” (W-78).
Forgiveness here does not mean pardoning bad behavior or staying in a situation that hurts you. It means releasing the story the ego built about what happened. Every grievance is a way of seeing someone through fear. When you let the grievance go, the seeing changes. That change is the miracle.
This ties directly to what the Course calls the Atonement, the undoing of separation. I explain that word, which scares a lot of people, in what Atonement means in A Course in Miracles.
What Does a Miracle Look Like on an Ordinary Tuesday?
I come from entertainment. I worked in wrestling television, in front of packed arena crowds, before an inward calling moved me into spiritual teaching. So believe me, I know what a big, loud, spectacular moment looks like. The miracles the Course talks about are not that. They are tiny, private, and they change everything.
- Your partner snaps at you. Fear says: defend, attack, or go cold. The miracle is a different question: “What if they’re scared, not cruel?” Same words, different person in front of you.
- An email ruins your morning. Fear writes the angry reply in your head on loop. The miracle is noticing the loop and choosing not to feed it.
- You catch yourself judging someone. Fear piles guilt on top of the judgment. The miracle is a gentle “I was seeing with fear. I’d like to see this differently.”
- You look in the mirror and start the old criticism. The miracle is extending to yourself the kindness you would give a friend.
Nothing outside moved in any of those. And yet the whole day feels different. That is the Course’s point.
How Can You Practice a Miracle Today?
You don’t need to be an advanced student. You don’t need candles or incense (though no judgment if you love a good candle). Here is the simple practice I come back to myself.
- Notice the fear. Anger, worry, defensiveness, judgment: these are all fear wearing different outfits. Don’t fight it. Just name it.
- Stop for an instant. “The miracle comes quietly into the mind that stops an instant and is still” (T-28.I.11:1). One breath counts. My piece on the holy instant goes deeper into this pause.
- Ask to see it differently. The Course calls this asking the Holy Spirit, the inner Guide. A simple “Help me see this with love” is enough. If you like praying with the Course’s own words, try these prayers from A Course in Miracles.
- Let it go, and let it be easy. You don’t have to figure out the right answer. You only have to release the fearful one. Workbook Lesson 77 reminds you: “I am entitled to miracles” (W-77).
Try this right now: Think of one person who annoyed you this week. Picture their face. Ask, honestly, “What if they were just afraid?” Feel what happens in your shoulders. That little softening? Congratulations, you just practiced a miracle.
Practicing alone works. Practicing with others is more fun, and you laugh more. That is why I created the Happy Miracle Membership, with weekly study groups where we practice the Course together. And if you want the whole approach in one place, my book Live Your Happy walks through the ego, forgiveness, and finding the love within.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the simplest definition of a miracle?
In the dictionary, a miracle is an extraordinary event that shows divine intervention in human affairs. In A Course in Miracles, a miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love. The first changes the world; the second changes how you see it.
Is a miracle in A Course in Miracles the same as a biblical miracle?
No. Traditional religious miracles are visible works of divine power in nature, given as signs. The Course defines a miracle as a correction in perception. It uses Christian words, but it gives them a new meaning centered on the mind.
What did David Hume say about miracles?
Hume defined a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature. He argued that no testimony is enough to prove one unless its falsehood would be more miraculous than the event it reports.
Do most Americans believe in miracles?
In Pew Research Center’s 2007 Religious Landscape Survey of more than 35,000 Americans, 79% agreed that miracles still occur today as in ancient times.
How many miracle principles are there in A Course in Miracles?
There are 50 principles of miracles, in Chapter 1 of the Text (T-1.I). The first is “There is no order of difficulty in miracles” (T-1.I.1:1).
The Miracle Is Closer Than You Think
The world has argued about miracles for centuries. Did the laws of nature break? Can we trust the witnesses? A Course in Miracles quietly steps around the whole debate. It points to a miracle you can test yourself, today, in the next conversation that scares you.
The Course’s introduction puts the foundation in three short lines: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God” (T-in.2:2-4). Fear feels real. Love is real. So what is a miracle? It is the moment you remember the difference.
In love and gratitude,
Maria
Sources
- Merriam-Webster, “Miracle,” archived December 5, 2025.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Miracle,” archived October 3, 2026.
- Timothy McGrew, “Miracles,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, substantive revision May 7, 2024, plato.stanford.edu.
- David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, “Of Miracles” (1748), Project Gutenberg.
- John T. Driscoll, “Miracle,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10 (1911), New Advent.
- Pew Research Center, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Beliefs and Practices (2008), pewresearch.org.
- Foundation for Inner Peace, “About A Course in Miracles,” archived December 7, 2023.
- A Course in Miracles, Foundation for Inner Peace. References: T-in.2:2-4; T-1.I.1:1-2; T-1.I.3:1; T-1.I.5:1; T-1.I.6:1-2; T-1.I.21:1; T-1.I.37:1; T-28.I.11:1; W-77; W-78; W-pII.13.1:1-4.
