Hume is not saying that miracles can t occur, only that they re rare. But now we have a different problem. If we follow this line of reasoning, we would have to reject miracles even if they really happened. Moreover, if we apply this line of reasoning consistently, we would have to reject all rare or unique occurrences including such scientific icons as the Cosmological Big Bang and every scientific theory of the origin of life. Contrary to Hume s argument, the proper way to handle reports of unusual occurrences is not to simply accept or reject them, but to investigate them.
Unusual events warrant a higher level of scrutiny than more ordinary happenings.
But that s an entirely different matter than rejecting them out of hand. So we see that Hume s argument is by no means a death-blow to the belief in miracles. Many other arguments fare no better. Time won t permit a thorough critique of every argument against miracles. But let s take a look at one more argument an argument that pops up most often in the origins debate.