The Civitas Podcast Episode 38: Some New World - A Conversation with Peter Harrison
Dec 30, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Peter Harrison, a former professor of science and religion at Oxford, explores the complex history of belief in miracles and the skepticism surrounding them. He delves into how modernity's emphasis on naturalism emerged alongside Protestantism's challenges to authority. Harrison distinguishes between popular belief in miracles and the intellectual elite's dismissal of them. He also highlights the evolving relationship between faith, reason, and the privatization of religion in a pluralistic society.
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Reframe How You Read Miracle Accounts
- Re-examine how you frame miracle accounts instead of dismissing them outright as primitive.
- Question the assumed nature/supernatural split before concluding miracles are impossible.
Nature/Supernatural Distinction Is Recent
- The modern nature/supernatural divide is a late invention that frames miracles as violations of a self-contained natural order.
- That framing makes miracle claims inherently problematic and breeds modern scepticism toward the supernatural.
Gatekeepers Shape What Counts As Belief
- Belief in supernatural phenomena persists widely among the public, but modern gatekeepers exclude them from serious knowledge.
- This exclusion creates a cultural power gap where intellectual authority dismisses popular supernatural claims.