Intro to Chapter 11: Miracles and the Laws of Nature.
Jesus healed the leper, the gospels tell us, out of compassion. It was a trait that was to characterize much of his ministry. Why have laws of nature in the first place, though, if God is going to repeal them out of compassion? After all, it is in large part because of the immutable laws of nature that people are always getting hurt — falling from heights, drowning, growing old…
Miracles seem to violate the laws of nature, but of course they do not. When a fielder catches a baseball that would otherwise fall to the ground, he is not violating the law of gravity. Gravity is there, acting on the ball; it is just that the fielder has introduced an opposing force. If God exists at all, we would expect him to be capable of exerting force. The force exerted may be invisible, but so is magnetism. The true miracle would be if God existed, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, and never did anything.