Megan Phelps-Roper on The argument from miracles
Phelps-Roper was raised to believe in a God who actively intervenes in the world but has grown deeply sceptical of miracle claims since leaving Westboro.
Within Westboro Baptist Church, Megan Phelps-Roper was taught that God actively intervenes in human affairs — not through healing miracles or benevolent signs, but through acts of judgment. Natural disasters, military deaths, and national tragedies were interpreted as God's direct punishment for America's sins, particularly its tolerance of homosexuality. Miracles, in Westboro's theology, were not about healing but about wrath.
Since leaving the church, Phelps-Roper has become deeply sceptical of claims that particular events represent divine intervention — whether benevolent or wrathful. She has described the process of learning to evaluate evidence honestly, without the distorting lens of a predetermined theological framework, as one of the most difficult and important aspects of her intellectual journey.
Phelps-Roper's experience provides a distinctive perspective on the argument from miracles: she knows firsthand how easily events can be interpreted as miraculous when one is committed to a framework that expects miracles. Every confirmation was evidence of God's hand; every disconfirmation was a test or a mystery. Escaping this interpretive prison required her to recognise that the same events could be explained without any reference to the supernatural.
“At Westboro, every tragedy was a miracle — proof that God was punishing the world. It took me years to see that we were reading our theology into events, not reading the events themselves.”