2009 August 27 | The Armchair Antichrist

Historicity

On August 27, 2009, In Christianity, Religion, Religious Arguments, By The Armchair Antichrist

I find that theists have very weak criteria for what amounts to evidence when they try to find support for their beliefs. They will often claim that history proves that their religion is true because of textual evidence of miracles. This amounts to a gross misuse of history. If these standards were used for all religions they would all be found to be equally true. We would have to come to the conclusion that Muhammad actually had an encounter with the angel Gabriel, Joseph smith with the angel Moroni and so on.

But, history can only determine what is most probable. And miracles are by definition the most improbable events. When eyewitness testimony of lake monsters, ghosts, aliens, ape-like creatures aren’t considered reliable today, how can the claims of religious mystics thousands of years ago be considered credible? In the case of the bible, the gospels were written at least 30 years after Jesus’s death. Christians might respond by saying that the documents which support the existence of other historical figures were written hundreds of years after their deaths. However, they fail to recognize that nobody is claiming these other historical figures were the Son of God or God himself or attributing any supernatural feats to. There is a huge leap between saying someone existed in the past and having existed in the past with supernatural powers. History is unable to bridge this gap.

This is another case of compartmentalizing. You have to apply your weak standards of what amounts to evidence to the supernatural claims of all religions, otherwise you cannot accept any of them. You can’t have it both ways. But, regardless of that miracles cannot be proven with history. If you want to believe in them because of your subjective conviction that is fine. But, don’t try to shove your “evidence” down other people’s throats.

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