RE: Is Accepting Christian Evidence Special Pleading?
September 16, 2017 at 10:32 pm
(This post was last modified: September 16, 2017 at 10:59 pm by SteveII.)
(September 16, 2017 at 11:26 am)Mr.wizard Wrote:(September 16, 2017 at 7:16 am)SteveII Wrote: The fact is that the testimony exists. Whether the claims of the testimony are facts is a whole different question not related to special pleading.
I'm pointing out that you defined evidence as facts that support a conclusion and you just acknowledged that claims of the testimony may not be fact, therefore by your own standards for evidence that you set up testimony would not count as evidence. Then you said in the OP that testimony will be considered evidence for religions, which i'm pretty sure is special pleading.
Testimony is an assertion of fact. If you believe the person you accept the content of the testimony as fact. If you accept someone's testimony as fact, you have evidence to support a conclusion. Notice none of these steps are considered proof.
I said that last statement because some people here think testimony is not evidence in any situation.
(September 16, 2017 at 6:33 pm)Mathilda Wrote:(September 16, 2017 at 3:41 pm)SteveII Wrote: Meaningless observation since it could literally apply to every human perception ever.
No because if we use the scientific method then we can write down a falsifiable hypothesis, an experiment to test it and the observed results. Then someone else can repeat the experiment and try it for themselves without having to imagine it.
That's not how analysis of history works. Not at all, not every. Falsification is a concept reserved for the scientific claims.
(September 16, 2017 at 7:36 pm)Astreja Wrote:(September 16, 2017 at 3:41 pm)SteveII Wrote: Meaningless observation since it could literally apply to every human perception ever.
It could literally apply to every human perception ever, but there is a way we can tell the difference. Does it work in the real world?
Someone tells me about gravity. I drop something. It falls. Gravity works.
Someone tells me about electricity. I plug a lamp into a wall receptacle and click the switch. Electricity works, too.
Someone tells me about Jesus, and about believers supposedly being able to perform even greater miracles.
Get back to me when you can consistently restore limbs to amputees and life to the dead, Steve.
That last sentence, the reasoning is significanlty flawed. You want me, a person clearly of the natural world to produce a supernatural cause. That isn't even a logical possibility.
