Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence

[Minimalist]

A jew got crucified by the Romans = ordinary claim.

A jew got crucified by the Romans and came back to life and flew up to heaven = extraordinary claim.

It is the claim which determines the level of evidence needed to support it.

[ignoramus]

Aren't we just setting them up to fail though?
When was the last time we encountered extraordinary evidence? All scientific breakthroughs in this day and age are cool and exciting but that's about it.

Extraordinary claims of woo in the bible are NEVER going to be accompanied by evidence, extraordinary or otherwise.
I'm starting to sense that the term "extraordinary evidence" is something akin to "supernatural evidence" ...

[robvalue]

Yeah, I tried to nip this in the bud by asking for examples as this is most likely headed towards christian claims. But if we lower the standard of evidence to accept all that, we instantly have to accept every other religion as true (which contradict each other) plus just about anything anyone ever tells us.

[Mudhammam]

Aren't we just setting them up to fail though?
When was the last time we encountered extraordinary evidence? All scientific breakthroughs in this day and age are cool and exciting but that's about it.

Extraordinary claims of woo in the bible are NEVER going to be accompanied by evidence, extraordinary or otherwise.
I'm starting to sense that the term "extraordinary evidence"  is something akin to "supernatural evidence" ...

The only kind of evidence "extraordinary claims of woo" can ever seem to surmount is eyewitness testimony. Although this admittedly can be very interesting - case in point (^case in point^) - it basically puts alleged divine miracles on par with NDEs and UFO encounters.

[Mudhammam]

OP completely ignores the fact that extraordinary claims become ordinary over time because -- get this -- they have been supported by extraordinary evidence.

ETA: Dammit, Shonuff and Jen got there first.

Ha ha I like that you still think of me as Shonuff.

[brewer]

You can make any claims and supply any evidence you want. For me it won't matter. There is no way I'm going to believe in a fairy tale. With that said, you are free to believe as you like.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

It's really, really simple.

Is your claim extraordinary? If yes, the evidence needs to match it.

Is it relatively mundane? Same rules applies.

SEE: Min's comment for an example.

[paulpablo]

I understand where you're coming from but I've come to a different conclusion based on your examples and thoughts.


I'd say all claims require the same evidence and that extraordinary claims are extraordinary because they have less evidence backing them up to begin with.

Seeing a high school friend in the mall vs seeing a dead president in the mall. 

Everyone here I expect will already have evidence, lot's of it, that you can see your high school friend in the mall, it's possible, logical, plausible, practical and happens all the time.  That evidence is there already.
 but if you wanted evidence to present to a court of law about it you would need more evidence to supply beyond that it could happen and you would need to prove that it did happen.

On the other hand a dead president coming back to life and hanging out at the mall, that has no evidence backing it up that it actually is plausible, possible, logical or practical.  In fact an entire history of medical records is evidence that it would be illogical for it to happen.

So if you were going to prove that it happened you would first have to prove it could happen, which involves going against all medical records as proof that it's unlikely to happen.  Then even if you proved it could happen you would have to prove it did happen.

Both claims require the same amount of evidence but it's just one already has a lot of evidence to begin with. 

So I can see your point in a way, but most mundane things already have extraordinary evidence backing them up as to why they could happen, that is what makes them mundane in the first place.

[vorlon13]

Seems like most everyone has a cell phone with camera these days, odd, isn't it, we aren't being flooded with picks of Jesus wandering the halls of hospitals bestowing healing mojo on crippled waifs ??

Or tipping basketballs into the hoop to score the winning basket for the team that prayed the hardest ??

Or carrying Christians from burning buildings ??


Extraordinary evidence doesn't have to be some esoteric thing, it just has to prove something extraordinary.

[robvalue]

I remember one guy on here said he was more certain God existed than his own parents.

The gulf between the strength of belief and the nonexistent evidence is astonishing.

But because god never actually shows up and does anything, the belief doesn't get challenged. It remains as an underlying assumption of no purpose. Until you shine the spotlight on him, of course. Then he's gone with the wind.