![]() |
Freethought & Rationalism ArchiveThe archives are read only. |
![]() |
#11 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 2,579
|
![]()
...that is right. Looked at non-theologically, as Arthur Koestler once put it, our cultural evolution distinctly favours mind states which, if they receive a water faucet in the sensory input, will cognitively process a water faucet, in preference to flaming bush.
Jiri |
![]() |
![]() |
#12 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: 36078
Posts: 849
|
![]() Quote:
Jesus raised the daughter of Jarius, a widow's son, and friend Lazarus (who was stinking & rotting, being a 4 days dead). An unnamed number of dead 'saints' buried in Jerusalem tombs were resurrected from dead and walked into the streets right after Jesus died on the cross. In Acts, Dorcas was raised from the dead by Peter's prayer and the same happened for Eutychus when Paul prayed, like Elijah and Elisha, literally 'over' his body. According to the NT gospels and the book of Acts, resurrections occured around Jesus on a fairly regular basis. The claimed resurrection of Jesus was certainly not the first or only one described in the Bible. The stories told in the Bible about resurrections seem to have been readily believed and retold by many. I've even heard tell of some resurrections from the dead after the prayers of missionaries and evangelists during my lifetime, but alas, there seems to be no more historical evidence for any of the contemporary tales than for the ancient. As a Christian, I read about other resurrections described in the Bible during the ministry years of Jesus and a few years afterward, and wonder what made Jesus' resurrection so remarkable to his peers since there were so many others reported resurrected during the same time. As for 'miracles commonly reported' in contemporary times, I can't think of any that don't have answers in natural cause. Your question: Can miracles ever be historically verifiable? My answer: I don't think any miracles have been scientifically verified as yet. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#13 | |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Posts: 6,010
|
![]() Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#14 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Posts: 6,010
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#15 | |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Posts: 6,010
|
![]() Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#16 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mattoon, IL, USA
Posts: 21
|
![]() Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#17 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mattoon, IL, USA
Posts: 21
|
![]() Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#18 | ||
Regular Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 247
|
![]() Quote:
![]() Quote:
|
||
![]() |
![]() |
#19 | ||
Veteran Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Washington, DC (formerly Denmark)
Posts: 3,789
|
![]() Quote:
Quote:
Julian |
||
![]() |
![]() |
#20 | ||
Veteran Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: 152° 50' 15" E by 31° 5' 17" S
Posts: 2,916
|
![]() Quote:
But the claim of a miraculous cure asks us to accept the existence of an entity that is not otherwise in evidence. And entities not know to exist must not unnecessarily be hypothesised. One way to formulate Ockham's Razor is 'the burden of proof falls upon the existence claim'. Quote:
Now, it would be a more interesting question if mediaeval accounts of miracle-cures were evidence of either one or other of two hypothetical entities, say, miraculous powers or a forgotten ancient knowledge of defibrillation, and no purely mundane explanation would do. But we aren't in that situation. |
||
![]() |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|