A thought on miracle clams

 

I mean miracle CLAIMS

Claim:

verb
To state or assert that something is the case, typically without providing evidence or proof.

noun
An assertion of the truth of something, typically one that is disputed or in doubt.

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Often Christians will claim that they know (believe) that the God of the bible has in the past, and perhaps does still in the present, perform miracles.

Often I will ask these Christians for some evidence in support of their claim that the God of the bible does (or did) perform miracles.

Often (not) on a rare occasion (denomination dependent) they might offer a miracle claim that they heard of 2nd or 3rd hand.  On an even rarer occasion they will offer their personal "experience" or "observation" of a miracle, but they will never offer any evidence in support of this personal miracle claim.

Often they will cite some biblical passage as evidence in support of their claim that the God of the bible has performed miracles in the past.  

Often I will point out to them that what they just did was simply offer an older (biblical) claim in support of the claim that they had just made moments ago, that the God of the bible does (or did) perform miracles.
I will then explain to them that a claim doesn't magically turn into "evidence" just because it is old, or just because it was written into their Holy book some 2,000 years ago.

A claim is simply an assertion.  Offering a source that simply reiterates the claim does not, in any way, bolster the truthfulness of the claim.

A claim, no matter how often it is repeated, is still just a claim, and the repetition of a claim should never be mistaken as evidence for the truthfulness of the claim.  

My Christian friend - anytime that you, as a Christian, or I, as a former Christian, are presented any claim of a miraculous event, either from the bible or from personal anecdote, our default position should ALWAYS be the skeptical position.  

The skeptical position is almost always the safest, most reasonable initial position.

bob
r.u.reasonable@gmail.com