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Evidence -- making it useful

Brian2

Veteran Member
I and others have discussed our criteria for prophecy to judge it meaningful. You haven't addressed that. Yesterday, you noted that the Tyre prophecy was accurate, and I explained that that wasn't enough. I then went on to prophecy darkness at night for yesterday, and lo and behold, it was an accurate prophecy. It even specified the date (yesterday) and time (late evening) that the prophecy would take place, which Tyre prophecy lacked. I'll bet that my prophecy doesn't impress you at all, and that would be a correct conclusion to arrive at, but can you say why? What does my prophecy lack that would make it evidence that I possess hidden knowledge not available to ordinary people had it contained that?

Got any? (Of course, I mean unambiguous fulfilled prophecies, and prophecies that were made before they were fulfilled -- so rule out Daniel.)One example, of course, might be Jesus's prophecy that he'd return while some around Him were still living. I have to presume, if that's to be fulfilled, that there at least a person or two who have been waiting around for 2 millenia.

From post 40, what I was replying to when I said that he had been poisoned against fulfilled Biblical prophecy. You should be able to see the reason I did not want to continue the discussion.
Your prophecy about the sun is ridiculous and is not comparison to the Tyre prophecy, but that is what you are doing, comparing them and saying your prophecy about the sun setting is better. I guess that is critical thinking for you.


You didn't rebut successfully. You convinced me of nothing. But your methods are different from mine. You say that you found the process painful. Why should that be? I find many discussions disappointing, but I don't have an emotional reaction. I don't get frustrated or have a bad experience like so many of the believers. You saw them practically begging for the discussion to stop, framing it as attack and calling it divisive. Not for the critical thinkers participating. But that is to be expected when the two cultures interact, and one doesn't really understand how the other processes information.

It is painful when people are forcing their beliefs onto you and you don't want to argue them because you know it is no more than a waste of time.

I explained that to you. Speaking of how we process information, if you make a statement like I did about Occam's Razor, where I explained the utility of the concept, but in reverse, explaining why you think I was wrong, I will address it with you and tell you why I disagree if I do. What we see so often in these threads are arguments not acknowledged much less rebutted, followed by the same claim previously rebutted. You've done that twice in the quotes in this thread, first by repeating that another poster had been poisoned after it was explained why that wasn't an accurate assessment (and failing to comment on the criteria for strong prophecy), and now with Occam's Razor.

OK so you don't like the way I discuss things.
But I don't say lightly that I have rebutted something. If you want to discuss the Ezekiel 26 prophecy then be more specific.
But no you want to discuss a statement about using occam's razor to dismiss prophecy, as if occam's razor is a reason that prophecy is not true. But you're the critical thinker.

I'm sure you would like to learn more about this and do a better job. Here's a key element: address EVERY claim or argument made to you either by indicating agreement or explaining not just that you think it's wrong, but exactly where, why, and what is correct instead. Your answer should show clearly why you think mine is wrong. If it doesn't even attempt to do that, it cannot lead to a meaningful resolution of differences in opinion. Try that now. Find the comments in this post that you think are incorrect and explain why you think so in the manner I described - falsification. Think courtroom trial. The prosecutor presents a plausible theory of a crime and the defendants guilt. What kinds of replies from the defense attorney would help to exonerate the defendant. Here are your choices:
  • Say nothing.
  • Say that's not how we see it (simple dissent).
  • Explain that the defendant is a good husband and father (dissent with a comment that doesn't make the prosecutor wrong).
  • Give an alibi that shows that the prosecutor's argument is wrong (rebuttal, falsification).
If you understand what I'm driving at in this example, then you know what I am asking for in our discussion and your replies - debate, dialectic.

I already know that you would prefer it if I debated as you do. I do that at times and find that posts get too long and tedious and I cannot keep up.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
You keep making the same mistake in order to make the prophecy wrong. Then you use that misinterpretation to misinterpret other things.
You should be specific about which parts of Ezek 26, 27, 28 and 29 show the prophecy is wrong.
And no, Nebuchadnezzar was King of one nation, and was not "many nations".
Let's deal with your last error first. Nebby was called a " king of kings". That was because he controlled more than just his one kingdom. He was the leader of "many nations". Too bad that you do not understand the poetry of your own Bible. Zeke said that God was mad at the current king of Tyre. Or are you now claiming that your God is immoral and irrational? You can't have it both ways.

And you were the one that claimed to have read the prophecy and knew what was in it. That means that you should have known that Zeke admitted that he was wrong. You should have known that he made another failed prophecy as soon as part of admitting that he was wrong. You were the one that only referred to Ezekiel 26 as if that were the whole prophecy. You were the one that should have asked where.

These and other reasons are why you have lost credibility when it comes to biblical prophecy.
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Your prophecy about the sun is ridiculous and is not comparison to the Tyre prophecy, but that is what you are doing, comparing them and saying your prophecy about the sun setting is better. I guess that is critical thinking for you.

Why can't my prophecy be compared to the Tyre prophecy? Both made predictions about the future. You said that the Tyre prophecy was accurate as if that made it high quality prophecy. I said that accuracy was not enough and illustrated that fact with a prophecy of my own that was even more accurate, since I specified the date and time. I asked you to go back and look at the provided link describing what the criteria of high quality prophecy were and explain why neither of our prophecies met those criteria. *THAT'S* critical thinking.

But you didn't. Once again, instead of engaging in dialectic, a cooperative effort, you just expressed disagreement with the wave of a hand rather than cooperating in the process. So, this part of the debate ended when you chose not to cooperate. Your prophecy doesn't meet the criteria of high-quality prophecy. If it did, you could make that argument (rebuttal, falsifying argument).

It is painful when people are forcing their beliefs onto you and you don't want to argue them because you know it is no more than a waste of time.

Nobody is forcing any belief on you any more than you are forcing your beliefs on them. Maybe you feel like you are, but you are not because you cannot.

And yes, it is a waste of time to continue making the same argument with people that have already rejected it, given their reasons, and you haven't addressed their objections. I can't say it enough - they have standards that you must know to meet. They have told you what those standards are, but you prefer not to discuss that. If you care to spend your time profitably with them, try learning what they are saying so that you can engage more effectively with them. You will never convince them of anything until you meet those standards except that you don't know or understand them.

As far as it being painful, ask yourself why it is for you and many other believers, but not those you are debating with. I love this activity. It's never painful for me. The worst is boring or irrelevant, as when I can't tell what a poster's purpose or larger point for arguing something ineffectively. I just tell those people that I don't know what the purpose of the discussion is and end it if I don't get a responsive answer. Bad faith argumentation used to annoy me more than it does now, as did bigotry (especially for atheists), but those don't cause emotional responses today. It's a choice to indulge such emotions or to recognize that they are counterproductive, and initially, feel but do not express them until they eventually die away from disuse atrophy, and are no longer felt, either.

you want to discuss a statement about using occam's razor to dismiss prophecy, as if occam's razor is a reason that prophecy is not true. But you're the critical thinker.

You misunderstood. Occam's razor is the reason the best explanation for the existence of biblical prophecy doesn't include a god - a complication that while logically possibly the source of the prophecy, isn't necessary to account for its very human-appearing words. No offense intended, but you probably shouldn't be mocking thinking you haven't mastered and don't appear to recognize.

Focus on the precise meaning of the words you read and resist the temptation to transform them into something you assume they mean before looking at them more closely. I have never said that the prophecy was true or false. I have said that it doesn't suggest transhuman prescience. Those are different ideas. And Occam's Razor dismisses no possibilities. Like all statements called razors, it orders possibilities. Hitchens' Razor says that that which can be offered without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Sagan's is similar: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Neither says that the claims are wrong, just not justified, and so, not to be accepted as correct.

We have one in medicine that says that if you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras, where horses refer to diagnoses that are commoner and zebras rarer things, and is roughly the equivalent of the duck razor: "If it looks like a duck, etc.." Popper's razor refers to falsifiability, and places unfalsifiable statements at the bottom of any list of things to investigate without calling them wrong.

I already know that you would prefer it if I debated as you do. I do that at times and find that posts get too long and tedious and I cannot keep up.

OK. Thanks for trying. But it remains the case that with critical analysis of dialectic, the last plausible, unrebutted claim is presumed to be correct. If you let me make it, that part of the discission is resolved. Don't forget the courtroom analogy. The jury, if fair and able to evaluate evidence critically, will vote to convict or acquit based in which attorney made that last plausible argument that wasn't successfully rebutted. Think of Trumps 60+ cases brought in desperation to reverse the election results, all rejected using those criteria. The prosecution made zero plausible arguments in the eyes of the judges critically reviewing them, and lost every verdict for that fact.
 

1213

Well-Known Member
What are you talking about? What about stone tools, controll of fire, cooking, trade,..., clothing, shoes, musical instruments, paintings, ..., agriculture etc.?

I think those are inventions of first year. Without social media, people would get bored just watching the rain dry. :D
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
I think those are inventions of first year. Without social media, people would get bored just watching the rain dry. :D
The problem is that they first appear at different times. And there does not appear to be a 'first day" Evidence is not about what we believe. People have all sorts of crazy beliefs. It is about what one can support and how.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
Why can't my prophecy be compared to the Tyre prophecy? Both made predictions about the future. You said that the Tyre prophecy was accurate as if that made it high quality prophecy. I said that accuracy was not enough and illustrated that fact with a prophecy of my own that was even more accurate, since I specified the date and time. I asked you to go back and look at the provided link describing what the criteria of high quality prophecy were and explain why neither of our prophecies met those criteria. *THAT'S* critical thinking.

The Tyre prophecy specified a time line. Many nations would attack Tyre, that makes the prophecy one that extends over many years, in fact many centuries, and it tells what would happen over that time.


You misunderstood. Occam's razor is the reason the best explanation for the existence of biblical prophecy doesn't include a god - a complication that while logically possibly the source of the prophecy, isn't necessary to account for its very human-appearing words. No offense intended, but you probably shouldn't be mocking thinking you haven't mastered and don't appear to recognize.

Focus on the precise meaning of the words you read and resist the temptation to transform them into something you assume they mean before looking at them more closely. I have never said that the prophecy was true or false. I have said that it doesn't suggest transhuman prescience. Those are different ideas. And Occam's Razor dismisses no possibilities. Like all statements called razors, it orders possibilities. Hitchens' Razor says that that which can be offered without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Sagan's is similar: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Neither says that the claims are wrong, just not justified, and so, not to be accepted as correct.

We have one in medicine that says that if you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras, where horses refer to diagnoses that are commoner and zebras rarer things, and is roughly the equivalent of the duck razor: "If it looks like a duck, etc.." Popper's razor refers to falsifiability, and places unfalsifiable statements at the bottom of any list of things to investigate without calling them wrong.

So as I said you are using occam's razor to dismiss prophecy, and of course I am referring to Biblical prophecy and to prophecy from God.
You can look at each prophecy separately but taken as a whole, Biblical prophecy is evidence for the God of the Bible. To dismiss this evidence is to say that evidence for God is needed before we accept evidence for God. It does not make sense.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
The Tyre prophecy specified a time line. Many nations would attack Tyre, that makes the prophecy one that extends over many years, in fact many centuries, and it tells what would happen over that time.

No, you are not interpreting the Bible correctly. You are also claiming that God is evil and unjust. Nebby was referred to as a "king of kings". That means when he attacked many nations were attacking Tyre. That was a poetic phrase. Not meant to be taken overly literally.

But I am more than reasonable. Admit that your God is evil and unjust and I will accept your calim.

So as I said you are using occam's razor to dismiss prophecy, and of course I am referring to Biblical prophecy and to prophecy from God.
You can look at each prophecy separately but taken as a whole, Biblical prophecy is evidence for the God of the Bible. To dismiss this evidence is to say that evidence for God is needed before we accept evidence for God. It does not make sense.

No, taken as a whole they refute the Bible since the vast majority fail. And those do not were quite often not prophecies. There were books written after the fact that were history written as if they were prophecy.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
The evidence that I believe is fulfilled personal prophecy and a personal miracle of healing.

I believe the truth is Jesus.
That would hardly qualify as evidence. The problem with such occurrences is that people never seem to know how to test them properly.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
No, you are not interpreting the Bible correctly. You are also claiming that God is evil and unjust. Nebby was referred to as a "king of kings". That means when he attacked many nations were attacking Tyre. That was a poetic phrase. Not meant to be taken overly literally.

But I am more than reasonable. Admit that your God is evil and unjust and I will accept your calim.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, praise the Lord.

No, taken as a whole they refute the Bible since the vast majority fail. And those do not were quite often not prophecies. There were books written after the fact that were history written as if they were prophecy.

And you know this how? By faith.
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
No, faith is your flaw. By reading them. By analyzing them. By seeing how apologists lie about them.

Why do you do that? Don't assume that others have your weakness.

You don't know that they were written after the events.
You don't know that many prophecies about the Messiah (for example) were not prophecies.
In these 2 things you use your atheistic bias, your religious type faith, to analyse the prophecies.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
No again, as there is ample evidence. That many people do not know how to test the evidence properly, is the agreed statement.

Regards Tony
Tony so far you have shown that there is not. That is because you have never properly supported any of your evidence claims.

Perhaps you are trying to refute the Baha'i faith. You do such a poor job supporting it that is what it looks like to the rest of us.
 
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