What is Evidence?

[Altfish]

Is the Bible evidence for the existence of God? How?
People claim it to be evidence for God, because they belief in God and find this to be evidence.
What if I claimed that God doesn't exist and was invented by people who wrote the Bible? The evidence for that is the Bible.

So the Bible is evidence for the existence of God and is evidence for the non-existence of God? How does this work?

No, you seem to misunderstand what evidence is.
To prove God exists you need a lot of evidence; but I would expect anyone trying to do so would use the Bible (and/or other religious texts) as one piece of evidence. On its own it is not conclusive.

 

[AppieB]

No, you seem to misunderstand what evidence is.
To prove God exists you need a lot of evidence; but I would expect anyone trying to do so would use the Bible (and/or other religious texts) as one piece of evidence. On its own it is not conclusive.

I would certainly agree that the Bible is evidence, but I don't see it as evidence for the existence of God as one could argue the opposite of the position from the same evidence.

 

[Altfish]

I would certainly agree that the Bible is evidence, but I don't see it as evidence for the existence of God as one could argue the opposite of the position from the same evidence.

I wouldn't disagree, BUT the book is supposed to be "The word of god", so I would include it.

 

[AppieB]

I wouldn't disagree, BUT the book is supposed to be "The word of god", so I would include it.

Supposed? You mean the people claim it to be "the word of God".
Then I (and for sure I'm not the only one) claim that God doesn't exist and was invented by people who wrote the Bible? The evidence for that is the Bible.

 

[Altfish]

Supposed? You mean the people claim it to be "the word of God".
Then I (and for sure I'm not the only one) claim that God doesn't exist and was invented by people who wrote the Bible? The evidence for that is the Bible.

I give up; we are on the same side.

 

[Nakosis]

Is the Bible evidence for the existence of God? How?
People claim it to be evidence for God, because they belief in God and find this to be evidence.
What if I claimed that God doesn't exist and was invented by people who wrote the Bible? The evidence for that is the Bible.

So the Bible is evidence for the existence of God and is evidence for the non-existence of God? How does this work?

How then can you define the word "evidence" to cover both cases?

 

[Nakosis]

Do you mean feelings as in emotions or how you feel about something because I think they are different. Emotions can be measured through self-assessment questionnaires or only with objective psychophysics or brain imaging.

Sure, emotions usually develop from a subconscious process triggered by some stimulus. Our emotions can affect or feelings so there is some interaction.

Feelings are more subjective, thoughts perhaps a conscious interpretation of our feelings and whatever situation we are consciously thinking about.

So in this case, feelings. An interpretation of things I suspect more influenced by emotions than rational thoughts.

How you feel about something can not be measured?

Well, that's subjective. We may have similar emotions about a subject but our personal interpretation of those emotions and situation may cause different feelings within us.

For example, love. When you feel love, perhaps it makes you feel happy. Whereas when I feel love, I might just feel annoyed because of our subjective interpretations.

When there is no logic, non-biased validation, scientific studies available, we humans are left to rely on our feelings about what is truth. I suspect most people understand that basing a truth on feelings is not reliable but sometimes we have nothing other than our feelings to go by.

 

[Trailblazer]

No, you seem to misunderstand what evidence is.
To prove God exists you need a lot of evidence; but I would expect anyone trying to do so would use the Bible (and/or other religious texts) as one piece of evidence. On its own it is not conclusive.

I don't think that God can ever be 'proven' to exist, no matter how much evidence you have because God hides His essence.
God only reveals His attributes and His will by sending Messengers in every age.

I agree that the Bible (and/or other religious texts) are evidence but they are not proof.

 

[Trailblazer]

Supposed? You mean the people claim it to be "the word of God".
Then I (and for sure I'm not the only one) claim that God doesn't exist and was invented by people who wrote the Bible? The evidence for that is the Bible.

The Bible is not "the word of God" because God did not write it. It is the words of men who allegedly spoke for God through the Holy Spirit.

I am a Baha'i, so the Bible is not my holy book, but since the Bible is considered a holy book that is believed by millions of people, Baha'is have to take some sort of stance. My views lie in the middle area according to the following essay:

Introduction

Although Bahá'ís universally share a great respect for the Bible, and acknowledge its status as sacred literature, their individual views about its authoritative status range along the full spectrum of possibilities. At one end there are those who assume the uncritical evangelical or fundamentalist-Christian view that the Bible is wholly and indisputably the word of God. At the other end are Bahá'ís attracted to the liberal, scholarly conclusion that the Bible is no more than a product of complex historical and human forces. Between these extremes is the possibility that the Bible contains the Word of God, but only in a particular sense of the phrase 'Word of God' or in particular texts. I hope to show that a Bahá'í view must lie in this middle area, and can be defined to some degree.

Conclusion

The Bahá'í viewpoint proposed by this essay has been established as follows: The Bible is a reliable source of Divine guidance and salvation, and rightly regarded as a sacred and holy book. However, as a collection of the writings of independent and human authors, it is not necessarily historically accurate. Nor can the words of its writers, although inspired, be strictly defined as 'The Word of God' in the way the original words of Moses and Jesus could have been. Instead there is an area of continuing interest for Bahá'í scholars, possibly involving the creation of new categories for defining authoritative religious literature.

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