Philosophy Wars

Miracles


the philosphy wars

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Typical quote: "People believe that miracles save children who've been in comas after being drowned. And the crazy logic, of a miracle being needed to undo an event - tying a little causal knot - instead of just having the event not happen at all, sails right by." - catdoc

Below is a transcript of channel 103 chat. Channel 103 is a place where religion is discussed, (atheists battle the Christians). Here the topic is miracles, but watch out for a great bible-quote fight between JGR and PopePious. Incredible! (I am "eadon-com" by the way.)

catdoc: Science is concerned with the fact that there is no supernatural, except as an aspect of psychology.

PrayingMattress: the only true purpose for religion is God's attempt to reach man

Isolani: Religion as we see it in its political get-up doesn't seem to be concerned with either science OR the supernatural, more money

WarPriest: that is wrong catdoc

PrayingMattress: yes some religion is false

eadon-com: Science merely deals with what is provable.

WarPriest: there is no scientific theory/law/etc. that non-natural or supernatural things do not happen

eadon-com: We can rule out miracles for example

WarPriest: you cannot

PrayingMattress: why is that? Why can you rule out miracles

eadon-com: If somebody tells you they witnessed a miracle, then it is obvious that miracles are very very rare, they have not been verified experimentally, where as people telling lies or being unwittingly mistaken, or being mislead in some way is very very common. Therefore you should always believe the latter explanation, not the miracle explanation. Simple.

WarPriest: you can't verify many things experimentally.

PrayingMattress: my grandmother had terminal cancer and given 6 months to live... the cancer disappeared and she lived another 30.. the doctors could not explain it... was it a miracle?

eadon-com: No PrayingMattress that was not a miracle because it is not beyond a natural explanation

WarPriest: true, it isn't

PrayingMattress: then what happened, science did not explain it

catdoc: It was no more a miracle that the cancer went away, as that it appeared in the first place.

eadon-com: Recovering from a disease is not a miracle, PrayingMattress, it is called recovering from a disease

PrayingMattress: science did not explain it, so science must still have limits

JGR: PrayingMattress. Science can explain it. He recovered. Cancer do go into remission.

eadon-com: Science does not claim to explain everything, this is a common misconception amongst the uninitiated. Recovering from cancer is possible scientifically, so it is not a miracle.

WarPriest: eadon-com is of course confusing some philosophical theories. He is confusing epistemology and metaphysics is a common mistake too, made by many people, in this channel, at this moment

eadon-com: religion is metaphysical, WarPriest, science it not That's why religion will always lose ground to science: because science, as it advances, will explain more and more things. Religion will not explain anything without recourse to miracles!

WarPriest: but, eadon-com...you are using epistemological arguments to make dogmatic statements about the way things are, which is a fallacy

Isolani: Phenomenon will never lose ground to science IMHO

eadon-com: that, WarPriest, is an easy thing to say, but you have argued badly, without using logical argument, you just make statements

WarPriest: it is evident. Do you want proof?

eadon-com: I have argued using logic, you just say things like, miracles do happen. I do not feel obliged to respect your arguments.

WarPriest: HAHA

Isolani: There will always be something unexplained.

WarPriest: either you know you made a fallacy or you are ignorant of it but have the instinct that you did wrong

PopePious: Miracles do happen. I have witnessed several.

WarPriest: nice try eadon-com

eadon-com: you have failed to use logic, WarPriest, unless you argue intelligently, instead of simply saying nice try, I will not be swayed

WarPriest: I cannot sway you as you claim to not respect my arguments, just because I point out your mistakes!!!!

PopePious: I am not here to convince you. I merely state what I have observed.

WarPriest: but I have played the game enough with you eadon-com....i doubt that you would admit your fallacy even if you were fully convinced of it

eadon-com: WarPriest, You are not a skilled orator, any idiot can just say, "I point out your mistakes", without explaining where the error of the reason is LOL

WarPriest: and I doubt your dogmatic beliefs would yield an inch to the mightiest use of logic and rhetoric. I asked if you wanted proof and you said that you won't respect my arguments.....

catdoc: Cancer cures represent a small part of the cancer population, just as cancer patients represent as small part of the general population. The same forces are at work: the immune system against the cancer, and the cancer against itself. The extent to which the cancer is differentiated.

WarPriest: how can I prove something to you if you say upfront that you won't respect it? Such a moron

eadon-com: prove it, WarPriest!

PopePious: JGR, eyewitness testimony is reliable, from "this fellow"

eadon-com: WarPriest, listen to catdoc and learn logic!

PopePious: It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Psalms 118:8

catdoc: The nature Granny's recovery could not be known after the fact, but the processes at work could be described, if she could be watched, at a molecular level. There was no miracle. Believing that some force can save some, but not other, people, is simply superstition.

WarPriest: you said that a person shouldn't believe in miracles, because miracles are by their very nature rare and it is more probable that the teller of it is lying

eadon-com: that is roughly the gist, yes, or mistaken or lying or deceived. The latter explanations are more common than miracles

Isolani: Saved? More like "postponing death

WarPriest: though it may be more probable that a person is lying or is mistaken or etc....you cannot say with certainty that they are

eadon-com: no, but statistically you would always doubt the miracle with a great degree of certainly. Lack of 100% certainly. does not prove the contrary. That is a fallacy, a trick employed by the unwise

WarPriest: you are attributing arguments to me that I did not make

PopePious: So you are certain that you doubt. Well that explains it.

WarPriest: that is the straw man fallacy

catdoc: People believe that miracles save children who've been in comas after being drowned. And the crazy logic, of a miracle being needed to undo an event - tying a little causal knot - instead of just having the event not happen at all, sails right by.

WarPriest: I did not say that it being possible proves that it is true

eadon-com: WarPriest, listen to catdoc

JGR: What about when someone gets struck by lightning twice? That must also be considered a miracle no?

WarPriest: I've heard these arguments eadon-com

eadon-com: you are using tricks to prove your point, not reason, WarPriest. Just denying things without argument is not cricket

WarPriest: now, since we agree on you argument, we can say that making a claim that an unexpected event is never a miracle is truly making a metaphysical claim...and this can't be substantiated by epistemological arguments

eadon-com: prove to me that miracles happen, as you promised

catdoc: Of course you have heard these arguments before. If you say something nuts, someone will say "That's nuts". Saying "Yeah, I've heard that before" doesn't actually mean a whole lot.

JGR: When someone is harmed badly by extreme extraordinary circumstances. These are not considered miracles but a remission of cancer is. blah.

WarPriest: I never said that I would prove that miracles happen...if I did then produce the tell

eadon-com: [ quotes WarPriest ]:

WarPriest: "I asked if you wanted proof and you said that you won't respect my arguments....."

WarPriest: the point is catdoc....i don't need to listen in-depth to the argument you are presenting when I have read it in the original forms by the philosophers

WarPriest: yes, that was in reference to my claim that you made a logical fallacy

WarPriest: you responded that you won't respect my arguments, then told me to prove it

eadon-com: WarPriest, unless you argue with intelligent logic, you cannot claim the argument

WarPriest: I said that since you won't respect my arguments, proving what is say is a futile exercise

catdoc: "The original forms by the philosophers"? Since you've read it in depth, you might just point us at which philosopher you've heard this particular argument from before?

WarPriest: where is my fallacy: I am pointing yours out

WarPriest: [quotes eadon-com]

eadon-com: "no PrayingMattress that was not a miracle."

WarPriest: [quotes eadon-com]

eadon-com: "because it is not beyond a natural explanation

WarPriest: [quotes eadon-com]

eadon-com: "recovering from cancer is possible scientifically, so it is not a miracle.

eadon-com: yes

WarPriest: these are metaphysical claims and are clearly not supported by your epistemological arguments...case closed

eadon-com: a miracle would constitute an event that cannot be explained by physics

PopePious: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes Proverbs 12:15

WarPriest: no eadon-com

Jupiter: quite profound PopePious..

WarPriest: I have....you fail to. You are not showing integrity or understanding here so the argument is closed

WarPriest: believe what you will

catdoc: Hm? Or do you just mean, the ideas are familiar. But having nothing really sensible to offer against them, you can only say "Yes, yes, someone famous said that, I'm sure. Someone else refuted it. So I will just make random assertions about what feels good to me".

eadon-com: anybody can say "you are wrong" and then not say why

PopePious: The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Proverbs 11:3

Jupiter: quit while your ahead PopePious..

WarPriest: I said you were wrong and proved it

WarPriest: you ignore truth when it doesn't suit you

eadon-com: very clever WarPriest, I am sure

eadon-com: do not argue with an idiot for people might not know the difference

PrayingMattress: as an unbiased observer, I agree with WarPriest

catdoc: I'm thinking that I'm not going to be hearing which philosophers framed the originals of the tells of mine, that WarPriest had already studied in depth. Seems like it, no?

PopePious: The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Proverbs 10:28

catdoc: I'm thinking that was just a spurious claim to authority, a complete rhetorical dodge, without anything to support it whatsoever.

WarPriest: I can't argue two lines at once catdoc

WarPriest: you are essentially making an argument which appears in Hume's essay on miracles

eadon-com: yes, probably

PopePious: It is a sport to a fool to do mischief Proverbs 10:23

WarPriest: eadon-com was especially

catdoc: So take the easier one. Find someone who's saying something stupid - a guest, maybe - and argue their point. You see this technique all the time here.

Jupiter: ouch... PopePious.. that one hits home...

JGR: Yes catdoc.

PopePious: He that hides hatred, with lying lips, and he that utters slander, is a fool. Proverbs 10:18

eadon-com: well I wouldn't condemn yourself so quickly, PopePious

catdoc: Any argument about miracles or causation will go over these points, "essentially". Hume is a name that will do as well as any other, to make a fine impression.

PopePious: The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 10:11

WarPriest: Hume originated the argument in it's formal so he has to be given credit

eadon-com: I believe Hume and not WarPriest

catdoc: What argument is that, WarPriest?

WarPriest: and I understand your points

PopePious: The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool shall fall. Proverbs 10:8

WarPriest: which are really Hume's

WarPriest: and many of those points are good

eadon-com: WarPriest, Hume made a reasoned argument where as you use shallow and transparent rhetoric. I know my allegiance with this one

WarPriest: but there is a difference between hearing reports of miracles happening many years ago or hearing 1000 hand accounts than experiencing something directly

eadon-com: Hume leads me not to take you seriously

WarPriest: I have not touched on Hume's argument yet

WarPriest: so how can you say you believe Hume over me when I haven't given an argument counter to Hume's and believe that many of his points were good!

PrayingMattress: outside noisy, inside empty Chinese Proverb

eadon-com: PrayingMattress up yours, English proverb :)

eadon-com: sorry I didn't mean that

PrayingMattress: I know

WarPriest: you simply are ridiculous eadon-com

Jupiter: WarPriest is a strong debater... but doc is formidable..

PopePious: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

eadon-com: WarPriest, please stop using rhetoric and use logic. Why am I ridiculous

eadon-com: I AM ridiculous of course but you should explain why

eadon-com: otherwise I say that you are a cheap bullsh*tter

WarPriest: because you say that you will not respect my arguments....then you ask me to prove things, then when I make a clear argument which is obvious you don't respect it and accuse me of using bad logic without even pointing out my fallacy, then you attribute arguments to me that I don't make

WarPriest: that, among other things is why you are ridiculous

eadon-com: You use my arguments against your good self against me. Yawn

WarPriest: and when I point all this out to you (which I have done at least twice on each point) you totally ignore it

eadon-com: I refer you to my above statement

WarPriest: you are like a dog snipping at the heels wasting useful time

eadon-com: rhetoric will get you nowhere, but nice analogy :)

eadon-com: you are like a jelly fish arguing against the existence of air

Jupiter: abstract metaphors are counter productive eadon-com...

WarPriest: I'm glad you now understand...whatever it is you now understand

eadon-com: Jupiter abstract metafores [sic - embarrassing hastily typed spelling mistake there] are like green pigs orbiting the earth They are green but undetectable, so you can't prove me wrong: :)

Membrane: What's a metafore?

eadon-com: a metafore is like a simile

Membrane: No, I don't think that's what a metafore is.

eadon-com: no, Membrane, that is what a metaphor is LIKE :)

HammondEggs: Actually, a simile is a form of metaphor.

Jupiter: metaphors suck don't they Membrane?

catdoc: The world of science shouldn't be confused with "reality". There is much more to the world than the modelling of its processes. But to insist that the way things happen in that world can be changed by one's own narrative, is absurd. Affects are real. But they don't cure granny's cancer.

eadon-com: you would make a convincing preacher catdoc LOL

catdoc: It's absurd because once you decide that anything can be any way you like, if you clap your hands and wish hard enough, then there's no stopping. No point in believing in causality at all, really, if you think there's a secret principle that is constantly reworking the nature of reality.

WarPriest: catdoc....the point of the miracle is that it doesn't happen a whole lot

WarPriest: that is one point at least and it does violate natural causality, but causality itself. I see how it can be dangerous for someone to ignore the natural and just pray to God for everything because it is evident that most things are natural but from the standpoint of the christian they believe that they have experienced God's presence in a tangible way and in a way which confirms the Bible

catdoc: Miracles of the sort we're talking about here happen constantly, WarPriest. Every hospital is crawling with them. Every life and death issue is a miracle, if the coin comes down heads. The evangelists say it's a miracle when God comes through with the $2 million for the satellite feed.

PopePious: Enter through the straight gate.... for straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few there be that find it. Jesus (in Matthew 7:13-14)

PopePious: If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 9:31

PopePious: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23

PopePious: Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that He exists, and that he rewards them that diligently seek Him. Hebrew 11:6

eadon-com: PopePious is a biblebot. Being a computer program he can be doomed by the devil-virus

JGR: lol. That Biblebot needs a spellcheck.

eadon-com: can it be turned off? set PopePious off

PopePious: Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Hebrews 11:3

JGR: ok PopePious. Two can play at this game.

JGR: Deut 22:28-29 " If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. A VIRGIN WHO IS RAPED MUST MARRY HER ATTACKER! RAPIST PAYS A FINE!

PopePious: Come to me, all you who labor, and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus (in Matthew 11:29)

JGR: Exodus 21:20 and 22 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. If he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money. IT'S OK TO KILL A SLAVE, AS LONG AS THEY DON'T DIE RIGHT AWAY FROM THE BLOW!

PopePious: Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus (in Matthew 11:28)

JGR: GE 17:1, 35:11, 1CH 29:11-12, LK 1:37 God is omnipotent. Nothing is impossible with (or for) God. 1:19 Although God was with Judah, together they could not defeat the plainsmen because the latter had iron chariots.

PopePious: Judge not, that you be not judged, for with what judgement you judge, you will be judged. Jesus (in Matthew 7:1-2)

JGR: Numbers 22:21-30 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! TALKING DONKEYS!! THE LAWD IS MYSTERIOUS!!

Isolani: Even in contentment I still feel the need for some imperishable bliss. - King David

Isolani: Is that poetry or what? Actually David didn't say that. Wallace Stevens did.

Isolani: Did not the Lord say, "I am the first borne of many sons," sons being plural?

WarPriest: then they believe the bible to be true...then they pray and hope that God will answer. This is the experience of many christians

WarPriest: the bible doesn't say that God will do everything you ask...so I don't see how it is dangerous

Isolani: Christians do more to defile the good poetry/truth of the bible than any sect. It's a natural with them to hit you over the head with non-sequiturs and, barring those, stones.

WarPriest: if you are a christian and believe in God and also believe in science, then you believe (obviously) that God created science and it's laws.....

Isolani: I believe in WarPriest!

WarPriest: then, if you pray to God and something improbable happens but is within the bounds of science what do you credit?

WarPriest: I am coming at this from the perspective of the christian and one thing you can always say about tautologies.. they're true!

Isolani: God made beer. Men actually made beer, but God really made it. That's my ontology

WarPriest: I am not making an argument for miracles, oh unsubtle one, I am responding to the claim that to believe in miracles by prayer, etc, is absurd. My point is...to attack belief in miracles...you actually have to attack belief in God of most religion

eadon-com: as it happens, in my life there are no miracles and few coincidences, but I do not invoke some god to explain the dearth of miracles and coincidences

catdoc: Not at all, WarPriest. Miracles are just a crazy superstition, that have nothing to do with God's existence, one way or the other.

WarPriest: there are of course natural religions (natural in the sense that they appeal to miracles, etc. as support for God's existence)

eadon-com: No miracle has been proven. This is evidence against christianity. Where are the miracles??? If there are no miracles then there is no supernatural being needed to 'explain' them.




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