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Falsifiability of Creation (view source)
Revision as of 11:22, April 13, 2008
, 11:22, April 13, 2008You wanted this article made; you've got it
Is [[Creation]] a '''falsifiable proposition'''? In the ongoing dispute between [[creationism]] and [[evolutionism]], many have claimed that creation is also an unfalsifiable proposition, the same as is evolution. This is to say that creation ''is'' falsifiable, after all—because the [[Bible]] does indeed make multiple testable propositions, not one of which has yet been shown to be false.
== Nature of the Bible ==
: ''Main Article: [[Biblical criticism]]''
The Bible purports, first of all, to be the very Word of [[God]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Timothy|chap=3|verses=16}}{{Bible quote|All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.|book=II_Timothy|chap=3|verses=16|version=KJV}}
"Profitable" means that its use can profit its reader for certain things. "Doctrine" is the Greek ''diaskalia'', teaching. "Reproof" means telling someone that he is wrong, while "correction" means setting the person on a straight path. Finally, "righteousness" does not mean "acting in a just manner" but rather "how to be sure that God has justified you," because no person can justify himself.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=3|verses=10}}</ref>
The Bible, therefore, purports to be far more than a book written by mere men, and different men in different eras.
This very claim is falsifiable, in this way: If anyone can show definitely that any part of the Bible is inconsistent with any other part, then he has shown the Bible to be false. Many have claimed to show precisely that; none have succeeded to date. This is a key test of the Bible precisely because different scriveners set down different parts of it in different centuries, as archaeologists have shown by examining different manuscripts, including the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] and others.
== Specific claims ==
=== Ancient civilizations ===
The Bible mentions many ancient civilizations that no longer exist today. If any archaeologist can show that any of those ancient civilizations ''never existed'', then the Bible is shown to be false. In the nineteenth century, many scoffers maintained that no such civilization as [[Assyria]] exists or existed. Then archaeologists discovered [[Nineveh]], the ancient capital city of Assyria, and the first of many monuments of that civilization and many of its most prominent rulers.
=== Ancient prophesies ===
The Bible predicts many events centuries before those events came to pass. If any one of them ''did not'' come to pass ''exactly as predicted'', then the Bible is shown to be false. Again, many have tried; all have failed. Many have suggested that the [[prophecy|prophecies]] of the Bible were all written after-the-fact. This ''is'' false; the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] contain manuscripts of many prophetic works, all of which predict events that have come to pass often centuries later. Never once in any such case has anyone shown that an event did not come to pass.
=== Historicity of Jesus ===
: ''Main Article: [[Historicity of Jesus]]''
[[Jesus Christ]] is the Best-attested Figure in all of human history. If any part of His life did not take place as stated, then the Bible is false. No one has yet shown that the Bible misrepresenta any part of Jesus' story.
More to the point, Prof. Peter Stoner at Westmont College once calculated the probability that any one man could, by sheer coincidence, fulfill forty-eight of the more than 400 prophecies about Jesus Christ, written centuries earlier. The probability turns out to be 10<sup>-157</sup>. That's a 1 followed by 157 zeroes. That's one in ten thousand quinquagintillion, according to the American system of large numbers--higher than the ''square'' of the estimated total number of [[electron]]s in the [[universe]].
== Is Creation Separable? ==
Creation as a concept is not separable from the rest of the Bible. The chief reason is that Jesus Himself attested to it, and attested to the [[Days of creation]] numbering six and no more than six (and six twenty-four-hour days).
But the direct falsifiability of the Creation story, apart from the rest of the Bible, is closely related to another story: that of the [[Great Flood]]. Perhaps it is for this reason that the central focus of scientific skepticism of the Bible has been on falsifying the Great Flood. The nearest attempt to do so has always been the [[uniformitarianism]] propounded first by Sir [[Charles Lyell]]. But, as has been shown, Sir Charles' assertion that "the present is the key to the past" remains merely that: an assertion. The scientific establishment has attempted to back uniformitarianism (now slightly modified from Lyell's model, because Lyell assumed no "beginning of time") with tools like [[radiometric dating]]. Today the [[RATE Group]] at the [[Institute for Creation Research]] are conducting a key research program to re-examine the entire edifice of radiometric "date" for geologic strata.
== Extraterrestrial life ==
: Main Article: ''[[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]]''
If extraterrestrial civilizations be shown to exist or have existed, whether or not they are visiting or have ever visited the [[earth]], then the Bible is shown to be false and the creation story unreliable. [[Carl Sagan]] and others have tried. None have shown extraterrestrial civilizations convincingly. Of all the [[exoplanet]]s so far found (nearly 200), all have been gas giants, like [[Jupiter]]; none has even approximated the makeup of earth. More stringently yet, the [[Sun]] lies in a "habitable zone" barely wider than the margin between its own peri[[apsis]] and apo[[apsis]] with respect to the [[galaxy]]'s core. Where an ET civilization is supposed to have come from is therefore more problematic than ever.
== References ==
<references/>
[[Category: Creation]]
== Nature of the Bible ==
: ''Main Article: [[Biblical criticism]]''
The Bible purports, first of all, to be the very Word of [[God]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Timothy|chap=3|verses=16}}{{Bible quote|All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.|book=II_Timothy|chap=3|verses=16|version=KJV}}
"Profitable" means that its use can profit its reader for certain things. "Doctrine" is the Greek ''diaskalia'', teaching. "Reproof" means telling someone that he is wrong, while "correction" means setting the person on a straight path. Finally, "righteousness" does not mean "acting in a just manner" but rather "how to be sure that God has justified you," because no person can justify himself.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=3|verses=10}}</ref>
The Bible, therefore, purports to be far more than a book written by mere men, and different men in different eras.
This very claim is falsifiable, in this way: If anyone can show definitely that any part of the Bible is inconsistent with any other part, then he has shown the Bible to be false. Many have claimed to show precisely that; none have succeeded to date. This is a key test of the Bible precisely because different scriveners set down different parts of it in different centuries, as archaeologists have shown by examining different manuscripts, including the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] and others.
== Specific claims ==
=== Ancient civilizations ===
The Bible mentions many ancient civilizations that no longer exist today. If any archaeologist can show that any of those ancient civilizations ''never existed'', then the Bible is shown to be false. In the nineteenth century, many scoffers maintained that no such civilization as [[Assyria]] exists or existed. Then archaeologists discovered [[Nineveh]], the ancient capital city of Assyria, and the first of many monuments of that civilization and many of its most prominent rulers.
=== Ancient prophesies ===
The Bible predicts many events centuries before those events came to pass. If any one of them ''did not'' come to pass ''exactly as predicted'', then the Bible is shown to be false. Again, many have tried; all have failed. Many have suggested that the [[prophecy|prophecies]] of the Bible were all written after-the-fact. This ''is'' false; the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] contain manuscripts of many prophetic works, all of which predict events that have come to pass often centuries later. Never once in any such case has anyone shown that an event did not come to pass.
=== Historicity of Jesus ===
: ''Main Article: [[Historicity of Jesus]]''
[[Jesus Christ]] is the Best-attested Figure in all of human history. If any part of His life did not take place as stated, then the Bible is false. No one has yet shown that the Bible misrepresenta any part of Jesus' story.
More to the point, Prof. Peter Stoner at Westmont College once calculated the probability that any one man could, by sheer coincidence, fulfill forty-eight of the more than 400 prophecies about Jesus Christ, written centuries earlier. The probability turns out to be 10<sup>-157</sup>. That's a 1 followed by 157 zeroes. That's one in ten thousand quinquagintillion, according to the American system of large numbers--higher than the ''square'' of the estimated total number of [[electron]]s in the [[universe]].
== Is Creation Separable? ==
Creation as a concept is not separable from the rest of the Bible. The chief reason is that Jesus Himself attested to it, and attested to the [[Days of creation]] numbering six and no more than six (and six twenty-four-hour days).
But the direct falsifiability of the Creation story, apart from the rest of the Bible, is closely related to another story: that of the [[Great Flood]]. Perhaps it is for this reason that the central focus of scientific skepticism of the Bible has been on falsifying the Great Flood. The nearest attempt to do so has always been the [[uniformitarianism]] propounded first by Sir [[Charles Lyell]]. But, as has been shown, Sir Charles' assertion that "the present is the key to the past" remains merely that: an assertion. The scientific establishment has attempted to back uniformitarianism (now slightly modified from Lyell's model, because Lyell assumed no "beginning of time") with tools like [[radiometric dating]]. Today the [[RATE Group]] at the [[Institute for Creation Research]] are conducting a key research program to re-examine the entire edifice of radiometric "date" for geologic strata.
== Extraterrestrial life ==
: Main Article: ''[[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]]''
If extraterrestrial civilizations be shown to exist or have existed, whether or not they are visiting or have ever visited the [[earth]], then the Bible is shown to be false and the creation story unreliable. [[Carl Sagan]] and others have tried. None have shown extraterrestrial civilizations convincingly. Of all the [[exoplanet]]s so far found (nearly 200), all have been gas giants, like [[Jupiter]]; none has even approximated the makeup of earth. More stringently yet, the [[Sun]] lies in a "habitable zone" barely wider than the margin between its own peri[[apsis]] and apo[[apsis]] with respect to the [[galaxy]]'s core. Where an ET civilization is supposed to have come from is therefore more problematic than ever.
== References ==
<references/>
[[Category: Creation]]