Extending Apologetic Logic to Other Spheres

"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"A common technique used in debates by evangelicals is that they will "rationally" prove the resurrection is historically probable but when asked if the methods apply to other miracles - they will coyly reply "they haven't studied it yet"! One such example is that of Christian apologist Micheal Horner. Horner is fond of claiming that skeptics and critical historians have an “anti-supernatural bias” against reports about miracles in the Bible.

In his debate with skeptic Farrell Till in 1995, the latter presented him with accounts of miracles from non-Christian writers (Josephus, Suetonius), modern day “Elvis-sightings” and Mormon claims about Joseph Smith and the golden plates and asked for his opinion on their historicity. Horner, who obviously does not believe such miracles, replied that he hadn’t “checked into” them. A year later, in another debate, this time with atheist Dan Barker, Horner was once again asked by Till in the Q&A session about these non-biblical reports of miracles and whether he had evaluated them historically. Once again Horner replied that he hasn’t “yet done that.” The full transcripts of both debates as well as Farell Till’s comments can be found in the Internet Infidels website [accessed on October 2, 2007]:

The Horner-Till debate:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/horner-till/

The Horner-Barker debate:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dan_barker/barker_horner.html

Farrell Till’s comments on Horner’s position on miracles:
http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1997/2/2claim97.html"


And my response to long tracts about beliefs being "rationally required", "rationally allowed" and "rationally forbidden":

How would you classify belief in the following?

1) The Theory of Gravity
2) The Theory of Evolution
3) Holocaust Denial
4) Julius Caesar being born by Caesarian Section
5) String Theory
6) Rasputin having mystical powers
7) Assortative Mating
8) The Armenian "Genocide" of 1915-1917
9) Crop Circles
10) Alien Abductions
11) Homoepathy
12) The Blank Slate Theory of the Human Mind
13) JFK Conspiracy Theories
14) 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
15) Moon Landing Conspiracy Theories
16) Scientology
17) The existence of William Shakespeare
18) The idea that Salieri killed Mozart
19) The existence of the Basilisk
20) That North Korea just blew up a South Korean vessel