Henke 2022ae

Contrary to the Misrepresentations in Lundahl (2022i; 2022L), I Don’t Say that Miracles or Other Supernatural Events are Impossible

Kevin R. Henke

September 15, 2022

In Lundahl (2022i), Mr. Lundahl constructs a strawman fallacy by claiming that I believe that miracles are impossible:

If anyone is circular in proof it is Henke: he uses impossibility of miracles to prove the Gospel story is un-historic, then non-historicity of story to prove this no verified exception to a rule excluding miracles, from ‘universal experience’ established as such only after thus excluding each exception.” [my emphasis]

Again, in Lundahl (2022L), Mr. Lundahl claims that I’m saying that certain past events are “impossible”:

“It's a sweeping statement. No difference is made between Ouranos and Gaia (where the stories are indeed about gods and goddesses in the main) and heroic legend, which being mainly about human actors (though seen as interacting on some planes with gods and goddesses) are seen as having human observers. I don't feel like taking Ulysses' word for his men being literally turned into pigs or Hercules' for getting down to Hades to fetch Cerberus, but their shooting of the wooers or killing of a lion had human observers apart from themselves. Indeed, Henke will not believe a place was infested with a hydra and I will believe it was a demonic manifestation, and we will disagree there, but so much could be explained by things both Henke and I believe possible, there is no reason to disagree with his descendants later returning to the Peloponnese and becoming kings of Sparta. Except in Henke's case, he thinks it's an argument that his birthmyth is impossible (which as it stands I agree it is, in some parts, though the snakes could have been brought by demons who also helped his tiny hands tie them in a knot) and involves false deities (which I agree are false) and a false explanation of the Milky Way, and being lumped together with Hesiod's Ouranos and Gaia thing.” [my emphasis]

I NEVER said that miracles or other past events were impossible! They’re not a zero on my probability scale of past events in Henke (2022b). If Mr. Lundahl would actually read and understand Henke (2022a) and Henke (2022b), he would see that I already agreed with him that miracles are possible. I specifically said in Henke (2022a):

“Until I actually have definitive evidence of the supernatural, I will not say that miracles are impossible. However, I will automatically classify any supernatural claim as highly unlikely; this would include the Talking Snake of Genesis, as well as the claim that Romulus was born of a virgin. Again, I’m not saying that miracles and supernatural beings are impossible, but I’m saying that they’re highly unlikely until we get good evidence for them.” [bolded is my current emphasis; underlined and bolded are in the original]

I also said in Henke (2022b):

“As I have repeatedly indicated in this essay and elsewhere, I do not say that miracles are impossible. I’m willing to admit that miracles could occur and that they would violate the laws of chemistry and physics by definition. However, Mr. Lundahl and other advocates of the supernatural have the burden of evidence to demonstrate that miracles occur and that claims of miracles are not simply misinterpretations or lies from people’s fertile imaginations. Mr. Lundahl, C.S. Lewis (1960), and other advocates of the supernatural have yet to produce any evidence for the existence of miracles under the required strictly controlled and verifiable conditions.”

“Judging the veracity of historical events usually involves shades of gray, and not black and white absolutes. Because of this, I will further quantify my ranking scale by assigning values of 0 to 100 as my assessments of the probabilities of historical events, where 100 indicates absolute historical fact and 0 is absolutely a myth – a lie, an impossibility. WWII would get a ranking of 99+, but still below 100, and the Talking Snake is below 1, but still above 0.” [my emphasis]

“Lewis (1960, p. 87) is also correct when he states that the “progress of science” has not eliminated the possibility of miracles and that science has not demonstrated that miracles are impossible. However, again, Lewis (1960, pp. 17-85) fails to demonstrate that human reasoning or another other process involves the supernatural. He also failed to realize that the burden of evidence for miracles are on those that argue for miracles. Despite his often vague rambling, Lewis (1960) presents no evidence of miracles.” [my emphasis]

Although Mr. Lundahl and I already agree that miracles are possible, I still want positive evidence that they really happen and are not something that are merely hypothetical. Mr. Lundahl and his allies that believe in miracles have failed to provide any of this crucial evidence.

Reference:

Lewis, C.S. 1960. Miracles, 2^nd ed., printed 1974: Harper One: HarperCollinsPublishers, 294pp.