File:Argument from Miracles - Debunked (Miracles Explained)

Description
On Sep 6th, 1946, an Airliner flying from New York to San Francisco unfortunately crashed, killing everybody onboard except a two-year-old baby boy called Peter Link… therefore, an all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful god impregnated a virgin with himself, so that he could later sacrifice himself to himself to save you from a sin that you didn’t personally commit… makes sense right?

Jokes aside, The Argument from Miracles is one the most requested videos that you’ve asked for, and so, here it is – the Argument from Miracles – Debunked.

Videos referenced:

1. Frank Turek being… Frank Turek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-4pKs8f7HY 2. Frogs falling from the sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uN5elpiDsk 3. Darren Brown – Miracles for Sale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6hhikoAKVU&t= 4. Matt Dillahunty being as awesome as always: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAuFJKQh83Y

Throughout the video I pin-point several flaws and fallacies that those who use the Argument from Miracles tend to commit, but for a very brief summery (extremely brief), they are as follows:

1. Don’t Support Theism:

So the first flaw to reveal, in my not so humble opinion, is that the vast majority of miracles wouldn’t prove the existence of a god even if they were indeed true… Or in other words, they don’t support theism.

For example, even if it were unimpeachably true that a man called Jesus resurrected, this would not, in the slightest, prove that the universe had a creator! Nor would prove that Jesus turned water into wine; that he healed the blind; that he walked on water; or that he was born of a virgin… all it would prove is that a man called Jesus respawned, and that he had terrible lag, because it took him three days!

2. Argument from Ignorance or Personal Incredulity Fallacy:

The second and perhaps most obvious flaw with miracles is that they almost always commit either an Argument from Ignorance or a Personal Incredulity Fallacy. To illustrate this, consider the following:

Throughout history there have been numerous accounts of flightiness animals raining from the sky – and needless to say, on just about every occasion, someone somewhere has asserted that a miracle has occurred, because, “there’s no other explanation”.

Now of course, it’s fair to say that flightless animals don’t just fall from the sky, but one can’t simple assert that a miracle has occurred simply because there’s “no other explanation”… that would be, and is, an outrageous Argument form Ignorance! It is, in essence, “we don’t know, therefore god”.

3. Burden of Proof:

And this brings us comfortably to a necessary question that is extremely effective at exposing a third fallacy that ravishes miraculous assertions – this question is, “how exactly can we distinguish a miracle from an unlikely natural occurrence that we are yet to comprehend?”

It’s a very simple question, but it’s a brilliant one (if I do say so myself) – because it forces the proponent to bare their Burden of Proof rather than allowing them to shift it to you by appealing to ignorance. It indirectly emphasizes that they are the one asserting that an event has violated the laws of nature, not you, and so they bare the burden to prove this.

4. Appeal to Emotion and/or Anecdotal Fallacy:

To illustrate this I show a clip from Darren Brown’s show. Now the point of me showing you this clip is to predominantly point out two additional fallacies that are rampant in miraculous claims. The first is the Appeal to Emotion Fallacy, which occurs when pastor Shaun manipulates both the recipient’s and the crowd’s emotions by shouting and invoking their deeply held beliefs; and the second is the Anecdotal Fallacy, which occurs after the show when a crowd member asserts that they witnessed a miracle, when they didn’t… the charlatan simply lied about the extent of the recipient’s condition and then presented evidence of things that the recipient could already do as if he couldn’t…

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As always, thank you kindly for the view, and I hope that this video will help you defeat those who would use the Argument from Miracles against you.