It Does Not Matter How You Philosophically Dress It Up. A Delusion is a Delusion is a Delusion.

[First published in February 2013]. William Lane Craig says he knows God personally by the inner witness of the Spirit. He needs no other evidence. He claims this subjective inner witness trumps all objective evidence. He knows that he knows that he knows. Let's place this claim of his side by side with others who claim the same thing, and see what we get. My contention is that religious faith is an irrational leap over the probabilities.

Allan Miller's followers know he is Jesus reincarnated and that his wife is Mary Magdalene reincarnated.

Jose de Miranda's followers know he is the second coming of Jesus.

Followers of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon know he is the second coming of Jesus.

Catholics know that the virgin Mary heals them at Lourdes, France.

Mormons know the angel Moroni delivered the golden plates to Joseph Smith, who translated them using the Urim and Thumin, and believe the Book of Mormon is the inspired word of God.

Muslims know Mohammed was a prophet of Allah and his words in the Koran are Allah's words.

Hindu's know that bathing in the river Ganges brings healing, forgiveness of sins, and helps liberate them from the endless cycle of life and death.

Believers in voodoo know that casting spells on someone can cause sicknesses and that a witch-doctor's rites can heal them.

Here is a link to 40 different world religious faiths whose adherents know their faith is true.

Take a good hard look at five of these religious communities at worship right here. Don't turn your head away. Watch these five short videos. In each one of them the followers know what they believe is true. They know it.

Bill Craig says he doesn't care what other believers claim to know. The testimony of others is irrelevant to his own testimony. He knows. The others do not. And yet when we look at them all side by side they all look the same. They all claim to know what they know. They all know what they believe is true. Other believers would even say the same thing as Craig does, that they don't care what anyone else believes. The testimony of others is irrelevant to their own testimony. They know. Others do not.

This is why I claim Bill Craig is delusional on a grand scale. At least some of these other religious followers claim their faith is based upon objective evidence!

A religious faith cannot be based on a subjective experience, one that cannot even in principle be verified by a third party, because so many other people around the globe in different religions claim them too, with no objective way to adjudicate who is right and who is wrong. Now it's one thing to base a faith on a subjective experience, as delusional as that is. It's another thing entirely for Bill Craig to say a subjective experience carries more weight than all objective evidence to the contrary. People wonder why I call believers delusional. As I have said, you need not wonder any more.

1 comments:

adamryan said...

"Allan Miller's followers know he is Jesus reincarnated and that his wife is Mary Magdalene reincarnated."

The proposition "Allan Miller and his wife are Jesus and Mary Magdalene incarnate." is very different from, "Bill, this is the Holy Spirit confirming in you the message of Jesus Christ."

In order for the former to be equivalent it seems that Miller's followers would need to also claim the Holy Spirit has confirmed in them the divinity of the Millers.

"Jose de Miranda's followers know he is the second coming of Jesus."

I am unfamiliar with de Miranda's ministry. Regarding this claim however, it seems very different from the type of message Craig claims to have confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

"Followers of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon know he is the second coming of Jesus."

This one is easy to reject because Moon's followers don't believe He is the second coming by an "internal witness" but rather by Moon's misrepresentation of Scripture.

"Catholics know that the virgin Mary heals them at Lourdes, France."

This one also isn't an example of "internal confirmation" but rather of a belief due to how Catholics choose to interpret their miracle claims. They believe Mary has healed them because they appeal to their prayer to Mary prior to a "healing" as the most reasonable explanation of their healing (which most Christians and skeptics would likely disagree with, possibly arguing that this may be an example of correlation implying causation).

"Mormons know the angel Moroni delivered the golden plates to Joseph Smith, who translated them using the Urim and Thumin, and believe the Book of Mormon is the inspired word of God."

This may be a good example. To my knowledge, I know Mormons certainly recommend praying to God about the message of the Book of Mormon (often citing James 1:5, if memory serves). Their alleged confirmation could still be mistaken however, just as Craig's could.

"Muslims know Mohammed was a prophet of Allah and his words in the Koran are Allah's words."

From my experience with Muslims (which no doubt may admittedly offer little here), theirs seems not to be so much a religious experience of internal confirmation as it is a belief that they come to hold because of arguments and teachings. Islamic apologists are just as adamant about theirs being a reasonable faith as Christian apologists are. No doubt certain Muslims may claim to have a religious experience of Allah, though.

"Hindu's know that bathing in the river Ganges brings healing, forgiveness of sins, and helps liberate them from the endless cycle of life and death."

I feel this may be the worst of the examples you list. This doesn't seem in any way analogous to the Holy Spirit internally confirming a message. This seems more analogous to Catholics mistakenly attributing healing to statues of/prayers to Mary. This seems more like a mistake in explaining subsequent events, not religious confirmation of something divine.

"Believers in voodoo know that casting spells on someone can cause sicknesses and that a witch-doctor's rites can heal them."

See above.