Dood(ette), I was referring to myself. Are you being a little over sensitive? Not enough coffee?
Rational Faith
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Dood(ette), I was referring to myself. Are you being a little over sensitive? Not enough coffee?
Actually I can't go by page numbers as my display does newest posts first. That way I don't have to pick the last page posted in when I click on a thread. Soooooo, I'll just google the legal def'ns pf evidence. But anyway, I am pretty sure none of those def'ns will account for "spiritual evidence".
Legal Dictionary | Law.com
evidence: definition of evidence in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)
admissible evidence | Wex Legal Dictionary / Encyclopedia | LII / Legal Information Institute
Then law courts are, as well. And I am nowhere near as picky as courts.
I refer to any kind of evidence. Be advised, however, that hearsay, anecdote, statements of personal feelings and beliefs, and statements from authorities, don't count as evidence.
Here's how it's done:
First, any true claim must in principle be falsifiable, it must be possible to at least imagine evidence that would prove it to be wrong. This just amounts to saying that the evidence must matter, if no conceivable evidence could ever disprove a claim, then the evidence in its favour doesn't matter either, it's invulnerable to any kind of evidence.
Second, the argument offered in support of a claim must be logically correct, the premises must be testable and the conclusion must follow inevitably from them.
Third, the evidence must be comprehensive, you have to consider all of it, not just the evidence that supports the claim.
Fourth, the evidence must be assessed honestly, without bias or prejudice.
Fifth, any test results must be replicatable by others, a single test is never adequate to establish a claim.
Sixth, the evidence must be sufficient to establish the correctness of the claim
Passing all those tests doesn't necessarily mean a claim is true in any absolute sense, but it will ensure you've sold your belief for a fair price and not been fooled by liars and charlatans.
I don't know what you're asking. Could you be more specific, what emotions do you mean and how do they negatively affect our evolution?
Evolution can't be affected (note spelling) in a positive or negative way. It is a process, a mechanism. Using terms like "positive" and "negative" simply demonstrates that you've fallen into the incorrect conclusion that evolution has a goal or a desired outcome. It doesn't. Evolution is very simple. There are millions of mutations occurring every day. Many are fatal, and thus never get passed on. Most do not increase or decrease the organism's ability to survive, and are thus indifferent and may or may not be passed on. A few are not fatal, but decrease the organism's ability to survive. They are less likely to get passed on. And a few increase the organism's ability to survive. They get passed on, and if the advantage they confer is strong enough, they spread throughout the population.
Here's the trick. . . terms like "ability to survive" necessarily include the unspoken clause "under current conditions." The dinosaurs were far more evolved than the proto-mammals 65 million years back. Then conditions changed (little thing called the K-T Boundary Event), and all of the incredibly successful mutations the dinosaurs had been working on for hundreds of millions of years became not-so-successful, and the relatively crude, far less capable, and considerably less successful mammals had their day.
There is no goal to evolution. There's not even a sound or permanent definition for "success" or "positive" or "negative" or "desirable." All you can say is "successful/positive/negative/desirable under current conditions." And even that isn't as obvious as you think. Human intelligence, which has been responsible for all it's "successes" thus far, may turn out to be its downfall.
Evolution doesn't care. It grinds on, processing creatures and species with a divine indifference to their petty, parochial notions of "positve" and "negative."
I shall resist the temptation to make bad puns about sheds out of that.
So the spirit is everywhere, not just god's but ours, or are you saying that location is a meaningless concept for the spirit? And clearly you are stating that it exists independently of the body it once inhabited. There's not a shred of evidence for that.
The evidence is that the idea of athereal instant and permanent connectedness pops into the human mind ceaselessly. That's the longest thread you'll ever experience. Materialist are a strange bunch of pathetic creatures.
Every machine we build bar none mimics nature, therefore nature and or evolution has purpose as we are meaty extensions of that purpose. If nature has no purpose then mankind can have none.
Spiritual evidence is observable in our condition, LG:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3-10 NIV)
Spiritual evidence is detectable in our character:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:15-23 NIV)
Spiritual evidence is discernible in our conduct:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23a NIV)
Spiritual evidence is distinguishable in our confession:
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God... (1 John 4:1-2 NIV)
Modern Christians long ago were fooled by false prophets so today they commit idolatry of the flesh without blinking an eye.
Here is "Exhibit A" from our discussion thread, TBones:
"I shall resist the temptation to make bad puns about sheds out of that." (Dexter Sinister)
Recall that spiritual evidence is discernible in our conduct: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23a NIV) The self-awareness, desire and capacity to self-control in the above statement made by Dex constitutes spiritual evidence. The influence of the Spirit of Christ is discernible here.
I personally know of prayer being offered on Dex's behalf currently. Has there ever been any Christian presence/influence in your life, Dex?
The desire and capacity for self control is a feature of many non-Christian religions, and many systems of thought and practice that are not religious at all.
I'll let Dex answer that.
Yes, there is. Evidence that demonstrates superior self control, such as foregoing instant gratification for longer-term gain.
For all your twisting, dodging, and jejeune attempts to turn back the question on the questioner, you still have produced not a single shred of evidence for the existence of a god, much less the Judeo-Christian god.
Yeah, somebody's currently praying for me, though I don't know what's being asked for. Probably for god to remove the scales from my eyes or something similar. I grew up in a Christian household, got all the standard indoctrination, then threw it all away when I learned how to do my own thinking and realized it didn't make sense to me.