Instigator / Pro
12
1264
rating
357
debates
39.64%
won
Topic
#5294
Every sentence in the Bible is true
Status
Finished
The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.
Winner & statistics
After 3 votes and with 9 points ahead, the winner is...
Benjamin
Parameters
- Publication date
- Last updated date
- Type
- Rated
- Number of rounds
- 3
- Time for argument
- Two days
- Max argument characters
- 10,000
- Voting period
- Two weeks
- Point system
- Multiple criterions
- Voting system
- Open
- Minimal rating
- None
Contender / Con
21
1774
rating
98
debates
77.55%
won
Description
No information
Round 1
Bible is the word of God.
"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar."
Truth: A proposition that corresponds with reality.
PRO has the BoP to prove that every single sentence in the Bible corresponds with reality. He has not done that. He uses circular logic to claim that everything that God says is true, because God says so. But he has no evidence that every single sentence in the Bible is something that God said. The very first part of the Bible uses the phrase "God said" rather than "I said" so the Bible is clearly not composed of 100% sentences stated by God specifically. Plus, the phrase "every word of God" is very vague. There is no reason to interpret that to mean that every single sentence from God is true when taken out of context. Other verses in the Bible say that the sum of Gods word is truth, not every sentence individually.
In the Bible there are three types of sentences PRO can never prove to be true:
- Sentences that are not propositions
- Sentences that contain false propositions
- Unfalsifiable claims
1. Sentences that are not propositions.
A command is different from a proposition. To say "the King says do not kill" can be true or false, depending on what the King actually said. But the sentence "do not kill" is neither true nor false. The sentence is by definition not a truth proposition, because it makes no claims about reality. So the sentence "Thou Shalt not murder" cannot be true.
2. Sentences that contain false propositions
A proposition is only true if it corresponds to reality. And there are many stories in the Bible that directly contradict reality. Here are some examples:
Six day creation
The idea that the Earth and the Universe were created in six days a few thousand years ago is completely unscientific. The age of the universe is calculated as being around 13.8 billion years while Earth is calculated to have formed 4.5 billion years ago. The difference between these two dates is significantly greater than six days. For those biblical literalists who argue for a 7,000 year old earth, there are multiple lines of evidence against a recent creation and—by extension—against a six day creation.
Human evolution
The claim that humans were the result of a special creation event at the end of this six day period is wrong. In fact, the evidence that humans and other animals evolved gradually over a period of some three to four billion years is overwhelming.
A global flood
There is no evidence for a global flood event as described in the Bible. While there is evidence for large floods in regions spanning all over the world, there is nothing to suggest one giant flood engulfed the planet's surface. Many ancient tribes and religions across the globe have flood myths, likely arising from past events. This does not suggest the flood described in the story of Noah actually occurred.
Tower of Babel
There is no linguistic evidence for any of the events included in the Tower of Babel myth.
Some could argue that these are just poetic or something, but PRO has claimed that every single sentence in the Bible is independently true, which precludes such excuses.
3. Unfalsifiable claims
When the Bible says that there are countless angels that bow before Gods throne in some undetectable dimension, that is impossible to verify. It is an unfalsifiable claim. Maybe it is true, maybe not, but we can never know for sure. So the Bible is full of sentences that are impossible for PRO to prove are correct, because the evidence is totally inaccessible.
Conclusion:
There are many sentences in the Bible that do not correspond to reality. To prove his resolution, PRO would have to go over every sentence in the Bible individually, totally unfeasible.
Round 2
"The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”"
PRO drops all of my arguments. Extend.
Round 3
"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
So everything Jesus said is true, according to Jesus, and he could not lie about being the truth, because everything he says is true. That is the dumbest argument I have ever heard. Extend all.
