Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Dr. C.M. Lorkowski offers his criteria for accepting a miracle claim. Atheists do not rule out miracles by definition, though this is often how Hume's anti-miracles argument is caricatured. A miracle must be examined by skeptical, qualified observers; the miracle must accomplish something; the chain of testimony must be highly credible; and the miracle must not occur near the cutting edge of science. Unless these criteria are satisfied, a naturalistic explanation will be superior to a miraculous explanation. You can read about arguments from miracles and the criteria for accepting them as legitimate in greater detail in Dr. Lorkowski's 2020 book, Atheism Considered.
Full interview on Real Atheology's channel: youtu.be/fJ6k6P-4XDg
Atheism Considered: A Survey of the Rational Rejection of Religious Belief amazon.com/Atheism-Considered-Rational-Rejection-Religious/dp/3030562077
RA Patreon patreon.com/RealAtheology
@waldenpod @RealAtheology
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
/ timestamps /
00:00 when does a miraculous explanation become the most plausible explanation?
04:51 the preference for naturalistic explanation shared by theists and naturalists
08:00 the sheer number of miracle claims
11:29 the prior probability of theism
Dr. C.M. Lorkowski offers his criteria for accepting a miracle claim. Atheists do not rule out miracles by definition, though this is often how Hume's anti-miracles argument is caricatured. A miracle must be examined by skeptical, qualified observers; the miracle must accomplish something; the chain of testimony must be highly credible; and the miracle must not occur near the cutting edge of science. Unless these criteria are satisfied, a naturalistic explanation will be superior to a miraculous explanation. You can read about arguments from miracles and the criteria for accepting them as legitimate in greater detail in Dr. Lorkowski's 2020 book, Atheism Considered.
Full interview on Real Atheology's channel: youtu.be/fJ6k6P-4XDg
Atheism Considered: A Survey of the Rational Rejection of Religious Belief amazon.com/Atheism-Considered-Rational-Rejection-Religious/dp/3030562077
RA Patreon patreon.com/RealAtheology
@waldenpod @RealAtheology
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
/ timestamps /
00:00 when does a miraculous explanation become the most plausible explanation?
04:51 the preference for naturalistic explanation shared by theists and naturalists
08:00 the sheer number of miracle claims
11:29 the prior probability of theism
