The main prediction that comes to mind is that if Christianity is true, one would expect substantially more miracle claims by Christians (legitimate claims plus false ones) than by any other religion (false claims only).
That seems to assume an independence of the base rate of false claims, which is unlikely if the religions have different doctrine on miracles. Miracles might be a big part of one religion, and not even believed in by another. I’d expect “miracle friendly” religions to have a higher base rate.
Also, given the prevalence of miracle claims, it would take quite a high base rate of actual miracles to even be detectable among the false claims.
Also, given the prevalence of miracle claims, it would take quite a high base rate of actual miracles to even be detectable among the false claims.
High compared to what, exactly? With an interventionist Deity as a given, I can’t think of any immediate reasons to exclude regular interventions- here I’m thinking of something like Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang.
The model he was working with seemed to be that only Christians get the real miracles, and everyone, including Christians, also have a base rate for falsely reporting miracles.
So, high, compared to the base rate of falsely reported miracles, and high compared to my perception of how common even believers think miracles are.
No doubt there’s a wide range of that, and for some people, God’s starting their car every morning. Maybe he starts my car every morning. It’s almost 30 years old, and it’s a minor miracle that it keeps on chugging.
That seems to assume an independence of the base rate of false claims, which is unlikely if the religions have different doctrine on miracles. Miracles might be a big part of one religion, and not even believed in by another. I’d expect “miracle friendly” religions to have a higher base rate.
Also, given the prevalence of miracle claims, it would take quite a high base rate of actual miracles to even be detectable among the false claims.
High compared to what, exactly? With an interventionist Deity as a given, I can’t think of any immediate reasons to exclude regular interventions- here I’m thinking of something like Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang.
The model he was working with seemed to be that only Christians get the real miracles, and everyone, including Christians, also have a base rate for falsely reporting miracles.
So, high, compared to the base rate of falsely reported miracles, and high compared to my perception of how common even believers think miracles are.
No doubt there’s a wide range of that, and for some people, God’s starting their car every morning. Maybe he starts my car every morning. It’s almost 30 years old, and it’s a minor miracle that it keeps on chugging.
Maybe some satanists and/or neopagans get something from Satan.