Predicting the future in a Christian world
By Michael Runyan ~
It is common for various authorities to make predictions of future events as a means for society to prepare for such eventualities, such as, for example, the path of a hurricane, the arrival of cold or hot weather, rain, or snow, the prognosis and timing of recovery from various diseases, future economic activity levels, the growth of wildfires, tides and flooding levels, and harvesting amounts related to agriculture.
In the Christian world, these predictions would not necessarily be amenable to observations of current conditions, an examination of past experience, or use of analytical models because the world would be continually subject to the whims of various supernatural agents, such as demons, angels, Satan, God (in three personages), or a multitude of saints (depending on the particular denomination). Answered prayers could also throw off any of these predictions. The success rate would be low and not improving over time.
In a world governed by naturalism, absent the influence of the supernatural, the success rate of making these types of predictions would continually improve over time as more observations and techniques became available. Eventually, the predictions would become very reliable. And this is the situation that we observe, providing evidence that naturalism is a better model of reality than Christianity.
In the Christian world, these predictions would not necessarily be amenable to observations of current conditions, an examination of past experience, or use of analytical models because the world would be continually subject to the whims of various supernatural agents, such as demons, angels, Satan, God (in three personages), or a multitude of saints (depending on the particular denomination). Answered prayers could also throw off any of these predictions. The success rate would be low and not improving over time.
In a world governed by naturalism, absent the influence of the supernatural, the success rate of making these types of predictions would continually improve over time as more observations and techniques became available. Eventually, the predictions would become very reliable. And this is the situation that we observe, providing evidence that naturalism is a better model of reality than Christianity.
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