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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Direct empirical encounter with a divine emissary — inclu... — Carmelics
    Home/Religious Experience
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Direct empirical encounter with a divine emissary — including revealed law and beneficial commandments — provides sufficient grounds to acknowledge God's existence, authority, and dominion.

    Religious Experience
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.In the second hypothetical case, the Khazar king is prepared to acknowledge the king of India's existence based on empirical evidence presented to him.
      ?

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    • 2.The diplomatic mission creates a sense of indebtedness and obligation that lays the groundwork for a special relationship.
      ?

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    • 3.The messenger (angel or prophet), the signed letter (revealed Law), and medicinal gifts (divine commandments) constitute direct empirical evidence equivalent to uninterrupted tradition.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Empirical encounter with a claimant to divine authority underdetermines the source: natural, demonic, or human deception remain equally consistent with the evidence.
      ?

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    • 2.Hume's argument in 'Of Miracles' establishes that testimony for miraculous events always faces a prior probability deficit that phenomenological vividness cannot overcome.
      ?

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    • 3.The Indian king analogy fails because earthly diplomatic credentials are verifiable through independent channels, whereas divine credentials have no analogous external verification procedure.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Kant's Critique of Pure Reason demonstrates that causal inference from empirical phenomena to a transcendent, non-phenomenal being exceeds the legitimate bounds of theoretical reason.
      ?

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    • 2.Even if a revealed law produces measurable beneficial effects, this establishes only the law's prudential utility, not the metaphysical authority or existence of its divine legislator.
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    Topics

    Religious ExperienceNatural Theology

    Key Terms

    Empirical
    # Empirical Empirical means based on real observation, experience, or experiments rather than theory or guessing. When something is empirical, it's proven by actually testing it or seeing it happen in the real world, not just thinking about it logically. For example, empirical evidence might be data collected from a survey or results from a scientific experiment that shows what actually occurs.
    Epistemology (implied concept)(the broader philosophical question about knowing and reliability)
    The philosophical study of knowledge itself—what knowledge is, how we know things, and what makes something trustworthy.
    Sufficient grounds(in epistemology)
    Having enough reasons or evidence to justify a belief or conclusion.
    divine emissary(the entity being encountered)
    A messenger or representative sent by God; someone believed to carry God's word or authority to humans.
    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.
    revealed law(Maimonides' distinction between scientific/natural truth and divinely revealed legal norms)
    Law that, although not natural in origin, 'enters into what is natural' by presupposing a social context and a sense of shame, and which requires detailed study as part of divine wisdom for the permanence of the human species

    Related

    Empirical encounter with a claimant to divine authority underdetermines the sour...Even if a revealed law produces measurable beneficial effects, this establishes ...Hume's argument in 'Of Miracles' establishes that testimony for miraculous event...In the second hypothetical case, the Khazar king is prepared to acknowledge the ...
    +4 moreShow less
    Kant's Critique of Pure Reason demonstrates that causal inference from empirical...The Indian king analogy fails because earthly diplomatic credentials are verifia...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: halevi
    View source passageHide passage
    It is only after the king has expressed himself in this way that the sage begins to suggest that the entire thought experiment is parabolical and that the king has, in effect, endorsed the rationality and appropriateness of the sage's opening remarks. The endorsement was in his having responded to the unanticipated diplomatic mission to his court with all its concomitant benefits just as the biblical Israelites responded to the unanticipated mission and extraordinary benefits that came their way
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    The diplomatic mission creates a sense of indebtedness and obligation that lays ...
    The messenger (angel or prophet), the signed letter (revealed Law), and medicina...

    Similar

    Moral laws must be grounded in divine authority (God).76%Those who find divine command theory plausible will also see moral obl...75%The messenger (angel or prophet), the signed letter (revealed Law), an...73%Moral laws can be recognized as divine commands or divine laws73%
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit