“Though experience be our only guide in reasoning
concerning matters of fact; it must be acknowledged, that this guide is
not altogether infallible, but in some cases is apt to lead us into
errors…A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence”
(David Hume).
In this quote, David Hume describes his position on
the issue of what constitutes evidence of a miracle. David Hume posits
that experiential evidence is sufficient for factual matters, but not
for everything. We can be deceived by our own experiences. Hume
believes that objective, verifiable evidence is necessary to prove the
existence of miracles. For example, a lot of people consider the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be based on a false prophet,
Joseph Smith. Their entire church is based on his supposed encounter
with the angel Moroni. This encounter would certainly be considered a
miracle by most people’s standards, but it does not meet Hume’s criteria
for being classified as a miracle. The reason for this is because the
LDS church relies on Joseph Smith’s subjective account of his miraculous
experience. To the LDS church, this constitutes sufficient evidence.
To Hume, it would not. For all we know, Joseph Smith could have been
hallucinating or simply fabricating the story to seek attention. This
is an example of what Hume means when he says that our senses are not
infallible and they can lead us into error. Hume would likely reject
the LDS church altogether on the basis of insufficient evidence for its
doctrinal claims.
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