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Difference between revisions of "Question: Is a man unreliable because he lived in the 19th-Century?"
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To imply that nineteenth-century men are intrinsically unreliable is both an ''ad hominem'' (an attack against the character of person making the claim, rather than the claim itself) and sets an impossible standard of evidence for the gospel inasmuch as they were the only men available as witnesses at the time. Thus the author is using a screening argument (dates of life) that can be used to exclude whatever evidence he wishes to ignore. | To imply that nineteenth-century men are intrinsically unreliable is both an ''ad hominem'' (an attack against the character of person making the claim, rather than the claim itself) and sets an impossible standard of evidence for the gospel inasmuch as they were the only men available as witnesses at the time. Thus the author is using a screening argument (dates of life) that can be used to exclude whatever evidence he wishes to ignore. | ||
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| + | The following video examines all claims against the witnesses and the emergent strength of their composite testimonials. | ||
| + | <embedvideo service="youtube">Mm-AXJNXiB8</embedvideo> | ||
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Revision as of 13:39, 25 March 2019
FAIR Answers—back to home page
Question: Is a man unreliable because he lived in the 19th-Century?
To imply that someone is unreliable simply because of the era they lived in is a ad hominem attack
Were the Book of Mormon witnesses not "empirical" or "rational" because they lived in the 19th-Century during a time when "folk magic" was practiced?
- One critic of Mormonism claims "The mistake that is made by 21st century Mormons is that they’re seeing the Book of Mormon Witnesses as empirical, rational, twenty-first century men" (The claim was modified to read "nineteenth-century men" in later revisions)[1]
To imply that nineteenth-century men are intrinsically unreliable is both an ad hominem (an attack against the character of person making the claim, rather than the claim itself) and sets an impossible standard of evidence for the gospel inasmuch as they were the only men available as witnesses at the time. Thus the author is using a screening argument (dates of life) that can be used to exclude whatever evidence he wishes to ignore.
The following video examines all claims against the witnesses and the emergent strength of their composite testimonials.
Notes
- ↑ Jeremy Runnells, "Letter to a CES Director" (original version posted on the critical website "FutureMissionary.com") (2013)