Last Updated on 2023-07-13 by Joop Beris
Many people of faith see their holy book as proof, as a text that shows their faith is true. After all, their holy text is the word of God. Unfortunately, most if not all faiths claim that their holy book is the word of God. Logically they can’t all be correct (though they could all be wrong). However, using their holy book as proof of their faith is not a valid approach. Let’s have a look at why holy books aren’t proof that a faith is true.
Circular reasoning
The claim usually follows the steps as outlined in the illustration. Even though this illustration mentions the Bible, it is just as valid for most other holy books out there. It doesn’t matter where you begin the discussion, you always end up where you started. The holy book is true because it is the word of God. The holy book says it is the word of God. The holy book is always right, because it is the word of God. It should be obvious to anyone that you can not prove anything like this because it is circular reasoning.
The book is the claim
There is another important reason holy books aren’t proof of someone’s religion being true. The holy book doesn’t prove the claim, it is the claim. People of faith believe that what their holy book says is true. The content of their beliefs are in their holy book. This means that what they believe to be true and what they cite as proof of their belief being true are one and the same thing. A holy book used in this way is not proof of anything, it’s just a rephrasing of the claim. For a holy book to actually serve as proof of truth, it would have to be verified independently. So far, that is not something any religion has managed.
There you have it: logic destroys yet another argument from the faithful.
[…] atheist, Andrus should know that quoting from the Bible isn’t going to convince an atheist. Holy books aren’t proof of your religion’s veracity, they contain the contents of what you believe. It is not a fact […]
[…] again I am forced to point out that you can’t prove your faith by pointing to your holy book. Holy books aren’t proof for your beliefs, they contain your beliefs! The holy book doesn’t prove your claim, it is […]
hi . Quran its proven himself and the book before him . Quran is absolute true find one lie if u can . all Quran its code by number 19 .
The article argues that holy books aren’t proof of your faith but instead are the claims of your faith. You need something else to prove that the claims in your holy book are correct.
Your argument to that is that your holy book is completely true.
Fine, so prove it.
[…] 5 Things Atheists Can’t Prove – Random musings, rambling opinions on Why holy books aren’t proof […]
[…] die where things become interesting, or not. No one has any proof of what happens after we die. No, the Bible doesn’t count as proof. This is simply an argument from ignorance. Thing 4: […]
[…] Why holy books aren’t proof […]