God & Science
Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence, and science keeps filling the gaps.
Short answer
Whether a miracle is "extraordinary" depends on whether God exists. If he does, raising Jesus is not out of character. And the case for God isn't built on gaps in our knowledge but on what we do know: that the universe began, that it is orderly and understandable, and that the historical evidence for the resurrection is strong. Explaining how nature works doesn't explain why there is nature at all.
In simple words: Science helps us understand how God's world works. Knowing how a car engine works doesn't mean nobody built the car!
Response
Carl Sagan made the phrase "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" famous. It's a reasonable caution: we should be careful before believing something unusual. Christians agree. The Bible itself says to test things (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
But how extraordinary a claim is depends on what else is true. If there is no God, a resurrection is wildly unlikely. If God exists and made the universe, raising Jesus from the dead is not out of character. So the question of miracles can't be separated from the evidence for God, which this site sets out in other answers.
And the evidence for the resurrection is strong by the standards of ancient history: the early creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, the empty tomb, the appearances, and the transformation of the disciples and of skeptics like James and Paul. Historians accept far less about many ancient events.
What about the "God of the gaps"? It's true that people once credited God for things like lightning while ignoring the natural causes. But the main arguments for God don't come from what we can't explain. They come from what we can: the universe had a beginning, its laws are finely tuned for life, and it is orderly enough for science to work at all. John Lennox compares it to a car: understanding how the engine works doesn't make Henry Ford disappear. Science explains how; it doesn't explain why there is anything to explain.
Many founders of modern science, like Kepler and Newton, studied nature because they believed in God. For them, every discovery of how the world works was another reason to praise its Maker (Psalm 19:1).
Key evidence
- The phrase "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" was made famous by Carl Sagan in Cosmos (1980).
- Whether a miracle is likely depends on whether God exists, so the two questions belong together.
- Main arguments for God rest on what science has discovered (a beginning, fine-tuning, order), not on gaps.
- Many scholars date the creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 to within a few years of the crucifixion.
Bible passages
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test everything.
- Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 The early creed and the eyewitnesses.
- Acts 26:26 "It was not done in a corner."
Discussion questions
- What makes a claim "extraordinary"? Does the answer depend on what you already believe?
- What's the difference between explaining how something works and explaining why it exists?
- Which evidence for the resurrection seems strongest to you?