by Robin Schumacher
Thomas Henry Huxley was an English biologist who was nicknamed Darwins Bulldog for his staunch support of Darwins theory of evolution. Huxley is also credited with coining the term agnostic. Following in his footsteps, his grandson Julian Huxley wrote the following about when a person should assume a position of agnosticism:
I believe that one should be agnostic when belief one way or the other is [1] mere idle speculation, incapable of verification; [2] when belief is held merely to gratify desires, however deep-seated, and not because it is forced on us by evidence; and [3] when belief may be taken by others to be more firmly grounded than it really is, and so come to encourage false hopes or wrong attitudes of mind.
Huxley felt that, All our life long we are oscillating between conviction and caution, faith and agnosticism, belief and suspension of belief.
A formal definition of Huxleys agnostic term today is: a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
From this description, it can be said that an agnostics position is one where he says that he does not know if God exists. Speaking more broadly, some agnostics state that it is difficult to hold any truth with certainty.
Agnosticism typically takes one of two forms--hard and soft. The hard agnostic says that a person cant know anything for sure. However, this is a self-defeating position as the hard agnostic says he knows for sure that he cant know anything for sure. Hard agnosticism simply has no container that can keep its universal solvent, and therefore it becomes an untenable position to hold and must be discarded.
In contrast to hard agnosticism, the soft agnostic says he/she doesnt know anything for sure. At issue is not the lack of human ability for knowing a particular truth, but rather the agnostic struggles with how a truth claim can be verified or shown to be true. It is the ancient pursuit of what in philosophy is called epistemology--how do we know, and how do we know that we know? When the issue of determining the existence of the Christian God is added to the mix, things get even stickier.
But perhaps that doesnt need to be the case. What if a person truly follows and applies Julian Huxleys criteria for determining when to be agnostic about a particular truth claim? What would be the end result when Huxleys measures are applied to the claims of the New Testament and specifically its account of Jesus Christ?
Huxleys first condition is that a belief cannot be mere idle speculation or be incapable of verification. This first standard seems reasonable as pure conjecture or hearsay should not be a basis for committing oneself to a belief. The second condition appears logical also and is sometimes termed the principle of falsification, which was used by philosophers such as Anthony Flew in his initial writings on religion.
How do the claims of the New Testament and Christianity hold up under Huxleys first criterion? When the legal/historical methods for determining truth are applied to the New Testament, it stands very firm under Huxleys standard.
The writers of the New Testament never state that their beliefs were based on hearsay or were events that could not be authenticated. Quite the opposite, as apostles such as Peter say, For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16). The disciples recorded occurrences that happened in actual space/time, saw these events with their own eyes, and recorded Jesus life, death, and resurrection so that others would know the truth of what happened.
In terms of falsification, the apostle Paul gave the enemies of Christianity a single truth claim that, if proven untrue, would crumble and destroy Christianity in an instant: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain (1 Corinthians 15:1314). Paul says if the resurrection of Christ did not occur, then the Christian faith is literally empty (vain). That, Paul says, is how Christianity can be falsified: find the body of that Jewish carpenter and the Christian faith is undone.
But earlier in that same chapter, Paul actually challenges his readers of that day to go check for themselves that the tomb of Jesus was truly empty: He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15:58). Paul is literally asking his readers to verify his claims with many others (over 500) alive at that time who saw Christ and could act as witnesses to validate the fact that Jesus resurrection actually occurred in space/time history.
But, given that we cannot do that today, how can modern-day people know that Paul and the other apostles were telling the truth? The apostles answer that question through their grave markers. All except John were martyred for their testimony. People may be deceived and die for a lie, but no one dies for what he knows is a lie. All the apostles had to do to save their lives was recant their testimony and say they didnt see Jesus alive, but none did. Greater evidence for believability cannot be had.
Moving on from Huxleys first criterion brings the discussion to his second and third standards, which are nearly identical in nature. Huxley says that a belief should be discarded if the sole purpose is to satisfy some psychological desire and if the belief is not well-grounded from a reality perspective thus producing false hopes in its target. This benchmark measure for a belief is certainly rational--as the only reason to believe anything is that that particular thing (truth claim) is true.
Oftentimes, the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud is quoted to show how religion fails such a test. Speaking of religious beliefs, Freud said: They are illusions, fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind. We call belief an illusion when a wish-fulfillment is a prominent factor in its motivation, and in doing so we disregard its relation to reality, just as the illusion itself sets no store by verification.
However, Freuds criteria do nothing to prove or disprove God--as his sword cuts in both directions. Could it not be true that atheists have wishes and urges of their own? Perhaps it's a wish that a God who will call them to account one day for their actions does not exist. Such a desire can be very motivating and drive a person to hold an atheistic position. So in reality, Freuds words have no power whatsoever to determine if the truth claims of Christianity are valid or not.
Freuds thoughts aside, how does the New Testament stand up against Huxleys second and third standards? As it does with Huxleys first measure, the New Testament does extremely well.
First, from a legal/historical perspective, no document from antiquity comes even close to the New Testament where passing the general criteria for judging the validity of a historical work is concerned. The New Testament passes the bibliographical test (manuscript reliability and early dating), internal-evidence test (multiple-key testimonies all of which match), and the external-evidence test (outside evidence that corroborates the documents testimony) with flying colors.
Second, as many have said, the New Testament is not written like a lie. The New Testament writers would not have invented accounts, such as Jesus being buried by a member of the Sanhedrin, women being the first witnesses of Christs resurrection, and other such things.
Rather, what is found is a strong commitment to accuracy no matter where the evidence led them. Such dedication is seen in the pen of Luke: Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught (Luke 1:14).
Lastly, as has already been pointed out, the New Testament writers died for their testimony. As theologian and professor Peter Kreeft points out: Why would the apostles lie? . . . If they lied, what was their motive . . .? What they got out of it was misunderstanding, rejection, persecution, torture, and martyrdom. Hardly a list of perks!
The treatment Kreeft lists certainly is not desirable from a psychological perspective and would produce no false hopes in the disciples as they would obviously know their claims were false if they were lying. Adding this to arguments above, we see that the New Testament accounts overcome Huxleys second and third hurdles for being agnostic.
In the end, a person who claims to be agnostic about Christianity but uses Julian Huxleys own criteria for determining whether one should be agnostic will have to seriously reconsider his position. With the hard agnostic position being ruled out as self-defeating and the soft agnostic position being challenged by the compelling evidence of the New Testament, the more reasonable conclusion for the agnostic to reach, once everything has been examined, seems to be that Christianity is true.
Read more:
What is agnosticism? | Christian Apologetics ... - carm
- The classic definition of a fool - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Memories Of A Former British Far-Right Extremist: The Transformation Of Joseph Pearce - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Atheism vs. Agnosticism: What's the Difference Between Atheism ... - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Agnosticism - New Advent - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Agnosticism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Agnosticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- My Five Apps: Kevin's (Platform) Agnostic Life - December 29th, 2013 [December 29th, 2013]
- Atheism and Agnosticism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - December 30th, 2013 [December 30th, 2013]
- Agnosticism - RationalWiki - January 3rd, 2014 [January 3rd, 2014]
- Is 'Paranormal' scary good? - January 4th, 2014 [January 4th, 2014]
- Intel’s Vision: Wearables Everywhere In A Post-Windows World - January 7th, 2014 [January 7th, 2014]
- After Arriving On Android, Glooko Lands $7M From Samsung & More To Bring Predictive Diabetes Care Global - January 9th, 2014 [January 9th, 2014]
- Raymark Launching Next Generation Of Retail Mobility And Analytics Solutions At The National Retail Federation's BIG ... - January 13th, 2014 [January 13th, 2014]
- Go see Her, that movie about a guy who falls in love with his operating system - January 14th, 2014 [January 14th, 2014]
- James Brennan: A profession in crisis - January 16th, 2014 [January 16th, 2014]
- Agnosticism - New World Encyclopedia - January 17th, 2014 [January 17th, 2014]
- Agnosticism is the only logical belief - Video - January 19th, 2014 [January 19th, 2014]
- Board of Ed. approves 7 new Chicago charter schools - January 23rd, 2014 [January 23rd, 2014]
- Agnosticism - AllAboutPhilosophy.org - January 25th, 2014 [January 25th, 2014]
- REVIEW: Insaan, aye Insaan! by Hasan Manzar - DAWN.COM - January 26th, 2014 [January 26th, 2014]
- GOD The Irresistible (The End of Atheism and Agnosticism) By I.D.Campbell - Video - January 27th, 2014 [January 27th, 2014]
- Crimes and Misdemeanors Nihilism Agnosticism Existentialism Philosophy Woody Allen God - Video - January 31st, 2014 [January 31st, 2014]
- Filjiug-Zero VS Agnosticism - Video - February 2nd, 2014 [February 2nd, 2014]
- Robert Jastrow's Struggle of God and Agnosticism - Video - February 6th, 2014 [February 6th, 2014]
- Idolatry 101: Skepticism, Atheism, Agnosticism, all -ism's are IDOLATRY! - Video - February 6th, 2014 [February 6th, 2014]
- Caitlyn Brennan: Dust to dust - February 7th, 2014 [February 7th, 2014]
- Reader Comments - February 13th, 2014 [February 13th, 2014]
- Windows apps and desktop are coming to Chrome OS, thanks to Google and VMware - February 14th, 2014 [February 14th, 2014]
- How an On-Air Panic Attack Improved My Life - February 14th, 2014 [February 14th, 2014]
- Perks of Open Bridge Rack : Customization + agnosticism | #OCPSummit - February 14th, 2014 [February 14th, 2014]
- Spanish pilgrims of Muslim charity - February 16th, 2014 [February 16th, 2014]
- Agnosticism: PAP Vs. TAP - Video - February 17th, 2014 [February 17th, 2014]
- Agnosticism Explained by Richard Dawkins - Video - February 17th, 2014 [February 17th, 2014]
- How China Fooled the World With Fiat - February 21st, 2014 [February 21st, 2014]
- Hawthorne Heights Interview - piano lessons, agnosticism, oyster wrap - Video - February 24th, 2014 [February 24th, 2014]
- Theism, Atheism, and Agnosticism - Video - February 26th, 2014 [February 26th, 2014]
- A Heart Capable of Every Form -- atheism, agnosticism and belief - Video - March 2nd, 2014 [March 2nd, 2014]
- agnosticism - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com - March 3rd, 2014 [March 3rd, 2014]
- Humanist, Religious Freedom & Scientology Writers Launch Featured Contributor Program on WorldReligionNews.com - March 6th, 2014 [March 6th, 2014]
- CON: Prayer in school doesnt account for all religions - March 7th, 2014 [March 7th, 2014]
- agnosticism: Definition from Answers.com - March 9th, 2014 [March 9th, 2014]
- Finding the courage to be blatantly believer-ish - March 10th, 2014 [March 10th, 2014]
- Agnosticism is Stupid - Video - March 10th, 2014 [March 10th, 2014]
- Agnosticism: What It Is & Shouldn't Be - Video - March 11th, 2014 [March 11th, 2014]
- [Lecture] Why I Am An Agnostic; Philosophical Argument for Agnosticism, Atheism, Audiobook - Video - March 11th, 2014 [March 11th, 2014]
- Explosive, Daring Cosmos Just Launched a New Crusade for Science - March 12th, 2014 [March 12th, 2014]
- *MIRROR* Defining Atheism Agnosticism a discussion - Video - March 15th, 2014 [March 15th, 2014]
- Richard Dawkins Highlights US Atheist's Video on Agnostic Atheists, Agnostic Theists - March 18th, 2014 [March 18th, 2014]
- Eakins sale plan due by month's end - March 19th, 2014 [March 19th, 2014]
- Khushwant: RIP - March 20th, 2014 [March 20th, 2014]
- WorldReligionNews.com Featured Contributor Series Continues with 'Religious Freedom As A Human Rights Issue' by Donald ... - March 21st, 2014 [March 21st, 2014]
- He believed in life - March 23rd, 2014 [March 23rd, 2014]
- Shakira review: Another appealing album from a charming pop star - March 25th, 2014 [March 25th, 2014]
- Kanika Datta: Great leaps back - March 27th, 2014 [March 27th, 2014]
- Caller: Agnosticism is not the same as Atheism - Video - March 29th, 2014 [March 29th, 2014]
- ATHEISM and AGNOSTICISM - Video - March 29th, 2014 [March 29th, 2014]
- Religious Freedom as a Human Right Featured in World Religion News Featured Contributor Series - April 4th, 2014 [April 4th, 2014]
- Does This Video Show A Skydiver Nearly Being Hit By A Meteorite? - April 4th, 2014 [April 4th, 2014]
- Agnostic | What is the Definition of Agnostic ... - April 4th, 2014 [April 4th, 2014]
- Atheism and Agnosticism Laurence Brown - Video - April 5th, 2014 [April 5th, 2014]
- Why John Hubley Was One of the Best Animators You've Never Heard Of - April 8th, 2014 [April 8th, 2014]
- Atheism, Agnosticism, and Perfect Belief: The Parameters of the Jewish Conceptions of God - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- The artist known as W - April 11th, 2014 [April 11th, 2014]
- Agnosticism - Religion-wiki - April 14th, 2014 [April 14th, 2014]
- Borges' widow recalls highschool meeting with pope - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Rebel Music Author Hisham Aidi on the Relationship Between Hip-Hop and Islam - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Atheism, Agnosticism and the Pointlessness of "Absolute Certainty" - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- The New Safety Umbrella for school children - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- Ambiquity a New Life Perspective - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- Agnosticism vs Gnosticism | VEDA Day Eleven - Video - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- NJ school sued after atheists object to 'Under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney responds to anti-religion group's complaint - April 25th, 2014 [April 25th, 2014]
- WorldReligionNews.com Featured Contributor Series Continues with 'Finding Noah,' Scientology, Hinduism and Religious ... - April 25th, 2014 [April 25th, 2014]
- Meet Miriam - the woman who keeps Nick Clegg on his toes - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Book World: Michael Cunninghams heavenly style rules in The Snow Queen - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Author Pochin Moulds adventure in life comes to an end - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Agnosticism, Aliens & Crazies - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Atheist on Agnosticism - Video - May 11th, 2014 [May 11th, 2014]
- History of confession is a tale of sexual obsession, exploitation - May 14th, 2014 [May 14th, 2014]
- Outreach, Inc. Releases Church Resources for 'God's Not Dead' Movie - May 15th, 2014 [May 15th, 2014]