Professor Keith Parsons: "Are Supernatural Hypotheses Testable?"

The most interesting supernatural hypotheses are those that are can be tested, but, for some reason or another, always seem to elude actual testing. Consider the theistic hypothesis, the hypothesis that the God of theism exists. This hypothesis can be tested, and, as we noted above, according to scripture has been tested in the past—with spectacularly positive results. The problem, of course, is that all those alleged public demonstrations of divine power occurred long, long ago, in what Hume called “ignorant and barbarous nations.” In short, it is eminently reasonable for the skeptic simply to deny that such events ever occurred. What we need, then, is something now, something very public and conclusive. As I say, an Elijah-like test could be broadcast worldwide now. Or, if such a display is considered vulgar, there could be rigorous, reproducible results performed in a scientific setting and verified by the qualified parties. So why not? Link.

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