Empirical Evidence for Religious Belief

"An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump"; Joseph Wright (1768)

            The question of empirical evidence for religious belief, the belief that there is a supernatural world, is understandable.  Excluding the Cartesian perception issues that one’s senses may be fooled (“Do I really have a body?”) or the interpretation challenges (e.g., confirmation bias), I do not take lightly a person who wants to know whether there is public, observed evidence of a supernatural world.

            The responses to this query have varied from yes, there are many empirical points of evidence to consider to no, it does not matter.  The problem with the latter is that this position likely will not satisfy the person unless they accept that believing on faith is simply the greater stance to take.  The problem with the former is that the person asking the question wants to know if there is such evidence now, in the same way they want to know if a bird can live without air as in the Wright painting above, and not something written down 3,000 years ago in the Avesta. 

            Of course, this excludes a lot of holy books and stories so right there all religious apologists will take umbrage at that condition (quick: when was the last time you used “umbrage” in a conversation?).  Nonetheless, the inquirer today is not interested in what followers of a religion thought in an era that saw many items pass for knowledge instead of what it really was, a belief (okay, the lines may blur a bit but that will take another essay).  What intrigues them is if right now there is someone who may approach them and claim, “Yep, here is evidence observed that there is a supernatural world.”

            This may lead to the difficulty that such a person may never be convinced and, sure, this could be the case.  Although if you could show someone empirical evidence that there is a supernatural world I’m certain that it would be a predicament for them to dismiss it out of hand.

            I don’t think this has happened as yet.  From ancient time until today, there has been a claim that the existence of the world (and by “world” is meant “everything,” not just the planet Earth) is a proof of a supernatural world.  Why?  Because of the belief that there had to be supernatural creators in order for the world to exist.  This is an assertion as it is simply unknown and, instead, it may demonstrate more the lack of human ability to conceive otherwise.  The corollary response is similar in taking up the point that since it is unknown, then it had to be a supernatural one.  This is the gods-of-the-gaps argument or “gods” as filling in for the answer.

            Historically, the gods-of-the-gaps contention has eroded all the way to the question of origins and that is another topic worth considering.  Seeing religious arguments slowly giving way before empirical evidence throughout history would make for an interesting, if not fascinating, documentary of that account. 

            But back to the question of empirical evidence of a supernatural world.  If there were a way to do this, test it, replicate it, and present the results then wouldn’t it have been done by now?  It appears that the best that a religious follower can say is either that it may be done in the future or, no, a supernatural world cannot undergo natural tests.  And it’s questionable that these statements are tolerable to the investigating person.