Abstract
This is the second article in a series of two that discusses whether historians are within their professional rights to investigate miracle claims. In the first, I made a positive case that they are and then proceeded to examine two major arguments in support of a negative verdict to the issue: the principle of analogy and antecedent probability. I argued that neither should deter historians from issuing a positive verdict on miracle claims when certain criteria are met and the event is the best explanation of the relevant historical bedrock. In this second article, I examine three additional objections commonly appealed to by biblical scholars: the theological objection, lack of consensus and miracle claims in multiple religions. The resurrection of Jesus is occasionally cited as an example.
Highlights
Original ResearchAffiliations: 1Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa
The question as to whether historians are within their professional rights when adjudicating on the historicity of miracle claims is a discussion taking place even outside of the community of biblical scholars (Licona 2009)
I made a positive case that historians are within their professional rights to adjudicate on the historicity of miracle claims
Summary
Affiliations: 1Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa. How to cite this article: Licona, M.R. & Van der Watt, J.G., 2009, ‘The adjudication of miracles: Rethinking the criteria of historicity’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 65(1), Art. Note: This article is a reworked version of Dr Michael R. Licona’s (Alpharetta, GA, USA), PhD thesis in New Testament Studies, titled ‘The historicity of the resurrection of Jesus: Historiographical considerations in the light of recent debates’, submitted to and accepted by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria, under supervision of Prof.
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