Christian claims are unfalsifiable.

[Paul of Tarsus]

If you're familiar with Christianity at all, then you're unlikely to be told anything that you can falsify about it. Consider the following format for a claim that can be falsified:

Do A.
B should result if you do A.
If B is not the result of doing A, then you know that "B should result if you do A" has been falsified.

The Christian version on its claims takes this format:

Do A.
Supernatural event B (miracle, revelation, etc.) will result if you do A.
If B is not the result of doing A, then believe "Supernatural event B (miracle, revelation, etc.) will result if you do A" anyway. It's your own fault that B didn't happen because you are a faithless sinner and/or God has a plan that does not involve B for you.

The claim is then deemed to be true regardless of the outcome of A.

Another Christian version I've seen recently takes yet another format:

Do A which as far as you can tell has never been done or cannot be done.
Supernatural event B (miracle, revelation, etc.) will result if you do A.

Of course this claim cannot be falsified because doing A is impossible!

So why are all Christian claims unfalsifiable?

[bjs1]

That isn’t Christianity. There is a valid discussion about how philosophical and metaphysical claims are falsified. However, there is no “A” in orthodox Christianity that, if you do it, guarantees that you will receive a miracle, special revelation or other kind of supernatural event.

[Tcg]

That isn’t Christianity. There is a valid discussion about how philosophical and metaphysical claims are falsified. However, there is no “A” in orthodox Christianity that, if you do it, guarantees that you will receive a miracle, special revelation or other kind of supernatural event.

Jesus disagrees:

John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Of course this claim is clearly not true which may explain why "orthodox Christianity" prefers to deny Jesus' claim.


Tcg

[Diagoras]

I consider the problem’s with ‘B’, not ‘A’. When ‘B’ in this scenario is along the lines of:

‘You will have eternal life in heaven’, or

‘The Day of Judgement will happen... soon’

Neither are verifiable - either by virtue of always being in the future (and ‘retconned’ to a further future date as appropriate), or the experimenter not able to reliably confirm the state of affairs once dead.

[Diagoras]

A good example from another thread:

It would be evidence against a resurrection of mankind having already happened. But not against a future resurrection.

[nobspeople]

[Replying to Paul of Tarsus in post #1]

So why are all Christian claims unfalsifiable?

1) Years of practice of tweaking stories to get the desired outcome with an added hint of 'supernatural-ness' perhaps?
2) Or maybe they're real and out of the realm of human understanding?
Those are the only two options I can see ATM.


While 2 may be the case, it seems that, for many religions, option 1 has always been the root cause. In other words, when all else fails, toss in a bit of 'woo woo' supernatural craziness and you have a 'fact'.

[otseng]

Do A.
B should result if you do A.
If B is not the result of doing A, then you know that "B should result if you do A" has been falsified.

So why are all Christian claims unfalsifiable?

You make a vague claim about Christianity and then say "all Christian claims are unfalsifiable"? It doesn't follow.

As for falsification, I state here what would falsify Christianity for me.

[bjs1]

That isn’t Christianity. There is a valid discussion about how philosophical and metaphysical claims are falsified. However, there is no “A” in orthodox Christianity that, if you do it, guarantees that you will receive a miracle, special revelation or other kind of supernatural event.

Jesus disagrees:

John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Of course this claim is clearly not true which may explain why "orthodox Christianity" prefers to deny Jesus' claim.


Tcg

The context of that passage is receiving the Holy Spirit.

John 14:8-21:
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'?
`Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."



The gift of the Spirit is supernatural event, but it is not one that can be externally measured. Now if the opening post was referring to supernatural events such as receiving the spirit or experiencing moral renewal, then I apologize. That indeed is part of Christianity. The opening post seems to suggest a visible and external supernatural event, which is not something Jesus promised. If someone were to suggest that Jesus was making a general promise about fulfilling selfish whims, performing external miraculous feats or providing a unique revelation if it were asked for in Jesus’ named, then that would be a dishonest interpretation.

If a person is willing to pull a couple of verses out of their immediate context and out the context of the Bible on the whole, then that person could get the Bible to say virtually anything.

[Paul of Tarsus]

That isn’t Christianity. There is a valid discussion about how philosophical and metaphysical claims are falsified.

How are metaphysical claims falsified? Can you post an example of such a claim that has been falsified?

However, there is no “A” in orthodox Christianity that, if you do it, guarantees that you will receive a miracle, special revelation or other kind of supernatural event.

If what you say here is correct, then you are in agreement that Christian claims are not falsifiable. If Christians offer no guarantees that their offers will bear fruit, then those offers are unfalsifiable.

[Paul of Tarsus]

That isn’t Christianity. There is a valid discussion about how philosophical and metaphysical claims are falsified. However, there is no “A” in orthodox Christianity that, if you do it, guarantees that you will receive a miracle, special revelation or other kind of supernatural event.

Jesus disagrees:

John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Of course this claim is clearly not true which may explain why "orthodox Christianity" prefers to deny Jesus' claim.

The claim made in John 14:13 isn't really falsifiable because no time is mentioned regarding the fulfillment of the promise. As Tam would argue, if the offer has not been fulfilled yet, then we cannot conclude that it never will be fulfilled! So of course no matter how long we wait, we can be assured that the promise will be kept in due time.

The promise can be made unfalsifiable in other ways too. Examples of doing so might include saying that it isn't Gods will to keep the promise or that the person asking is a sinner who doesn't deserve what she is asking for. In any case, making unfalsifiable claims or altering falsifiable claims to make them unfalsifiable has served to safeguard Christianity from scrutiny for twenty centuries.