Extraordinary Claims and Extraordinary Evidence

DAY 337  CHALLENGE “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Religion makes extraordinary claims, therefore we must have extraordinary evidence for them.” DEFENSE This depends on what you mean by “extraordinary.” In its original sense, extraordinary refers to things outside of or different from the ordinary. It thus refers to anything uncommon. However, the term has acquired an additional sense, according to which extraordinary refers to things that are startling, overwhelming, or awe-inspiring. Used this way, the term becomes subjective, because different people find different...