WHY EVEN SPIRITUALISTS MIGHT TAKE THE KNOCK TALE WITH A TINY PINCH OF SALT

Daniel Dunglas Home, Spiritualist Medium, “Light is the single test necessary and it is a test which can and must be given”.

Meaning: spiritualist demonstrations such as materialisation of spirits and levitation for example must take place in daylight to deserve investigation and credence. This an excellent rule of thumb in all cases.  I wonder how often Jesus supposedly appeared in daylight?

Home himself was guilty of fraud and did work in the dark at times and there are things that are too easily explained by trickery. But some say he did manage what seem to be verified paranormal supernatural feats.

Christians wish that the resurrection of Jesus could be the best supported miracle. But that is not true. Witnesses to an event may be lying and many times you cannot prove it or show it. There are cases of witnesses like that who say rival miracles have happened. And we can speak to those people which automatically gives them an advantage over and more credence than dead apostles.

Jesus' most important appearances to the apostles when he gave them the Holy Spirit and when Thomas supposedly inspected the hands and side may have happened in the dark.

The Christian claim, "If we trust human nature at all we will trust the resurrection accounts" is a crafty over-simplification.  They mistrust better accounts of miracles they don't want to believe in.  It is serious if the miracle of Jesus coming back to live forever and heal us of evil is not as credible as say a Muslim having stigmata like Muhammad as a sign that Muhammad was right that Jesus never died on a cross at all.  It is serious if Jesus curing a bleed a woman suffers from rises higher on the evidence scale than his resurrection.

What can we glean from Home anyway if it is the case that real wonder workers may cheat at times?

It would warn us that we should not be founding religions on people with supposed powers. There is no evidence that such powers make them any more reliable than somebody without them.  Home would still surpass the gospel standard of evidence.

And what if supposed powers work well enough at times to make people think they have met a man raised gloriously from the dead?  You can use the powers to trick with.

David Hume said reports of magical events and miracles may be true but they cannot get over the suspicion that untruths or lies or errors are involved. Here we show that even if they are true, they are to be regarded as interesting but they remain warnings to keep away from those who do them. Don’t follow that person as a religious leader. Don’t give money.

What has this to do with Knock?   The evidence is that most trickery happens in the dark.  We should listen to Home.