That is, in all things being equal, the simplest explanation is likely to be the most likely explanation.
2006-09-09 23:28:19 · 6 answers · asked by wombatusium 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It could and should be applied to the entire concept of deities.
2006-09-09 23:31:06 · answer #1 · answered by bonzo the tap dancing chimp 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It is a tool that is of use, but beware. If the only tool you had was a hammer, all the problems would look like nails.
There are some groups that come up with some convoluted answer to what a certain passage means. Ockham's Razor would ask for a simpler explanation which there is and it also happens to be the one that was held by historic christians.
If you want to reduce the Bible to rationalistic approach like the followers of Ayn Rand want, then Ockham's Razor is not going to be the right tool to do that. Some people on the night before the first atomic bomb were trying to persuade a fellow that the Bible was wrong because oxidation was the strongest force known to man before that and it could not explain the devastation found in the book of Revelation. When he woke up in the morning and learned about nuclear physics, then he understood that he did not have the full picture!
2006-09-10 19:11:24 · answer #2 · answered by Buzz s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For some things perhaps not everything. The thing is, each of those books within the bible were written by different men and so the same instances are not shown in the same way which would make applying Occam's Razor harder because which instance is the most accurate? I think whenever personal bias in writing is found, nothing becomes simple.
2006-09-10 06:57:18 · answer #3 · answered by genaddt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm with the chimp on the deity argument.
Occam's razor refers to how evidence should be interpreted. With reference to the Bible, a lot of the 'facts' which need explaining (such as the flood, or the garden of eden) are simply not true. And so no explanation is therefore necessary.
Perhaps we could apply Occam's bloody great shredding machine to the Bible instead - it would be more useful and save a lot of trees.
2006-09-10 07:10:56 · answer #4 · answered by the last ninja 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If by applying, you mean denouncing "God", that would upset a lot of people -- although I would not be one of them. Then again, everything is supposedly a miracle in the bible and therefore safe because everything in that book is an exception to the natural order of things.
How disturbing to our feeble minds this notion of "God" would be indeed.
2006-09-10 06:41:52 · answer #5 · answered by : ) 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not really coz Occam wasn't either Jewish or Christian...nd is a scientific device anyhow...not religious
2006-09-10 06:46:08 · answer #6 · answered by cheek peas 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋