Past Viewer™

[goofyfish]

Say a discovery is made tomorrow that reveals that a record of everything that has happened is stored in every part of reality (a holographic universe), and we are able to build a Past Viewer™. Let's say the resolution is 5 million years. That is to say you can pick any point in time and space and view what was going on there at any time within the limits. You plug in Tuesday at your house 3 years ago and see yourself doing laundry.

Perfect. The device works.

Now turn the device to history and religion. You are able to document and record the entire life of Jesus and everyone else in the bible. It turns out no miracles ever happened. No wine to water, no global flood, no parting of the red sea, no healing of blind people, no Adam and Eve. Some of the people in the bible were real; some were composites of many different people. Everyone turns out to be just a human - Jesus included. The viewer reveals he lived, preached, and died horribly - but was never resurrected. Human ancestry can be traced in a direct line back to more primitive primates - our ancestors.

With dread fascination, you are able to trace back the origins of all the stories in the bible and none of the supernatural events ever occurred - all superstition and storytelling.

Would you still believe? It would seem a rational person would no longer accept the sentiments in The Book as fact. If I can go and confirm that the device works by looking up my own history, and then look at the rest of history with the aforementioned results, then there is no reason to rationally believe any of it anymore. Of course, something tells me there are many who would not have the intellectual honesty to accept it. I can imagine several responses:

The Past Viewer™ is the work of the devil/demons!
The Past Viewer™ is a test from god - maintain belief!
The Past Viewer™ evidence is false because I FEEL god!

I am interested in hearing how a rational person could maintain faith no matter how strong evidence against his or her religion may eventually become. I am not interested in hearing things like "Well no one will ever invent anything like that so it will never happen!" or "The Past Viewer™ WOULD find the miracles." Consider a thought exercise; you have to take the viewer and it's findings as a given.

Peace.


For a very interesting take on the concept of past viewers read Arthur C. Clarke's "The Light of Other Days". When they go to do the research on Jesus they call it the 12,000 days project and 12,000 people are hired for the project. Each one gets a day of Jesus' life to observe and document. The data is the used to create a true biography of the man who so influenced the world. Very interesting stuff.

 

[G0D]

Hmmmm. Plenty would turn against JC et al. But a surprising number would continue to believe. Rationalisations are easy - look at how long ppl remain smokers despite everything.

Your thought excperimnent reminds me of this movie with Antonio Banderas called "the Body" - no it's not porn. It's about how the Israelis find a tomb near Bethelehem. Forensics show that the body in the tomb had suffered major trauma to wrists and feet. Microscopic examination shows that the skull has bone fragments chipped off - alomst like small nails (or thorns) were forced on the head. Remains are dated around 2000 years old + or - 30 yrs... More and more evidence points towards it being the corpse of JC himself!

Now, I was watching this with someone who's a hardcore believer and she was really thrilled about the whole thing. She imagined that everything would be done to protect the find and a shrine built for it. Pilgrimages, souviners, worshipful crowds throng to see it, etc, etc.

She was rudely shocked when things in the movie turned out entirely the opposite way. The church officials try their best to destroy the find! Because it invalidates the idea that JC went to heaven in his body. They think that it would be the end of xtny itself. Obviously such a minor consideration never even entered the thoughts of this friend of mine who was watching the movie.

What I realised at that time was that to a believer - facts do not matter! One who wishes to believe, will continue to find reasons to believe. Give them a airtight reason to not believe, and they can overlook it completely.

 

[Neutrino_Albatross]

I think that most agnostics might turn atheist and mabey a few christians wold convert. But i think it is impossible to underestimate christian ignorance and their ability to maintain their belifes against all evidence and logic.

 

[SpyFox_the_KMeson]

Incidentally...

My dad once got in a fight with the female priest at our church. We never went back to church after that, even for easter and christmas. It was funny. I don't go to church.