For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 1:12) ESV
The idea that evidence is neutral and we all have access to it is known as Matty’s Razor. Evidence doesn’t lead to a conclusion, it just is. How we interpret evidence is determined by what we believe. It’s called cognitive bias.
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It’s a way to test information. We have to evaluate whether or not a piece of information qualifies as a fact. Here’s an idea: a fact has to be true regardless of what you believe about science or the Bible.
A fact is a : something that has actual existence, b : an actual occurrence.
– Fact, definition (Merriam-Webster)
We have two competing paradigms: the popular science paradigm (SciPop) and Matty’s Paradigm. If a piece of information is only true in one of the paradigms then it’s not a fact. Once we establish what the facts are, then we can deduce a conclusion. We can then consider this to be knowledge. This is our epistemological razor.
We all have the same evidence. Our choice of paradigm determines what we think it’s evidence of.
– Matty’s Razor
We have to start with primary sources of evidence, we can’t use a narrative that’s only true in one paradigm as the starting point of our reasoning. This is the mistake that all Christian theologians and apologists have made: they all start within the SciPop paradigm. We’re not going to make that mistake.
And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
(Matthew 13:52) ESV
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