Quran.sh
How do we Prove a Scientific Miracle?
A scientific miracle is a claim that a religious holy book contains scientific facts that were impossible for the author to know when it was written down. To determine if a claim in the Quran, or any other religious text, constitutes a scientific miracle it is important to determine what criteria would prove its authenticity. This is important because, as science advances, it is easy to reinterpret verses to fit modern knowledge, while claiming it was a miracle all along.
The FACTS criteria below is a set of criteria if a ‘scientific miracle’ is true or not. If a claim meets all of these criteria, it can be considered a scientific miracle. If it fails to meet any of these criteria, it is likely not a miracle.
F - Falsifiability
The claim must be testable and falsifiable by scientific methods. If the claim cannot be disproven under certain conditions, it cannot be considered a scientific fact.
A - Accuracy
The claim must accurately describe a scientifically verified phenomenon. Vague or metaphorical descriptions cannot be considered evidence of scientific knowledge.
C - Context
The claim must be interpreted within the context of the time it was written. It should not rely on retroactive interpretations that project modern knowledge onto ancient texts.
T - Timeliness
The knowledge claimed must have been genuinely unknown or impossible to discover at the time the scripture was written, without the aid of modern technology or understanding.
S - Specificity
The claim must be specific and detailed, not ambiguous or open to multiple interpretations. A scientifically accurate statement should leave little room for alternative meanings.