"Miracles , such as Jesus ' resurrection , can provide evidence for a religious belief , which hence , provides evidence for God 's existence , following directly from a principle which J. L. Mackie has defended , and requires no assumptions about violations of natural laws . The principle states that a piece of evidence raises the likelihood of a hypothesis whenever that evidence is more likely given the hypothesis . The principle follows from the axioms of probability and is central to common sense reasoning . Footprints in the dirt confirm that someone has been walking there since the footprints are more likely to be there given that someone did walk there . The sound of the siren suggests that there is a fire nearby , for a siren is more likely to be heard when there is a fire nearby . Antony Flew and Mackie both agree that while miracles are extremely improbable , their occurrence is more likely on the assumption that God exists . More specific religious beliefs may rise further the likelihood of a miracle . So it follows from Mackie 's criterion of confirmation that the occurrence of miralces may confirm religious hypotheses . For instance , since the resurrection of Jesus is far more likely on the assumption that He was divine , the resurrection , if we knew it to have occurred , would confirm Jesus ' divinity and thus the truth of the Bible and it 's revelation about God and His existence . Of course , it does not prove it , but it does provide substantial support ."
"again , this is only good as a reasonable assumption , and nothing more . in many cases , the least likely answer is true . you can not create evidence out of assumptions . you test the assumptions against reality , then the assumptions can be confirmed . i agree that reasonable assumptions are useful , but basing an assumption upon another assumption causes the likeliness to decrease . for example , under the assumption that ( a ) jesus is devine , and that ( b ) God exists , it is likely that ( c ) jesus performed miracles . c can only be considered a reasonable assumption of a and b were already true . since a and b are assumptions themselves , then it makes c much more unlikely . as opposed to the case of the footprints . if ( a ) people wear shoes and ( b ) there is a footprint in the lawn , it is likely that ( c ) a person stood on the lawn . in this case , a and b are verifiable , and by they being true , we can consider c a reasonable assumption"
"Miracles , such as Jesus ' resurrection , can provide evidence for a religious belief , which hence ,"
"we can consider c a reasonable assumption"