Claims, Evidence, and Warrant

A claim is a statement of truth. It concerns some issue, and it makes a point.

Evidence is the data, experience, objects, and events that support the claim. They can support the truth of the claim, or they can disprove competing claims.

Here's the tricky one. Warrant is the underlying value set that determines what counts as evidence. Warrant is built out of the worldview of the investigator, and is what casts legitimacy on different kinds of evidences and diminishes the legitimacy of others. Consider the difference between the warrant of scientific pursuit and the warrant of judicial proceedings. In science it doesn't count as evidence if it cannot be repeated and falsified. Whereas in law enforcement, the event is past (and the courts are not likely to encourage anyone to repeat the event), so testimony, specific artifacts, and even motivations are seen as evidence.

Why this all matters... When talking about different aspects of human being, be it study of human culture, empirical inquiry, personal reflection, or divinity... different data, experience, objects, and events are going to, at times, count as evidence and at others not. Depending on the warrant.

I was talking to Kristen recently about her time in Medjugorje. When discussing an experience in the presence of a Locutionary, Kristen attested to having a particularly powerful spiritual moment. She went into the details of the encounter, reflecting on her personal, spiritual, and emotional states at the time. After saying this, Kristen says:

"I don't have any evidence, but..."

Now, knowing what we do about warrant, is it true that she doesn't have evidence? It depends.

According to scientific warrant, does she have evidence? No. She has no specimens, no read outs, no way of recreating the scene.

According to religious warrant, does she have evidence? Of course! With personal, spiritual, and emotional reflections on the matter, her actually being there is vastly more valuable than any read out could ever be... within a religious context.

She even has decent evidence within traditions that value ethnographic data. Additionally, the entire community surrounding Medjugorje adds a kind of evidence that is highly respected among even harder social sciences.

In short, never let anyone bully you by telling you you don't have proof. You may not have the proof they want, but remind them that all proof exists within an intellectual context. The direct answer to a prayer is all the proof I could ever hope for... but keep in mind that without an avid prayer life... such "evidence" is meaningless.


Side note: you can tell a lot about what a person will ever believe by looking to the warrant they hold. If someone only accepts physical evidence to solve all problems, they are unlikely to come to claim that the universe is made through love. My favorite annoying thing to ask atheists and agnostics is if they have ever prayed for more faith. They tend to give me a look, and ask why they would pray if they weren't sure there was anything to pray to. I tell them to pray, "Oh, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!" (I think its in Mark.) They tend not to be impressed.

I realize it's totally ridiculous, but it's my little way of pointing out the importance of warrant.