While there may be evidence to eventually support the belief that the two events are linked, the conclusion that the one must be due to the other simply because it happened afterward is false. This fallacy attempts to create a causal relationship between ideas/events. The evidence for Jesus’ life and resurrection must be judged on its own merit and not simply dismissed out of hand.Post hoc ergo propter hoc - After, therefore because of But similarity doesn’t prove dependence-besides, the pagan religions aren’t all that similar to the story of Christ.
Making such a claim is akin to saying the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” caused the invention of the Hubble Space Telescope.Ĭommitting a false cause fallacy, a person might cite a pagan mystery religion with a dying and rising god and conclude, on that basis, the life of Jesus was invented or His resurrection never took place. However, even if myths from the pre-Christian era resemble the life of Christ (and they don’t), it wouldn’t mean they caused the New Testament writers to invent a false Jesus. They point to the stories of Osiris, Adonis, and Mithra and allege that the gospel narratives simply copycat the old myths.
Some skeptics of the Bible fall into the false cause fallacy when they say that the story of Jesus is simply a pagan mythology retold.
#Faulty causality definition skin
“Bleeding makes your skin break (every time I bleed, there’s a split in my skin).” “Football games are won based on which team has more enthusiastic fans (every time our football team scores, I hear people cheering, so the cheering is what leads to points).” “Talking to cashiers at fast food restaurants causes obesity (the more often I talk to fast food cashiers, the heavier I get).” “John started going to church more often, then won the lottery therefore, God is rewarding his faithfulness.” These statements are all examples of false cause fallacies: When there’s not even a tenuous link between two events, people rarely assume a connection. In some instances, there truly is a connection between the events, but not an “A causes B” relationship. In most cases, people are reacting to what appears to be a connection, even if it’s entirely artificial. And advertising that points out that people who use a certain product tend to be healthy does not necessarily mean that the product causes the good health.Īn important feature of any false cause fallacy is a perceived connection between two events.
#Faulty causality definition crack
But the rooster crowing at the crack of dawn does not cause the sun to rise. Luther’s action was certainly a catalyst for and benefit to the movement, but the cause of the Reformation is much more complex than that.Īnother example of a false cause fallacy is cum hoc, ergo propter hoc, or “with this, therefore because of this.” In this case, the mistake is to assume that, when two events often happen together, one causes the other. For example, saying that Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses caused the Protestant Reformation relies on inflated causality. It takes an event-one that contributes to a result-and attempts to make it the sole cause. This variation relies on over-simplification. Inflated causality, related to post hoc, is another type of false cause fallacy. Many superstitions outside of baseball are based in this specific error, from knocking on wood to crossing one’s fingers. The baseball player who hits a home run while wearing mismatched socks should not assume the different socks caused his power surge. Specific versions of false cause fallacies include the post hoc, ergo propter hoc error, which literally means “after this, therefore because of this.” The false idea here is that, just because two things are consecutive, the first one must have caused the second. Any time someone thinks, “A causes B,” without a sufficient reason to believe that B is truly caused by A, it’s an example of the false cause fallacy. A false cause fallacy occurs when someone incorrectly assumes a causal relationship between two things the name of the fallacy is fairly literal.