Christians often say that they know [whatever their current claim] is true because the Holy Spirit provides an “inner witness” that verifies the claim.
A: “Is the Bible true?”
C: “Well, I can’t prove it, but I have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit and that’s proof enough for me.”
A: “How do you know Jesus rose on the third day?”
C: “The Holy Spirit lets me feel Jesus in my heart.”
It’s a common response. Apologetic luminaries as well-known as William Lane Craig have fallen back on this old retort. The average Christian, then, can hardly be blamed if they follow that example. When backed into a corner, how easy is it to offer up the one thing that no one can refute—your own experience?
In a lot of cases, especially in debates and one-on-one discussions, it is a tactical maneuver designed to strike the last blow. It doesn’t prove anything, of course, but it does shut down the discussion. It’s more than that, though. I think that at some level, every religious believer has to ground their faith on something beyond what they can see. After all, if their evidence was readily available we’d all believe. So the “inner witness” is more than a rhetorical device—it reflects genuine internal feelings about the matter. No wonder that we hear it so often.
Recently, someone who has been trying to lure me back into the faith resorted to this device. I am blind to the truth, he says, because I can’t hear the Holy Spirit. Naturally, he can, and he wants me to take his word for it that the Bible is all true.
He mentioned a writer named J.I. Packer, and referenced one of his daily devotionals seen here. (see the PDF’s page 6, “The Witness Within”) I won’t go through my breakdown of Packer’s message except to say that I agree with everything in his first two paragraphs. The last paragraph goes off the rails rhetorically, but my friend would have been hard pressed to see that. Why? Packer explains it very eloquently when he says, “In consequence [of the inner witness], we no longer find it possible to doubt the divinity of either Christ or the Bible.”
Something happens in the believer’s mind so that they can no longer doubt. (If you are new to this blog, please note that I think that’s bad.) Under the influence of religion, whether infected by indoctrination, coercion or self-deception, people are no longer able to accurately assess the information in front of them. Naturally, the believer in this state thinks she has all the information needed on the matter. The Holy Spirit says so!
Why do I refuse to accept what is so obvious to the believer? When someone says that the Holy Spirit verifies the truth of their beliefs, all I hear is that they’ve entered the state that Packer describes. They no longer find it possible to doubt. This Holy Spirit claim says everything about their state of mind and nothing at all about the truth of the matter.
If you’re a Christian tempted to argue for the Holy Spirit’s witness, put yourself in my shoes for a minute. Suppose a Hindu* says that he prays to Krishna and the Atman inside him bears witness to the truth of reincarnation. Is it then true? If I am willing to accept that you have received some actual truth from the Holy Spirit, then I also have to accept that the Hindu has as well. The same goes for Muslims hearing from Allah and Buddhists sensing the Buddha within. Then there are all those spirit guides and animal spirits and Earth energies. Should I accept that they are all real as well? They are, after all, attested to by the same witness that you give—that of an inner spirit informing people of the truth.
Can you see the problem? When you say the Holy Spirit revealed something to you, that is nothing more than hearsay evidence to me. Your claim to an inner witness of the Holy Spirit is unfalsifiable. Subconsciously, I think that is what you are going for. Unfortunately, what is unfalsifiable is also unverifiable and can never rise to the level of truth. As long as the evidence remains in your head, inaccessible to me, I have no reason to believe it.
And, frankly, you don’t either.
* My sincere apologies to any actual Hindus. I probably butchered your actual beliefs. Please feel free to comment and straighten me out.