Mathematical Description
If it were to be assumed that:
- The existence of some god is certain,
- There is some number (n) of distinct, mutually exclusive interpretations of that god one could believe in,
- There is no way to tell which one, if any, were true a priori
then the probability of having chosen to practice the correct religion (through upbringing or by making Pascal's Wager) is 1⁄n. Therefore, if there exist more than two distinct faiths, the probability that a person who chooses to believe in either faith has chosen the correct one would be less than 1 in 2 (50% or 1⁄2).
Since there are hundreds of religions in existence, some having thousands of sects with competing interpretations, the probability that a given person's religion should happen to be the one that is true (to the exclusion of all others) is diminishingly small.
Read more about this topic: Argument From Inconsistent Revelations
Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or description:
“All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us.... This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is obvious in that no one’s brain rejects it; for laymen and people who are utterly illiterate know how to count and reckon.”
—Roger Bacon (c. 1214–c. 1294)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)