Posted by fschmidt on
URL: https://mikraite.arkian.net/Natural-vs-Supernatural-tp2458p2466.html

I don't agree with these definitions.  For things that we can't understand, things like quarks and the origin of the universe, saying that we don't understand doesn't make these supernatural.  What is supernatural is things that are contrary to our understanding of observed experience.  So consciousness is not supernatural, but the soul is supernatural to the extent that it is independent of the body because it is contrary to observed experience for anything like the soul to exist independently of a body.  An afterlife is supernatural for similar reasons.

Many religions emphasize supernatural events as an expression of God's power.  The Old Testament is ambiguous.  For example the parting of the Red Sea may have been done using canal locks, but this would have appeared to be supernatural for slaves for whom this would have been contrary to their observed experience.  So in a sense, the Old Testament offers both interpretations - supernatural, or using the natural to appear supernatural to impress the ignorant.

Of course modern Atheists believe in the supernatural, like that people can magically change their sex.  But their supernatural beliefs are not attributed to God, but rather to their belief in their own God-like powers of reason.