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Full Idea
We never can be absolutely certain that any given deliverance [of revelation] really is inspired; for that can only be established by reasoning.
Gist of Idea
Only reason can establish whether some deliverance of revelation really is inspired
Source
Charles Sanders Peirce (Scientific Attitude and Fallibilism [1899], II)
Book Ref
Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Philosophical Writings of Peirce', ed/tr. Buchler,Justus [Dover 1940], p.57
| 14769 | Only imagination can connect phenomena together in a rational way [Peirce] |
| 14775 | Numbers are just names devised for counting [Peirce] |
| 14776 | That two two-eyed people must have four eyes is a statement about numbers, not a fact [Peirce] |
| 14772 | If we decide an idea is inspired, we still can't be sure we have got the idea right [Peirce] |
| 14771 | Only reason can establish whether some deliverance of revelation really is inspired [Peirce] |
| 14770 | Reasoning is based on statistical induction, so it can't achieve certainty or precision [Peirce] |
| 14774 | Innate truths are very uncertain and full of error, so they certainly have exceptions [Peirce] |
| 14773 | A truth is hard for us to understand if it rests on nothing but inspiration [Peirce] |