Ah, the Spider-Man fallacy. It’s a card that skeptics love to play. While I can define it, you’ll recognize it better if I give you an example:
Christian apologist: “Critics of the New Testament have repeatedly been proven wrong by archaeology. Some skeptics have said that Nazareth wasn’t a real city, or that there couldn’t have been a synagogue in 1st-century Capernaum. But archaeologists have proven them wrong.”
Internet atheist guy: “Bro, you’re committing the Spider-Man fallacy. 2,000 years from now archaeologists could dig up the ruins of Columbia University or the Empire State Building. Does that prove that Spider-Man exists? LOL.”
Or to give another example:
Christian apologist: “Jesus’ crucifixion is historically certain. Even if any of his followers didn’t write anything about it for a hundred years, we’d still know about it from two authors who weren’t his supporters: Tacitus and Josephus. And they wouldn’t think he was crucified if he didn’t exist.”
Internet atheist girl: “There was also a real Transylvanian prince named Dracula. Does that prove vampires exist?” ?
Sigh. This is just not a very clever response. It’s a straw man fallacy and fails to understand the genre of the Four Gospels.
Erik is the creative force behind the YouTube channel Testify, which is an educational channel built to help inspire people’s confidence in the text of the New Testament and the truth of the Christian faith.
