The Evidentiary Value of Miracles for Prophethood: A Written Debate between Hojjatollah Nikouei and Hossein Souzanchi

What follows is the text of a challenging dialogue between Hojjatollah Nikouei and Hossein Souzanchi concerning one of the difficult topics in Islamic theology, namely, miracles and their evidentiary value for the truth of the claim to prophethood.

It is evident that this subject naturally unfolds in three stages:

The first stage is the definition of a miracle, the second stage is the recognition or verification of a miracle, and finally, the third stage is the manner of the miracle's evidentiary indication. Hojjatollah Nikouei's claim in this dialogue is that, firstly, Islamic theologians define a miracle in such a way that its recognition or verification is impossible, and this very fact poses a major challenge to proving prophethood through miracles. Secondly, and more importantly, the performance of a miracle by a claimant to prophethood in no way proves or confirms his claim. Hossein Souzanchi holds a different view on both counts and, following the majority of Islamic theologians, considers a miracle to be recognizable and verifiable, and also believes that a miracle indicates prophethood.

This dialogue was made possible through the effort and endeavor of Mr. Sadegh Goodarzi, the manager of the Telegram channel The Battle of Ideas.

This dialogue is ongoing and will gradually be made available to the public of researchers and enthusiasts.

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The Evidentiary Value of Miracles for Prophethood: A Written Debate between Hojjatollah Nikouei and Hossein Souzanchi

Part One, Hossein Souzanchi Part One, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Two, Hossein Souzanchi Part Two, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Three, Hossein Souzanchi Part Three, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Four, Hossein Souzanchi Part Four, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Five, Hossein Souzanchi Part Five, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Six, Hossein Souzanchi Part Six, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Seven, Hossein Souzanchi Part Seven, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Eight, Hossein Souzanchi Part Eight, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Nine, Hossein Souzanchi Part Nine, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Ten, Hossein Souzanchi Part Ten, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Eleven, Hossein Souzanchi Part Eleven, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Twelve, Hossein Souzanchi Part Twelve, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Thirteen, Hojjatollah Nikouei

Part Fourteen, Hojjatollah Nikouei

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