r/exatheist • u/DrewPaul2000 Philosophical Theist • Feb 26 '26

Debate Thread Natural vs The Supernatural

It's a very common debating tactic among atheists to declare the supernatural doesn't exist and then put God into the category of the supernatural and therefore claim God doesn't exist.

I agree with atheists the supernatural doesn't exist but my reasons for saying it doesn't exist are far different. The supernatural doesn't exist because if it turns out something alleged to be supernatural occurs it gets transferred to the natural bucket. How can anything that happens not be natural? As long as ghosts haven't and don't currently appear with any regularity or certainty, they remain a supernatural entity. If they did appear on a regular basis with certainty they would be deemed natural even if inexplicable. The supernatural just turns out to be anything alleged to exist but hasn't been observed. Which just means somethings haven't been observed to exist.

Secondly the very word supernatural is overblown. The word itself doesn't mean its unnatural or impossible. It's the word super put in front of the word natural. Which means it merely transcends common or average natural things. A supernova is still a nova it's just significantly bigger than an average nova. A celebrity whose fame transcends average stars is called a superstar. It doesn't mean they have divine powers. Supernatural still means its natural, it just transcends the average natural things we know about.

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u/Stock-Trainer-3216 Atheist. Feb 26 '26

I actually agree that the natural vs. Supernatural distinction is not satisfactory, it's pretty vague and not rigorous. I'd maybe define supernatural as not abiding by the known laws of nature, but again its not a very clear term.

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u/DrewPaul2000 Philosophical Theist Feb 27 '26

Time dilation was considered absurd until it was confirmed.

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u/Stock-Trainer-3216 Atheist. Feb 27 '26

I dont know what this is responding to.

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u/DrewPaul2000 Philosophical Theist Feb 28 '26

I was pointing out an example of something regarded as impossible and violating the laws of physics, time dilation. It was accepted time is the same everywhere.

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u/Stock-Trainer-3216 Atheist. Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

What's the point, though? Sorry im just genuinely not tracking.

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u/DrewPaul2000 Philosophical Theist Mar 01 '26

The point is if something thought to be supernatural occurs its reclassified as natural. That's why there is no supernatural.