Answer
To “falsify” something is to demonstrate it to be self-contradictory, to provide evidence invalidating the idea, or to disprove necessary consequences of the claim. For example, someone might say, “All frogs are green.” But when a blue frog is found in Suriname, the falsifiable statement about green frogs is indeed proved false. Physics and chemistry allow “hard” tests to some theories and ideas, so many of those are falsifiable in straightforward ways. Other concepts, especially those outside the scientific realm, are more subject to interpretation.
When an idea is “unfalsifiable,” it does not mean the idea is true. Rather, it means the idea matches all possible observations. An unfalsifiable claim is one that cannot be disproved, even by theoretical evidence or events. A falsifiable claim can be tested and (possibly) disproved; an unfalsifiable claim cannot be tested and, therefore, cannot technically be disproved. An unfalsifiable idea rests on possible evidence—it could be true—but the evidence is virtually impossible to ever encounter. This makes unfalsifiable claims essentially pointless.
For example, the statement, “Undetectable unicorns live on the dark side of the moon,” is unfalsifiable. It’s true that no evidence for lunar unicorns has been found, but evidence against their existence is not readily obtained. In fact, any evidence could easily be excused away. There’s no possible observation that would disprove the idea. So, the statement is impossible to prove wrong. Another, more common example is “My horoscope accurately predicted the events of my day.” Such a statement relies so heavily on anecdotal evidence and subjective interpretation of facts that it is practically unfalsifiable. Some skeptics say the Bible’s claims are similarly unfalsifiable—neither provable nor disprovable.
The truth is that the Bible’s claims are falsifiable. For example, Paul notes that, if Jesus was not resurrected, then the Christian faith is a tragic mistake (1 Corinthians 15:14–19). False prophets are debunked with a single failed prediction (Deuteronomy 18:22). Biblical wisdom warns that ideas that appear true at first may not be (Proverbs 18:17). Believers are warned to apply cautious skepticism to spiritual claims (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1).
The Bible is falsifiable. This doesn’t mean it’s going to be proven wrong or that it has been. The Bible is falsifiable in that it makes claims that could be refuted using reasonable evidence. The New Testament, in particular, makes claims that people of its own era could have easily disproved—if the claims were false. For modern persons, certain dramatic scenarios would obviously falsify the Bible: for instance, the discovery of a planet where people who died on Earth are reincarnated. There would be no way to square that with what the Bible says about the afterlife (Hebrews 9:27), and so the existence of such a planet would disprove the Bible’s claims. Or, for example, if the entire world were to be flooded and all life lost, then the promise that God would never flood the world again (Genesis 9:15) would be proved false. Extensive evidence of a first-century plot to write the Bible as a con game would also destroy the Bible’s credibility (see Acts 26:26 and 2 Peter 1:16).
Some means of falsifying the Bible are more plausible. Finding many ancient copies of the Bible with drastic theological differences would disprove ideas like inerrancy and preservation. Evidence of one or two apostles admitting the story of Jesus to be a lie would falsify the four Gospels. But what we have found shows the opposite. The Dead Sea Scrolls could have falsified the preservation of Scripture, but they instead support it. One of the most powerful proofs that the apostles were sincere was their consistent message despite intense persecution. When history and experience provide great evidence, some paths to falsification are effectively closed. That doesn’t make Scripture “unfalsifiable”; at one time, it could have been proven wrong but was not.
Because the Bible has been so thoroughly tested, critiqued, examined, and challenged over millennia, most mundane means of falsification are already closed. It’s important to emphasize that this does not make the Bible unfalsifiable: there are many aspects of biblical faith that could have been disproved, but millennia of evidence show the opposite. When an idea continues to pass tests of falsifiability, we have good reason to believe it is indeed true.
Where many stumble on this issue is the difference between falsifying a narrow claim versus falsification of an entire system. Finding a historical error in the Bible might disprove inerrancy, but it would not disprove the Bible’s record of other events. And it would not prove that there is no God. Similarly, if scientific evidence somehow proved the earth was billions of years old, that would contradict a Young Earth Creationist model; it would not imply that Genesis is false or that atheism is true. Science doesn’t start from scratch when new information upends a traditional conclusion. Neither should faith. Jesus’ disciples were wrong at first in their understanding of the Messiah (Matthew 16:21–23). This did not make them atheists; rather, it forced them to replace their error with a more accurate understanding (1 Peter 1:3).
Ultimately, the Bible is falsifiable—and that’s a good thing. Biblical faith is not a vague set of meaningless statements with no connection to the real world. Scripture makes tangible claims that can be affirmed or refuted. It makes predictions that could, in theory, never come to pass. Thankfully, the incredible message of the gospel has so far proved itself true and accurate (Luke 24:44; Hebrews 12:1). Like Paul, we can rejoice that the good news has passed every test required for us to invest all our hope and faith in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:20).
