What is an Evidence?

What is an Evidence?
A very common claim one will see online is "there is no evidence for Christianity". Now to agree or deny with such a proposition, we must fairly define the word "evidence". Evidence, according to my research of looking through Encyclopedias, layman dictionaries, and even university articles, all agree with this fact. Evidence is something that comes to prove a belief. This can include anything that increases the probability such as eyewitness reports, facts, propositions, and beliefs. 

What is important to realize is even small things can count as evidence. For example, let us say Bob claims he has a sister named Bobette. We then find evidence that women as a sex exist. Does this increase the probability that Bob has a sister named Bobette? Technically, yes, for by us now knowing this new fact and that a sister corresponds to this criterion — that a sister is a woman — we can say that the probability of Bob's assertion that Bobette exists is more likely. Notice that even though the probability is slightly higher, the fact Bob has a sister named Bobette was not proven, merely more likely. 

Knowing this fact, we can say there is indeed evidence for Christianity. For example, we have evidence that King David existed with the discovery of the Mesha Stele, a prominent character in the Bible has evidence. This thus means Christianity as a whole has slightly more evidence. As said prior, the fact we have this evidence in no way proves Christianity; however, it does count as evidence for our cumulative case of evidence.

Works Cited:

Collins English Dictionary. South Korea, HarperCollins, 2003 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/evidence.
“Evidence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evidence. Accessed 19 Sep. 2023.

"Evidence." Vocabulary.com Dictionary, Vocabulary.com, https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/evidence. Accessed 19 Sep. 2023.

Gardiner, Georgi. Evidence, 2021, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-P082-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/evidence/v-1.

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Meaning of evidence in English (no date) EVIDENCE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/evidence  (Accessed: 19 September 2023).