>Lessing's "ugly broad ditch" (der garstige breite Graben) is a 18th-century philosophical concept by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, arguing that the accidental truths of history can never prove the necessary truths of reason. It signifies an unbridgeable gap between historical events and eternal religious truths.>Key Aspects of Lessing's Ditch:>The Problem: Historical reports, such as miracles or the resurrection, are "accidental" (contingent), meaning they might not have happened, while religious faith relies on "necessary" (universal/absolute) truths.>Unbridgeable Gap: Because we cannot be entirely certain about events in the distant past, they cannot serve as a reliable foundation for modern faith, according to Green Baggins.>Implications: This view challenged the idea of relying on historical revelation, leading to the belief that, as explained by Theopedia, "historical truth cannot be demonstrated".>Alternatives: Lessing argued that religion should be validated by its inner, moral truth rather than historical evidence, as discussed on Oxford Academic.https://theopedia.com/lessings-ditchhttps://academic.oup.com/book/25356/chapter-abstract/192426280https://www.patheos.com/blogs/theologicalapologetics/2021/09/crossing-lessings-ugly-broad-ditch-the-historical-testimony-to-miracleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthold_Ephraim_Lessing
>>25158314The existence of contingent truths is necessary though. In order to make a truth judgement you have to be situated within history, the judgement itself is an act that takes place as a historical event, and therefore exists within a series of historical contingent events and truths. It is reasonable to expect that necessarily true things would "make some noise" and appear within history as events.
>>25158368so 1+1=2 because of history?lmao
>>25158314Sounds pretty apt for the around the time it was conceived. French Revolution and Year Zero and that jazz. The fact Enlightenment thinking, especially with Rousseau always looking forward and never backwards, a rootless ideology built on eternal presentism.
More examples.
>>25158568for example, the history of the Old Testament feeds into the philosophy of the New Testament, and the effacement of the words people said and the social structures people followed when they were Christians was done to make it harder to understand Christianity
>>25158314>ugly broad ditchHey, that's where I met your mother!
>>25158314>ugly broad ditchhow did you find out about whats between your mothers legs
