Facts
- 37 of 39 people with a dated first source have something written about them during their lifetime.
- Average across 183 scored events: testimony genuine 61%, event as described 43%.
- 32 of 40 people reach evidence grade A overall, often because they left their own writings. Their miracles may still rest on far weaker records.
- Across 40 people we traced 547 records and 371 sources, and 172 of the records have a saved copy.
- Of 1,400 canonization miracles studied by Jacalyn Duffin, more than 95 per cent were healings, per her own published summary.
- The Vatican's lists give John Paul II 482 saints and 1,341 blesseds. The figure of 1,338 blesseds often quoted does not match them.
What people swore to, and what likely happened
Each dot is one reported event. Further right, the testimony is stronger. Higher up, the event as described is more likely. Bottom right holds the book's hardest cases: strong witnesses to things that go against known physics or biology. Hover a dot, or see the full table.
People by tradition
Christianity
9
Judaism
7
Hinduism
7
New religious movement
6
Islam
5
Indigenous
3
Buddhism
2
Folk saint
1
People by region
Europe
10
South Asia
9
Americas
7
Middle East
6
Africa
5
East Asia
2
Southeast Asia
1
Events by kind
Other
37
Apparition or vision
31
Healing
25
Foreknowledge
24
The body
17
After death
16
Survival of harm
13
Materialization
7
Levitation
6
Nature and weather
5
Bilocation
2
How close the witness stood
contemporary
67
later tradition
42
first-person
39
eyewitness
35
Century of death
15th century
1
17th century
2
18th century
1
19th century
13
20th century
21
21th century
2
Evidence grade
A
32
B
8
The paper trail
How many of the people have each kind of record.
Birth
2
Marriage
1
Death
11
Burial or grave
33
Military
2
Prison, police, court
10
Census or tax
6
Travel papers
3
Newspapers
14
Free images
30
Their own works
21
Witness works
35
Letters, manuscripts
13
Religious registers
5
This is a hand-picked sample of 40 people, so these charts describe the register. They say nothing about holy people worldwide.