A Little Look at Logic

When I say the word law, I don’t mean the government’s set of rules we need to obey. I am talking about scientific laws. We have all experienced these natural laws that allow us to live in an ordered and somewhat predictable environment. When we get out of bed in the morning, we don’t have to wonder whether we will hit the ceiling or the ground, thanks to the law of gravity. Our feet will hit the floor every time. There’s the law of momentum that states that objects, when colliding with each other will experience a force of the same magnitude but in opposite directions. This happens every time.

How did these laws get here? We obviously didn’t create them ourselves, we merely discovered them. Why is it that our planet is in a controlled environment? It seems to me that it was created that way. We can also look at absolute truths. Absolute meaning anyway you look at a truth, it will ALWAYS be a truth. Once a falsehood enters, it is no longer an absolute truth. One absolute would be mathematics. No matter what culture you are in, whatever language you speak, one plus one will ALWAYS equal two. There is no way around it.

Another truth is logic. There are rules in logic that have been proven to work every time. Since they have been proven to be right 100% of the time, they have been called the Rules of Inference. Science as well has been proven to be an absolute truth. The question then is can a random explosion by chance produce such absolute truths? This seems illogical. To me, it takes an absolute truth (God) to make absolute truths.

Let's take a further look at logic though. Logic can be defined as “the science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference”. The key phrase in this definition would be “correct or reliable”. In other words, the best possible answer. In math, if you were to say that 3 + 3 = 8, you would be in error. Well logic, like science, math, etc. has laws that one needs to use in order to properly use it. These laws are absolute truths; meaning however you look at it, it will stand true. Anything else is in error. We use logic in our everyday lives. Which route to work would be the quickest? Answering test questions, you might use the “process of elimination” method.

These are just some of the ways to use rational thinking, but can we use this when reading the Bible? Seeing as the Bible is just like any other book, why wouldn't we use logical thinking? God gave us a brain to use wisely right? Why wouldn't He want us using it to read about Him and understanding His will for us?

Let's start with an example. Christianity will say that there is only one church, yet you will not find this phrase anywhere in Scripture. How do they come up with such a conclusion? Well we read in Ephesians 4:4 that there is only one body, that of our Lord. Going back to chapter 1, we read in verse 22-23 that the body of Christ is the church of Christ. They are one in the same. So using the logical equation: if a = b and b = c, then a = c; we can conclude that since there is only one body, there must only be one church. Pretty cool, right?

An historical example can be found in Genesis 13:1. We see that Lot returned to Canaan with Abram from Egypt. However, nowhere does it say that Lot was in Egypt. If one were to use rational thinking though, with the information that is given, they would have to conclude that Lot was in Egypt.

Look at Romans 1:20. Paul says that the invisible things of God can be seen with a clear perspective. The Greek word for “perceived” means to perceive with the mind, not so much the eyes. See, the human brain can do some extraordinary things. We know because it came from a divine source.

One last verse we could look at is Mark 16:16. It is clearly stated that belief (in Christ) and baptism are both necessary in order for one to receive salvation. Logically then, one would conclude that if one is not baptized and does not believe, that will not be saved. This is exactly what is said in the latter part of that verse. Here, baptism is implied and not necessary to be said because one will not be baptized if they do not believe.

Logic can also be used when dealing with the alleged contradictions that are within the bible. In logic, the Law of Contradiction says simply that “something cannot both be and not be”. We cannot assume that two verses contradict each other simply by looking at them. There is a process one must use in order to determine if there is a contradiction or not and the contexts of each verse will tell you.

The first step to take would be to determine if the same subject is being talked about. If a novice to Scripture were to read about Noah's ark and then turn to a passage that talks about people carrying the ark (2 Samuel 15:25), they would ask themselves, “how could they carry such a large vessel?” Well, when studied properly, one would come to the conclusion that it is two different arks being portrayed.

The second step would be to decipher if the same subject is being talked about in the same time frame. In the premise: “Gary is rich; Gary is poor”, Gary could have been at one point rich and now is poor, or vice versa.

The last step to take would be to see if the same subject is being talked about in the same time frame, in the same sense. In the premise: “Gary is tall; Gary is short”, it could mean that Gary is tall in height, but short on money. Different words have different meanings to them so the context will reveal the meaning of the word. In closing, the three steps would be to determine if the same subject is being used. Then it would be to determine if it's in the same time frame. Lastly, would be to determine if they are being used in the same sense. If all of these three steps come out positive, it is only then do we have a contradiction. However, spoiler alert, the Bible is free of contradiction.

Brethren, my plea to you would be to use the brain that God gave you. Use it properly and not to simply listen to others and what they have to say. We will all be judged according to our own works (2 Corinthians 11:15), not the works of others. Study to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15).

#Christianity #thinking #reasoning #logic