Ever take a logic class? You look at a couple of premises (assumed to be true for the sake of the argument) and then determine what conclusions can/cannot be drawn. For instance:
Premise—All basketball players are tall.
Premise—Uncle Zac is tall.
Conclusion—Therefore, Uncle Zac is a basketball player.
No. If the first premise was that all tall people are basketball players, then we can conclude that Uncle Zac plays. But as is, the two premises don’t lead to this conclusion.
In books and blog posts these days, there are some incredibly tangled/illogical ideas. Here’s what I got out of one minister’s writing recently: He scolded us for pointing out other people’s sins while not dealing with our own. You’re not “Bible believing” if you sin. He talked of how complicated the Bible is (and also considers its contents to be supposed history and alleged accounts). We’re probably wrong about what constitutes sin anyway . . .
Here’s my version of his thoughts, in logic-class-problem form:
Premise—Joe downplays his own tendency to lie.
Premise—The Bible is complicated.
Conclusion—Therefore, Joe doesn’t believe the Bible, which means Bob’s tendency to steal is OK and, hey, my word is more reliable than God’s.
Whoa! That sure wouldn’t fly in logic class. Come on, friends. Let’s examine what we’re being fed before we “amen” it.
