I am back looking at my list of logical fallacies and it is very instructive and challenging for me.
A common error is the BLACK OR WHITE one or to put it is more modern terms the RIGHT OR WRONG fallacy. This argument boils everything down to two choices. A good one or a bad one. It has people looking back and making moral decisions they they likely didn't make at the time as they are cross examined about the past.
We can do this to ourselves. Some folks are very prone to this. Why didn't I do this? If I only did that then this other thing wouldn't have happened. One decision is demonized and the other one is glorified.
Sure. There are clear cut decisions we make that follow this pattern. Temptation and pressure of some kind is often involved. It is an error to think that every decision we make is either a good one or a bad one.
"Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 ESV
Sad to say... There are Churches today where the 'law of Moses is read.' There are homes like this. People blame religion but read this next passage carefully.
"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" - Romans 2:14-15 ESV
Fallen men accuse or excuse. Religion has little to do with it. Systems form around this very human tendency. Only a judge has this right. God's mercy has prevailed over His judgement at the cross. He is not accusing or excusing. In His mind that stage of Judgement has passed. He has made a ruling. Those in Christ are in one category and those who are not are in another. End of story.
God gave the law for a purpose and it is holy but it was not given to be tool of conformity only. It was given to reveal the fall of man to those who had become familiar with it's affects.
"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." - Romans 3:19-20 ESV
The law makes a category of things BLACK OR WHITE.
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead." - Romans 7:7-8 ESV
Then we realize that once we know something is wrong will still want to do it. We might even want to do it more than before. It reveals something crucial to us. We are broken and can't fix ourselves. We need a Savior.
Making every decision a good or bad choice is dangerous because it makes manipulation very possible. It awakens our fallen nature that looks for favor to cover it's transgression.
God has a different economy for us to function in.
"The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." - Romans 14:22-23 ESV
This example uses food as the example. The chapter deals with food sacrificed to idols which was a common practice in Rome at the time. Did the fact that certain food had been sacrificed to idols taint it for consumption? Did someones else's actions turn a neutral action into a BLACK OR WHITE decision?
The scripture does not turn to the law to get an answer. No. The shift is made to love and care.
" 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food' - and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." - 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 ESV
" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV
Some make seeking other people's good a new law but it isn't. We are free. All ten commandment are reiterated in the new testament. The Sabbath went from a day to a continual state of mind but the other nine can be found almost exactly as they were given to Moses.
Still. We are free. We are not under law. Those who believe are under grace. We can just make choices by faith within the framework of The faith. That leaves us a large free space.
"He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me." - Psalm 18:16-19 ESV
The current can drag us in a direction but God rescues us from a 'this way' or 'that way' mentality. Grace places us in freedom. Fear is removed. Liberty is assured.
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Showing posts with label Fallacies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fallacies. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 5
Temptation. I've been pondering the pull of feelings and things this morning.
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." - Hebrews 11:24-25 ESV
Moses knew the feeling of being respected and saw what it was like to be disrespected. One was a good feeling and one was bad.
An APPEAL TO EMOTION is when someone invokes an emotion in the midst of an argument and asks people to make a decision based on that emotion and not purely based on the facts.
If Moses was going to be drawn away it would have been based on a false rational that had emotional appeal. Couldn't he make more of a difference as a respected person? Then he would enjoy himself also. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds?
If he did that then an APPEAL TO AUTHORITY would be open to him as an option. That fallacy says that one person's opinion is better than another based upon their position, accomplishments or position. It is good logic to listen to an expert witness because they have proven knowledge on a subject but it is bad logic to think that because a person is successful, has a title or has been given a position that their opinion is better than anyone else's opinion.
Surely as a son of Pharaoh's daughter he could work within the system to affect change? But Moses was flawed and when He tried to act as a Savior to his people his own passion got the best of him.
We have noted cosmologists and comedians who are outspoken atheists but do their opinions stand up to a historic crucifixion and resurrection? No. They really don't. I'd trust a man who rose from the grave whole and full of love over anyone with a suit and tie or a quick wit. Only one man has authority that can impart hope and that is Jesus. Everyone stands on even ground at the foot of the cross. There is only one name lifted up there. The name of the man who says 'forgive them Father they know not what they do.'
That brings us to the last fallacy of the day... APPEAL TO NATURE. This thinking blames our makeup for our decisions and rules out our will. It uses partial truth to come to conclusions and says things like 'Well you're only human. You couldn't help it.'
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.' " - John 3:3, 6-8 ESV
The phrase 'born again used her twice is the Greek phrase Gennao (Strong's G1080) Anothen (G509) and it means to be born anew or to be begotten from above. God must give man a new nature because the old nature has limitations. Each soul in accountable in the midst of those limitations so nature can't take the full blame.
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts." - Proverbs 20:27 ESV
Our soul is like a dark room without a light to reveal it's shape and terrain.
Moses was born again at the burning bush. God gave him a new life and a new mission because his spirit was ignited with the fire that he saw that sent him back to Egypt. Now he carried God's words and authority not his own. Now he had something to give that had substance and was not based on appearance.
So, When things try and draw us away we can hold on to the rope God has throw to us and not be drawn away.
"I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them." - Hosea 11:4 ESV
Yes. Grace thinking becomes that will lead us in life. It isn't just another person's opinion and it does rely on good feeling as a basis. We are free in grace because God removes bit from our mouth there and feeds us.
--
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." - Hebrews 11:24-25 ESV
Moses knew the feeling of being respected and saw what it was like to be disrespected. One was a good feeling and one was bad.
An APPEAL TO EMOTION is when someone invokes an emotion in the midst of an argument and asks people to make a decision based on that emotion and not purely based on the facts.
If Moses was going to be drawn away it would have been based on a false rational that had emotional appeal. Couldn't he make more of a difference as a respected person? Then he would enjoy himself also. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds?
If he did that then an APPEAL TO AUTHORITY would be open to him as an option. That fallacy says that one person's opinion is better than another based upon their position, accomplishments or position. It is good logic to listen to an expert witness because they have proven knowledge on a subject but it is bad logic to think that because a person is successful, has a title or has been given a position that their opinion is better than anyone else's opinion.
Surely as a son of Pharaoh's daughter he could work within the system to affect change? But Moses was flawed and when He tried to act as a Savior to his people his own passion got the best of him.
We have noted cosmologists and comedians who are outspoken atheists but do their opinions stand up to a historic crucifixion and resurrection? No. They really don't. I'd trust a man who rose from the grave whole and full of love over anyone with a suit and tie or a quick wit. Only one man has authority that can impart hope and that is Jesus. Everyone stands on even ground at the foot of the cross. There is only one name lifted up there. The name of the man who says 'forgive them Father they know not what they do.'
That brings us to the last fallacy of the day... APPEAL TO NATURE. This thinking blames our makeup for our decisions and rules out our will. It uses partial truth to come to conclusions and says things like 'Well you're only human. You couldn't help it.'
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.' " - John 3:3, 6-8 ESV
The phrase 'born again used her twice is the Greek phrase Gennao (Strong's G1080) Anothen (G509) and it means to be born anew or to be begotten from above. God must give man a new nature because the old nature has limitations. Each soul in accountable in the midst of those limitations so nature can't take the full blame.
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts." - Proverbs 20:27 ESV
Our soul is like a dark room without a light to reveal it's shape and terrain.
Moses was born again at the burning bush. God gave him a new life and a new mission because his spirit was ignited with the fire that he saw that sent him back to Egypt. Now he carried God's words and authority not his own. Now he had something to give that had substance and was not based on appearance.
So, When things try and draw us away we can hold on to the rope God has throw to us and not be drawn away.
"I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them." - Hosea 11:4 ESV
Yes. Grace thinking becomes that will lead us in life. It isn't just another person's opinion and it does rely on good feeling as a basis. We are free in grace because God removes bit from our mouth there and feeds us.
--
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 4
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." - James 4:3 ESV
While looking at my list of logical fallacies I'm scanning the questions it lists and marveling at how wrong we can be. We think our answers are the issue but it goes deeper. Our questions are often wrong and so there is no answer from God for what we are asking.
"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." - Isaiah 1:5 ESV
A LOADED QUESTION as something that has an assumption already built into it. When we are BEGGING THE QUESTION we have an answer already embedded in the request.
'Why don't you love me God?' or 'Why won't you help me God?' are just such questions. They are based on a wrong premise and God must work around us because He can't work with us until we are on the same page.
"Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?" - Amos 3:3 ESV
or in the KJV
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" - Amos 3:3 KJV
No. They can't. If they do meet it will just be an encounter and there will be no lengthy discourse because those conversations take time.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
What a great verse! Many times the red to white part is emphasized because it talks of cleansing but I also like the 'shall become like wool' part... the natural color and texture is restored.
Our questions can be caked and stained with condemnation and judgement but then we reason with God and the first thing He points us to is redemption. The cross kills my wrong questions and gives me new ones. God reveals the natural weave of our being and can impart something real to us because we walk with Him in agreement about that which is most fundamental.
Now we say things like, 'Since You love me so much will You guide me in this situation? I know You will. You didn't bring me this far to leave me now.'
"... for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
Scripture arms us with good facts to ask good questions and life is full of good questions to ask as we walk together with God.
--
While looking at my list of logical fallacies I'm scanning the questions it lists and marveling at how wrong we can be. We think our answers are the issue but it goes deeper. Our questions are often wrong and so there is no answer from God for what we are asking.
"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." - Isaiah 1:5 ESV
A LOADED QUESTION as something that has an assumption already built into it. When we are BEGGING THE QUESTION we have an answer already embedded in the request.
'Why don't you love me God?' or 'Why won't you help me God?' are just such questions. They are based on a wrong premise and God must work around us because He can't work with us until we are on the same page.
"Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?" - Amos 3:3 ESV
or in the KJV
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" - Amos 3:3 KJV
No. They can't. If they do meet it will just be an encounter and there will be no lengthy discourse because those conversations take time.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
What a great verse! Many times the red to white part is emphasized because it talks of cleansing but I also like the 'shall become like wool' part... the natural color and texture is restored.
Our questions can be caked and stained with condemnation and judgement but then we reason with God and the first thing He points us to is redemption. The cross kills my wrong questions and gives me new ones. God reveals the natural weave of our being and can impart something real to us because we walk with Him in agreement about that which is most fundamental.
Now we say things like, 'Since You love me so much will You guide me in this situation? I know You will. You didn't bring me this far to leave me now.'
"... for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
Scripture arms us with good facts to ask good questions and life is full of good questions to ask as we walk together with God.
--
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 3
"Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:7-8 ESV
I love this passage so much. As I read this Psalm it made me think of homelessness and the fear of homelessness. This Psalmist (the Psalm is attributed to King David) expresses a fear of misdirection into a set location that will mean death and isolation. He is asking for direction. He want to know how to think and plan.
He is sure that love will direct him because He is sure that God will not abandon Him... yet there is still the possibility that by going down the wrong path he will end up trapped in a situation that he can't get out of himself.
As I review the list of fallacies and copy them over into my notes with personalized explanations I think of how each one of them could potentially lead someone astray, convict an innocent party or cause a person or group to discard something precious and accept something worthless instead.
CIRCULAR LOGIC is when a person begins where they started to prove a point but the place where they started is theoretical in nature. People make the claim that Bible believing Christians (or Jews who believe in the inerrancy of the Hebrew scriptures) think and use circular reasoning because they settle arguments with a return to Biblical principles. It is understandable if you see the scriptures as theoretical or even fictional to think that way.
Those who have embraced the scripture as proven and not theoretical share the Psalmists hope of being lead into steadfast truth because that leading is no longer subjective. God isn't just an unknowable force. His mind is recorded in a reliable record and that record reveals love, holiness, honor and justice that surpasses human thinking.
I don't read much fiction anymore but I did before I became a believer. I am convinced that no one could pen the scriptures but God Himself. It is far to complex and interwoven of a work.
"NUN.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." - Psalm 119:105-112 KJV
Yes.
"My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law." - Psalm 119:109 KJV
The word translated law there is Strong's torah (Strong's H8451). It is God's sure, logically expressed and authoritative mind. If we have it then our soul is in our hand and we don't ever need to fear going down into the pit because even if that is where we end up we are sure that God will extend His nail scarred hand to lift us out again.
--
I love this passage so much. As I read this Psalm it made me think of homelessness and the fear of homelessness. This Psalmist (the Psalm is attributed to King David) expresses a fear of misdirection into a set location that will mean death and isolation. He is asking for direction. He want to know how to think and plan.
He is sure that love will direct him because He is sure that God will not abandon Him... yet there is still the possibility that by going down the wrong path he will end up trapped in a situation that he can't get out of himself.
As I review the list of fallacies and copy them over into my notes with personalized explanations I think of how each one of them could potentially lead someone astray, convict an innocent party or cause a person or group to discard something precious and accept something worthless instead.
CIRCULAR LOGIC is when a person begins where they started to prove a point but the place where they started is theoretical in nature. People make the claim that Bible believing Christians (or Jews who believe in the inerrancy of the Hebrew scriptures) think and use circular reasoning because they settle arguments with a return to Biblical principles. It is understandable if you see the scriptures as theoretical or even fictional to think that way.
Those who have embraced the scripture as proven and not theoretical share the Psalmists hope of being lead into steadfast truth because that leading is no longer subjective. God isn't just an unknowable force. His mind is recorded in a reliable record and that record reveals love, holiness, honor and justice that surpasses human thinking.
I don't read much fiction anymore but I did before I became a believer. I am convinced that no one could pen the scriptures but God Himself. It is far to complex and interwoven of a work.
"NUN.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." - Psalm 119:105-112 KJV
Yes.
"My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law." - Psalm 119:109 KJV
The word translated law there is Strong's torah (Strong's H8451). It is God's sure, logically expressed and authoritative mind. If we have it then our soul is in our hand and we don't ever need to fear going down into the pit because even if that is where we end up we are sure that God will extend His nail scarred hand to lift us out again.
--
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 2
"But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison," - 1 Peter 3:14-19 ESV
As I go through the list of fallacies this morning it strikes me that God is so aware of our bad thinking.
"For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong - not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for." - 2 Corinthians 13:4-9 ESV
I think of the man proclaiming the gospel from a bar stool. He is ashamed to tell his friends when he is sober but he talks about love once he has a few drinks in him. Then people use AD HOMINEM thinking to attack the message. They undermine the messengers character to try and disprove the message but the message is real. Forgiveness is real. The test spoken of in the passage in 2 Corinthians is the 'appearance' test. People look for fruit and make conclusions of fruit production but that is a wrong way to think. Many of God's promises to the believer, if you look at them, are based on relationship and security. God does not guarantee a full transformation before death as matter of fact He promises the opposite and makes provisions for failure because He knows we will fail and that we and others will jump to wrong conclusions based on that failure. The believer is asking, 'Am I in The Faith?' and not, 'How am I doing? because The Faith has an answer. Jesus is holy and His work is holy. Trust in the finished work of the cross is far superior to anything we can see or evaluate performance wise.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:9-10 ESV
If we confess (and we will need to) again and again that we sin because we still have a nature that sins God will cleanse us again and again because in truth He has already cleansed us.
"Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.' " - John 13:10 ESV
THE FALSE CAUSE FALLACY is another interesting one because it jumps to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence instead of using truth as a goalpost. It looks by sight at circumstances and settles on a cause by natural reasoning or emotional bias.
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
Jesus makes men 'stand upright' and be able to look straight ahead and up instead of down and back. That is a fact. We might not always do it but the ability has been given none the less.
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 ESV
I don't recommend bar stool preaching. There is great value in letting grace do a work of transformation in us. It is the 'no condemnation' principle working in us and on us that takes us out of addictions and into freedom. That principle also cleanses our thinking because we no longer rationalize away our weakness.
I often look at the cross and see God's victory in the midst of my failure and it heals me. I know that God has made promises and that the victory of the resurrection has been placed on my account in spite of me.
Others might not think that way but it is how God thinks that really matters anyway isn't it?
--
As I go through the list of fallacies this morning it strikes me that God is so aware of our bad thinking.
"For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong - not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for." - 2 Corinthians 13:4-9 ESV
I think of the man proclaiming the gospel from a bar stool. He is ashamed to tell his friends when he is sober but he talks about love once he has a few drinks in him. Then people use AD HOMINEM thinking to attack the message. They undermine the messengers character to try and disprove the message but the message is real. Forgiveness is real. The test spoken of in the passage in 2 Corinthians is the 'appearance' test. People look for fruit and make conclusions of fruit production but that is a wrong way to think. Many of God's promises to the believer, if you look at them, are based on relationship and security. God does not guarantee a full transformation before death as matter of fact He promises the opposite and makes provisions for failure because He knows we will fail and that we and others will jump to wrong conclusions based on that failure. The believer is asking, 'Am I in The Faith?' and not, 'How am I doing? because The Faith has an answer. Jesus is holy and His work is holy. Trust in the finished work of the cross is far superior to anything we can see or evaluate performance wise.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:9-10 ESV
If we confess (and we will need to) again and again that we sin because we still have a nature that sins God will cleanse us again and again because in truth He has already cleansed us.
"Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.' " - John 13:10 ESV
THE FALSE CAUSE FALLACY is another interesting one because it jumps to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence instead of using truth as a goalpost. It looks by sight at circumstances and settles on a cause by natural reasoning or emotional bias.
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
Jesus makes men 'stand upright' and be able to look straight ahead and up instead of down and back. That is a fact. We might not always do it but the ability has been given none the less.
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 ESV
I don't recommend bar stool preaching. There is great value in letting grace do a work of transformation in us. It is the 'no condemnation' principle working in us and on us that takes us out of addictions and into freedom. That principle also cleanses our thinking because we no longer rationalize away our weakness.
I often look at the cross and see God's victory in the midst of my failure and it heals me. I know that God has made promises and that the victory of the resurrection has been placed on my account in spite of me.
Others might not think that way but it is how God thinks that really matters anyway isn't it?
--
Monday, November 30, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 1
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:34-35 ESV
I'm going to start a series of posts on logical fallacies. It is what I'm studying these days and it may go on for a while. I am floating a few 'series' these days... 'Loving Dangerous People' is another one. If you lose track or want to go back and see the previous post I try to always put the parts as clear as possible in the index of the blog page. Sometimes it takes awhile to unpack an idea. By God's grace I endeavor to finish each series I start... it just might take awhile. {smile}
The truth sets people free. Truth is always logical. The foundation may be hidden but the structure is ordered. Many times people are in bondage because of illogical biases. The great thing about truth is that it stands up to scrutiny.
THE STRAWMAN FALLACY - Over simplifying an argument or making it two dimensional to make it easier to attack. Don't we see people do this all the time? I look at people's lives and see great complexity. It's true that many things are made overly complicated but isn't it love that simplifies matters. By oversimplifying someones believe system even if it is full of holes we are disrespecting people. When Jesus is presented as He Is He is so 'real' and 'true' that my illusions become transparent in His precedence. I never want to jam the truth down someones throat and demean their experience. I need to see Jesus and His love. It makes me sad and sometimes mad to see people set up a Islamic strawman just so that they can knock it down or an atheist one or a political one. No. I want the real opponents to face one another. The Gospel doesn't need to dumb down everything else in order to win. The cross is lifted up high than the crowd so it can be seen. Jesus' love is unparalleled. His work is unmatched. People try to fictionalize it but the proof is there. It is historically recorded and any honest man must come to the conclusion if he or she looks at the evidence that God's love was expressed on Easter morning in a profound way.
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE - The 'If this happens then that must happen' argument uses cause and effect against someone to try and win them. I love how grace disarms the the slippery slope. Not that I'm endorsing bad decisions but I know so many people who have made bad decisions and are living good lives and vice versa. Karma is fife with loopholes because God is sovereign and has a complex plan. Things don't always add up. Sure there are some real documented consequences to actions and declarations that God makes in the scriptures but if our thinking and reasoning is slippery slope reasoning then we will live out of a deficit motivation and ask others to do so also. If we weigh every decision to heavily on the bad thing that might happen we are being steered by fear and not love. Love is the only thing that will get us where we want to go. Not our love... God's love. We need to know God has a plan and to base our decisions on the content of that plan. God can redeem and He is an expert at it.
I want to be thinking clearly.
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' " - John 8:31-32 ESV
Yes. That means thinking that is free from restraint and not arguments that are struggling to climb a hill that they lack the energy to climb.
Hey! Let's love one another. Let's love the people we agree with and those we don't agree with.
"Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" - Proverbs 6:27-28 ESV
Lies are going to burn people. We don't want to embrace them but lets be the people who have a salve to sooth the pain of those burns so they can heal and not the folks who pour salt on a wound.
--
I'm going to start a series of posts on logical fallacies. It is what I'm studying these days and it may go on for a while. I am floating a few 'series' these days... 'Loving Dangerous People' is another one. If you lose track or want to go back and see the previous post I try to always put the parts as clear as possible in the index of the blog page. Sometimes it takes awhile to unpack an idea. By God's grace I endeavor to finish each series I start... it just might take awhile. {smile}
The truth sets people free. Truth is always logical. The foundation may be hidden but the structure is ordered. Many times people are in bondage because of illogical biases. The great thing about truth is that it stands up to scrutiny.
THE STRAWMAN FALLACY - Over simplifying an argument or making it two dimensional to make it easier to attack. Don't we see people do this all the time? I look at people's lives and see great complexity. It's true that many things are made overly complicated but isn't it love that simplifies matters. By oversimplifying someones believe system even if it is full of holes we are disrespecting people. When Jesus is presented as He Is He is so 'real' and 'true' that my illusions become transparent in His precedence. I never want to jam the truth down someones throat and demean their experience. I need to see Jesus and His love. It makes me sad and sometimes mad to see people set up a Islamic strawman just so that they can knock it down or an atheist one or a political one. No. I want the real opponents to face one another. The Gospel doesn't need to dumb down everything else in order to win. The cross is lifted up high than the crowd so it can be seen. Jesus' love is unparalleled. His work is unmatched. People try to fictionalize it but the proof is there. It is historically recorded and any honest man must come to the conclusion if he or she looks at the evidence that God's love was expressed on Easter morning in a profound way.
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE - The 'If this happens then that must happen' argument uses cause and effect against someone to try and win them. I love how grace disarms the the slippery slope. Not that I'm endorsing bad decisions but I know so many people who have made bad decisions and are living good lives and vice versa. Karma is fife with loopholes because God is sovereign and has a complex plan. Things don't always add up. Sure there are some real documented consequences to actions and declarations that God makes in the scriptures but if our thinking and reasoning is slippery slope reasoning then we will live out of a deficit motivation and ask others to do so also. If we weigh every decision to heavily on the bad thing that might happen we are being steered by fear and not love. Love is the only thing that will get us where we want to go. Not our love... God's love. We need to know God has a plan and to base our decisions on the content of that plan. God can redeem and He is an expert at it.
I want to be thinking clearly.
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' " - John 8:31-32 ESV
Yes. That means thinking that is free from restraint and not arguments that are struggling to climb a hill that they lack the energy to climb.
Hey! Let's love one another. Let's love the people we agree with and those we don't agree with.
"Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" - Proverbs 6:27-28 ESV
Lies are going to burn people. We don't want to embrace them but lets be the people who have a salve to sooth the pain of those burns so they can heal and not the folks who pour salt on a wound.
--
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