F Rosa Rubicondior: Christian Logic. No! Really!

Friday 25 November 2011

Christian Logic. No! Really!

Believe it or not, this is a theological argument used by the Christian apologist, Norman Geisler. I have taken it from "Why I became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity" by John W. Loftus.

Supposedly, each step leads inexorably to the next in a 'logical' progression towards a therefore irrefutable conclusion:

  1. Truth about reality is knowable.
  2. Opposites cannot both be true.
  3. The theistic God exists.
  4. Miracles are possible.
  5. Miracles performed in connection with a truth claim are acts of God to confirm the truth of Gods through a messenger of God.
  6. The New Testament documents are reliable.
  7. As Witnessed in the New Testament, Jesus claimed to be God.
  8. Jesus' claim do divinity was proven by a unique convergence of miracles.
  9. Therefore, Jesus was God in human flesh.
  10. Whatever Jesus (who is God) affirmed as truth, is true.
  11. Jesus affirmed that the Bible is the word of God and whatever is opposed to any biblical truth is false.

Can anyone discern a logical progression leading inexorably and irrefutably to the conclusion here? Apart from maybe the first two points, is there anything which is more than just an assertion or a statement of faith, with no connection with the preceding statement?

Let's see if it works with some other proposition. Let's see if we can use this method to 'prove' that the Pacific Ocean is composed of Scotch Whisky.

  1. Truth about Whisky is knowable.
  2. Opposites cannot both be true.
  3. The Pacific Ocean is compose of Scotch Whisky.
  4. Scotch Whisky is possible.
  5. Scotch Whisky made in connection with the claim that the Pacific Ocean is made of Scotch Whisky is an act of people who distil Scotch Whisky to confirm the truth of the claim.
  6. This blog is reliable.
  7. As witnessed in this blog, the Pacific Ocean is composed of Scotch Whisky.
  8. The claim that the Pacific Ocean is made of Scotch Whisky has been proven by the miracle of sea water turning into Scotch Whisky in the Pacific Ocean.
  9. Therefore the Pacific Ocean is composed of Scotch Whisky.
  10. Whatever is affirmed in this blog is true.
  11. This blog affirms that the Pacific Ocean is composed of Scotch Whisky and whatever opposes the truth in this blog is false.

YAYHEY! It works!

Pacific Ocean, Made of Scotch Whisky
So, using Christian 'logic', we have 'proved' beyond any possible shadow of doubt that the Pacific Ocean is composed of Scotch Whisky. And, anything which opposes that, including scientific analysis, is false. So that proves it, then!

Given that devastating demonstration of the wondrous power of this theological reasoning, how can anyone now seriously doubt the existence of the Christian god and the truth of the Bible?

Well, that, folks, is the standard of 'logic' which convinces religious people and so gives them the self-confidence to dispense 'truth' to the rest of us and to pontificate on and interfere in all aspects of our lives, the education of our children, our laws and our legal system.

Or is it just the clever-sounding hogwash they use to bamboozle the people they fleece for a living and to gain a power and trust they could never earn on merit?





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6 comments :

  1. I'm a poor (42 y/0) college student and I had to save my pennies and nickels to buy that book. Toooottttaaaallllyyyy was not disappointed. Now I'm saving up for the next book, The Christian Delusion (the collection of essays). Awesome buddy,

    Kriss

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ms. Rosa - I enjoy your posts and your POV. And while the above argument does look quite crazy, don't you think it's a bit of a caricature to imply that it is representative of Christian logic? As an example, there are much stronger arguments, such as the Kalam Cosmological argument, that utilize sound logic to point toward a transcendent cause to the universe we find ourselves in...and Christians use that line of reasoning as well.

    An ocean of scotch would be quite interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. J.Royer.

    I'm not responsible for when passes for logic in Christian theological circles, but I understand Norman Geisler is a respected Christian apologist.

    I take it you haven't read my blog refuting the Kalam Cosmological Argument. You may read it here:

    http://rosarubicondior.blogspot.com/2011/09/popular-fallacies-kalam-cosmological.html

    Or you may use one of the links on the right=hand side of this page.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anyone doubting that some Christians operate this way should google 'Sye Ten Bruggencate', the man is a card carrying lunatic who has been dining out on this kind of idiocy for several years now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John Small Berries28 February 2012 at 14:31

    How on earth does step two lead "inexorably" to step three?

    (That question could be asked for most pairs of steps, but that particular pair is perhaps the most egregious non sequitur.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Drinking lots of whisky makes me sick. Drinking lots of the Pacific Ocean also makes me sick. Therefore whisky is made out of the Pacific Ocean. Sorry, you have it back to front. More ice, please...

    ReplyDelete

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