Do Reason And Religion Mix

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God

T H

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Reason

Importance of

Logic

Do Reason and Religion Mix?

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© Confident Christians – www.confidentchristians.org

T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Why do we need Logic and Reason in

Religion?

D o

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God

“I am absolutely against any religion that says that

one faith is superior to another. I don‟t see how

that is anything different than spiritual racism. It‟s

a way of saying that we are closer to God than

you, and that‟s what leads to hatred”

- Rabbi Shmuley Boteach


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Why do people believe what they believe?

Sociological

• Culture

• Friends

• Parents

• Society

Psychological Religious

• Comfort

• Hope

• Identity/Meaning

• Peace of Mind

• Church

• Guru

• Holy Book

• Pastor

“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof

but on the basis of what they find attractive” – Blaise Pascal


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Sigmund Freud on why people believe religious ideas

“They are illusions, fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes

of mankind. We call belief an illusion when a wish-fulfillment is a prominent factor

in its motivation, and in doing so we disregard its relation to reality, just as the

illusion itself sets no store by verification” - Sigmund Freud

• They were believed by our primal ancestors

• We possess proofs handed down from primeval times

• Forbidden to raise questions of their authentication


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

How do people know things?

• The Senses – seeing, feeling, etc.

• The Memory – remembering what you have accepted as

truth

• The Conscience (morality) – instinctive compass of

right/wrong

• The Logical Thought Process – reason and rational

thinking


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

How does one form a belief?

• A belief begins by understanding that a particular idea is

plausible

• A plausibility structure – “favorable conditions” – form in

the mind so that a belief can be entertained

• Anything not viewed as plausible will be rejected

• Real belief must rest on content (not sincerity and

fervency of desire)

“Beliefs are simply not to be equated with truth or reality; rather, they are

to conform to truth”- Paul Copan


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Why should people believe what they believe?

“True religion and true philosophy must arrive at the same principle”

- S. S. Smith

Philosophical Approach – To ascertain facts or truth and the

causes of things.

Something is worth believing if it is…

• Rational

• Supported by evidence

• The best reason for explaining the gathered data


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

There is both good and bad philosophy

“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad

philosophy needs to be answered. ”

- C. S. Lewis

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and

deceptive philosophy, which depends oh human tradition

and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ

[who is the truth]”

- Paul, Colossians 2:8


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Three tests for any belief system:

1. Logical Consistency: Are the claims being made consistent

with each other or are there clear contradictions?

2. Empirical Adequacy: Is there evidence to back up the assertions

being made by the belief system?

3. Experiential Relevance: Do the claims stack up with reality and are

they meaningful for my life?

“Christ wants a child‟s heart, but a grown-up‟s head” – C. S. Lewis


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

What is Logic?

Logic is the study of right reason or valid inferences and the attending

fallacies, formal and informal. It helps obtain correct conclusions about

a matter and avoid mistakes people often make in thinking.

“It is the function of the wise man to know order” - Aristotle

“Come let us reason together…” – Isaiah 1:18

“You shall love the Lord your God with all … your mind” – Matt. 22:37


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Logic is built upon four foundational laws:

1. Law of non-contradiction – something cannot be “A” and

“non-A” at the same time and in the same sense.

2. Law of the excluded middle – something is either “A” or

“non-A”.

4. Law of rational inference – e.g. All men are mortal,

John is a man, therefore John is mortal.

3. Law of identity – “A” is really “A”.


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Law of non-contradiction

Something cannot be “A” and “non-A” at the same time and in the

same sense.

“God exists!” – Christian

“God does not exist!” – Atheist

“You‟re both right!” – Unitarian Universalist (Pluralism)


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Law of non-contradiction

Surest way to get a person to admit they believe in the law of non-

contradiction:

“Let him who disbelieves be beaten and burned until he

admits that to be beaten and burned is not the same thing

as to not be beaten and burned.” – Avicenna


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Law of excluded middle

“Everything came to be from a personal eternality” –

Christian

“Everything came to be from an impersonal eternality” –

Atheist

No third option

Something is either “A” or “non-A”.

…notice how this underscores truth‟s attributes of being

„narrow‟ and „excludes‟


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Law of Identity

“Jesus Christ is God!” – Christian

“Jesus Christ is not God!” – Muslim

He is or He isn‟t

“A” is really “A”.


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Law of Rational Inference

Everything that has a beginning has a cause.

The universe had a beginning.

Therefore, the universe has a cause.

Deductive logic – reasoning from true premises to a correct conclusion.


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Logic and Reason vs. Pluralism

“It makes no difference if one invokes the highest God or

Zeus or Adonai or Sabaoth or Amoun, as the Egyptians do,

or Papaios, as the Scythians do.” – Celsus, 2nd century

Pluralism maintains no religion is superior with respect to truth claims

Pluralism is nothing new. It claims all religious system are equally good

with respect to bringing out mankind‟s salvation


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Logic and Reason vs. Pluralism

“Pluralism isn‟t and hasn‟t been widely popular in the world

at large; if the pluralist had been born in Madagascar, or

medieval France, he probably wouldn‟t have been a pluralist.

Does it follow that he shouldn‟t be a pluralist or that his

pluralistic beliefs are produced in him by an unreliable belief-

producing process? I doubt it.” – Alvin Plantiga

Pluralism makes an exclusivistic claim – that it alone is true


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Challenging the concept of Absolute Truth…

Pluralism - “Everything is true.”

Question – how does the pluralist know his/her view is true?

A question: Is this woman

both pregnant and not

pregnant? Does the

pluralist believe the

exclusivist‟s claims are true?


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

Recognizing Logical Fallacies

“Jesus is the Son of God” – Christian

“Jesus is the Son of God” – Jehovah‟s Witness/Mormon

Law of Identity

Significance – context means everything


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“Are you a person of science/facts or a person of

religion/faith?”

Premises of deductive premise not true

Faulty Dilemma


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“Who made God?”

Category Mistake


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“Believing in God is like believing in Santa Claus.”

Faulty Analogy


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“The vast majority of scientists believe in evolution”

Consensus Gentium (majority opinion)


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“One day the missing link between man and his ancestors

will be found”

Appeal to the future


T H

E

Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


“You‟re not a biologist – how can you say evolution is not

true?”

Genetic Fallacy


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

How does logic/reason relate to true belief?

Is belief just a matter of …

• Thinking logically?

• Examining the evidence?

• Recognizing reality?

…unfortunately not.


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


Real belief involves more than just information transfer and the external

recognition of a truth. People act contrary to evidence all the time.

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the

truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…” – Hebrews 10:26

…notice the logic used in the above statement?


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


Real belief involves the Will.

“If one were to prove this God of the Christians to us, we should be even

less able to believe in him.” – Nietzsche

“It is our preference that rules against Christianity, not arguments.” –

Nietzsche


T H

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Importance of

Logic

Reason

And


Real belief involves the Will.

“Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?” – Mark 2:8

“When we lack the will to see things as they really are, there is nothing so

mysterious as the obvious.” – Irving Kristol, Professor of Social Thought

“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have

spoken” – Luke 24:25

“for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness…”

- Romans 10:10


T H

E

Importance of

Logic

Reason

And

• A true philosophical foundation is best for believing something

• Adherence to First Principles is mandatory in life and religion

• Logical fallacies must be recognized and overcome

• Pluralism as a belief system is ruled out

• Rejecting pluralism does not mean that various religions are wholly

false

• Real belief still involves more than an understanding of a logical

position

"So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly

being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days

to know which brother is Cain and which Abel." - A.W. Tozer

End Result of Agreeing that Logic/Reason and Religion Mix

D o

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God

“If we believe by faith that God has spoken, since what God says is true,

all that contradicts the word of God can, and must, be at once excluded

as false.” – Etienne Gilson

D o

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God

T H

E

Reason

Importance of

Logic

Reason and Real Religion Stand Together

And

Spiritual

Do Reason And Religion Mix