Logic
Principles of Interpretation 1 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Misconception that seems to dominate the religious would and society in general.
Ms. Vos Savant wrote a column in the pop-culture entertainment magazine Parade.
In this column she responded to a reader question regarding the compatibility of faith and science.
“It’s not hard to hold conflicting beliefs if one of them comes from the heart—like religion—and the other one comes from the head—like science.”
She then gave the reason she thought this was true.
“That’s because I think science arises from the intellect, and religion arises from emotion.”
Scientist have convinced many people that science alone is the realm of reason, while religion is the realm of belief that is contrary to reason.
Scientists themselves have much at stake in convincing people that they alone are reasonable.
Their purpose is to attempt to persuade people that only natural explanations are reasonable and that anything that requires reference to something beyond what occurs in nature cannot be classified as reasonable.
They are trying to win an intellectual war by first winning the battle for definition and classification.
To many have fallen pray to this line of thinking.
To many believe that religion and reason are not compatible.
The Scripture does not agree with this logic.
18 “Come now, and 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 be as wool.
God not only allowed reason in religion, He required it.
Peter describes the gospel as the logikos milk, the logical milk.
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
We are to test all things.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
This takes logic or reason.
Be ready to give a defense.
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
He used a word that implies “a reasoned defense.”
Without logic and reason in our religious lives we can be convinced of anything because it does not have to obey the rules of reason.
In the process of abandoning reason and logic people started to accept thing that did not make biblical sense.
Like doctrine that is contrary to the word of God and religious division.
They accepted the fact that their doctrinal conclusions would not make sense, they delighted in contradiction and hypocrisy, and they reveled in the diversity and confusion thus created.
Without logic and reason all that is left is chaos and confusion.
God is not the author of confusion.
33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Nor is he pleased by such.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Our Creator is a God of wisdom and reason, not a god of emotional.
Body:
Body:
The Nature And Purpose of Logic.
To some logic refers to human wisdom and human understanding, human abilities and human weakness, and so they believe logic stands in opposition to the gospel.
The New Testament does indeed show the folly of human wisdom.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
Each time the inspired writes condemn human wisdom it is within the context of an attempt to...
Ignore the gospel.
replace the gospel
or impugn the gospel
God never condemned using reason or logic to interpret the gospel.
Human wisdom was condemned by God as an attempt to cast off divine authority—not to discover it and submit to it.
God Himself requires, condones, and commends human thought and discernment.
Requires—1 Thess. 5:21
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Condones—1 John 4:1
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Commends—Acts 17:11
11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
The human thought process is an essential part of the equation in Bible study.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
This verse shows that it is worldly wisdom that is condemned not Godly wisdom and it takes the human thought process to preach Godly wisdom.
The difference between “Godly wisdom” and “human wisdom” is the subject and standard by which a person discerns.
“Human wisdom”—contemplates human possibilities, human accomplishments and human philosophy.
“Human wisdom’s standard is either a human or humanity as a whole.
Both of these standards are condemned by God.
23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
“Human wisdom” attempts to determine the way of salvation apart from God’s Revelation.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
God has provided the Gospel as the subject.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
God Has provided the truth as the standard.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
The gospel should be the focus of our studies and truth the standard against which we compare all doctrines and beliefs.
Without the gospel as the focus and the truth as the standard man fails in his worship to God.
9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Logic is the process by which we can make a comparison of our beliefs with God’s objective standard.
Logic is not alternative to God’s will.
Logic provides the basis for determining God’s will.
Without logic all interpretation would be subjective and based on pure emotion without any basis in fact.
No one could reasonably say their religious beliefs were any better than anyone else’s.
The nature of being subjective is that based on the individual the message has different meanings.
Thus the individual has the authority to change the message to meet their own personal needs.
If religion was totally subjective then it could be different for different people based on the individual perception and needs.
Because God’s word can not be changed it cannot be subjective.
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
If no one not even an angel has the authority to change God’s word then it cannot be subjective.
If it is not subjective then it only has one meaning.
If it only has one meaning then we must have the ability to discover that meaning.
Logic and reason is the ability to discover the true meaning.
The rejection of logic forces religion into the field of speculation and insecurity, where the Bible becomes something to be molded by men instead of that by which men themselves are molded.
Skeptics counter that humans sometimes err in their thinking.
However, when humans err in their thinking it is not because they used logic but because they failed to do so.
The Laws of Thought
The laws of thought are rules that should govern our thinking.
More specifically, the conclusions we draw.
These are rules that guarantee proper conclusions.
Logic might be called the literary sister of math.
Many of the laws of thought are applications of mathematical principles to the realities of life.
Most people use the laws of thought naturally at least to a certain point.
Don’t jump to conclusions
Don’t touch the stove; it’s hot, only to have a different child burn himself by touching it. The parent, after appropriate consolation, might ask the second child, “Didn’t you hear me tell your sister that the stove was hot?”
This is the law of identity
A woman cannot be “kind of pregnant”
A woman is either pregnant or not pregnant there is no middle ground.
This is the law of excluded middle.
A common saying even today is “ You can’t have it both ways.”
This is an acknowledgement of the law of contradiction.
Detectives, lawyers, teachers, and parents all draw conclusions without being eyewitnesses to a particular act.
They “put two and two together,” and so they confirm the law of implication and inference.
The Law of Rationality
Dr. Thomas B. Warren the “law of rationality says that men should draw only such conclusions as are warranted by the evidence.”
The emphasis of this law falls upon the necessity of evidence and the importance of limiting the scope of consideration to what the evidence allows, realizing that no conclusion should go beyond this.
The law of rationality rules out presumption and speculation as having any legitimate role in determining truth.
To deny the law of rationality is to deny evidence, objectivity, and truth.
All evidence must be discovered and considered in order to have accurate conclusions.
Kevin in his book says—“In Bible study, the Bible itself is the main body of evidence to consider. Bible study also requires consideration of history, archaeology, and other fields of study, but if one seeks religious truth, he must examine the evidence presented by the Bible.
I don’t entirely agree with Kevin on this point.
I do not believe to come to proper conclusions and be consistent with the law of rationality that the bible requires consideration of history, archaeology, and other fields of study.
The reason for this is that the bible records—2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Either we have everything to be complete through the scriptures or we don’t there is no middle ground.
This is the law of excluded middle
Another reason I disagree is 2 Peter 1:3-4
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Either we have all things that pertain to life and godliness or we do not.
This knowledge was provided through the Scriptures—the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue
it records here that this has already been given to us—by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.
Recorded here it also says —through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
This means that we can escape the corruption in the world by using only the Scriptures that have already been given to us.
Jude says—Jude 1.3
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
If this is true then the only evidence that must be considered in order to come to proper conclusion and be consistent with the law of rationality is the evidence contained in the Scriptures.
Nothing else is required.
To say anything else is required violates the law of contradiction.
God said we have everything we need to be complete
God said he provided everything that pertains to life and godliness
To claim other wise is to be in contradiction to God.
And thus would make God violate the law of contradiction
You have everything you need but you need something more.
The Law of Identity
“The law of identity states that if something is true, then it is true.”
“This law says, in effect, that if a proposition is true for one person, then it is true for another person.”
This would mean that if God’s word is true then it is true for all.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
We can accept it or reject it, but we cannot change it.
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
With the law of Identity if two disagree at least one of them is incorrect because the truth is the same for everyone.
The law of identity rejects the idea that truth can be subjective.
When God binds a truth in the scriptures that truth is applicable and binding on all with-in the covenant.
When God binds a principle upon one group of people, that principle applies to all people to whom that covenant is intended regardless of the passage of time.
These qualifications are necessary because not every person has lived under the new covenant and because it is important to understand whether God binds an action or principle in order to know the extent of its application.
For example—it is important to know whether Jesus intended to bind the act of washing feet in John 13 or the principles of humility and service.
Since All people living to day are amendable to (answerable to) the new covenant, then everything the new covenant says is true and applies to all people living today.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
Examples
It is therefore impossible for people to live under the same covenant and be saved from sin in two different ways.
If the Bible teaches that women are not to lead in public worship, then it is true for all women for all time.
34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
Some people seem to always claim “That’s just your interpretation,” as if there can be several equally good interpretations of biblical truth.
If an interpretation is not true, then a Bible student should be able to demonstrate such.
Interpretation does not mean that a person can pick and choose his beliefs arbitrarily.
