Do Reason And Religion Mix

God
Does

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Do Reason and Religion Mix?

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason

Why do we need Logic and Reason in
Religion?

© Confident Christians – www.confidentchristians.org

God
Does

“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

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Why do people believe what they believe?
Sociological Psychological Religious
• Culture • Comfort • Church
• Friends • Hope • Guru
• Parents • Identity/Meaning • Holy Book
• Society • Peace of Mind • 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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Sigmund Freud on why people believe religious ideas
• They were believed by our primal ancestors
• We possess proofs handed down from primeval times
• Forbidden to raise questions of their authentication

“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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Why should people believe what they believe?
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

“True religion and true philosophy must arrive at the same principle”
- S. S. Smith

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
There is both good and bad philosophy
“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

“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad
philosophy needs to be answered. ”
- C. S. Lewis

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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”.

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

4. Law of rational inference – e.g. All men are mortal,
John is a man, therefore John is mortal.


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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)


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Law of excluded middle
Something is either “A” or “non-A”.

“Everything came to be from a personal eternality” –
Christian
“Everything came to be from an impersonal eternality” –
Atheist
No third option
…notice how this underscores truth‟s attributes of being
„narrow‟ and „excludes‟

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Law of Identity

“A” is really “A”.

“Jesus Christ is God!” – Christian
“Jesus Christ is not God!” – Muslim
He is or He isn‟t


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Law of Rational Inference
Deductive logic – reasoning from true premises to a correct conclusion.

Everything that has a beginning has a cause.
The universe had a beginning.
Therefore, the universe has a cause.


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Logic and Reason vs. Pluralism
Pluralism maintains no religion is superior with respect to truth claims

“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 is nothing new. It claims all religious system are equally good
with respect to bringing out mankind‟s salvation


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Logic and Reason vs. Pluralism
Pluralism makes an exclusivistic claim – that it alone is true

“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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Challenging the concept of Absolute Truth…
Pluralism - “Everything is true.”

A question: Is this woman
both pregnant and not
pregnant? Does the
pluralist believe the
exclusivist‟s claims are true?

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

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Recognizing Logical Fallacies
Significance – context means everything

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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Faulty Dilemma

“Are you a person of science/facts or a person of
religion/faith?”

Premises of deductive premise not true


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Category Mistake

“Who made God?”


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Faulty Analogy

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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Consensus Gentium (majority opinion)

“The vast majority of scientists believe in evolution”


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Appeal to the future

“One day the missing link between man and his ancestors
will be found”


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Genetic Fallacy

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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
How does logic/reason relate to true belief?
Is belief just a matter of …

• Thinking logically?
• Examining the evidence?
• Recognizing reality?

…unfortunately not.


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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?


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Real belief involves the Will.
“Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?” – Mark 2:8

“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

“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


Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
End Result of Agreeing that Logic/Reason and Religion Mix
• 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
quot;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.quot; - A.W. Tozer


God
Does

“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

God
Does

Importance of
Logic
THE

And

Reason
Reason and Real Religion Stand Together

Do Reason And Religion Mix

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