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VERSION
ILLOGICAL LOGIC
13But
he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not
planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let them alone:
they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. (Mat 15:)
ILLOGICAL LOGIC
Logic:
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Logic,
from the Greek (logiké) is the art and science of reasoning.
More specifically, it is defined by the Penguin Encyclopedia to be "The
formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and
correct reasoning". As a discipline, logic dates back to Aristotle, who
established its fundamental place in philosophy. It became part of the
classical trivium, a fundamental part of a classical education, and is
now an integral part of disciplines such as mathematics, computer
science, and linguistics.
Logic
concerns the structure of statements and arguments, in formal systems
of inference and natural language. Topics include validity, fallacies
and paradoxes, reasoning using provability and arguments involving
causality and time. Logic is also commonly used today in argumentation
theory.
Did you understand more than a word or two of what you just read? If
you did, then you're doing better than I am.
How many times have you said
to a statement somebody made: "That sounds logical"? I've said it
often. And now I know I had no idea what I was saying.
I think most of us would
admit that we do not think on the same level as do those people who
wrote the above definition of Logic. Let's take a look at a dictionary
written for the common man and woman...and child:
LOGIC
-noun
1. the
science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable
inference.
2. a
particular method of reasoning or argumentation:
"We were unable to follow his logic."
3. the
system or principles of reasoning applicable
to any branch of knowledge or study.
4.
reason or sound judgment, as in utterances or actions:
"There wasn't much logic in her move."
5. convincing
forcefulness; inexorable truth or persuasiveness: "the
irresistible logic of the facts."
Now I feel like I have something I can relate to. I understand
"reasoning." I'm not particularly good at it, but I understand what it
means. I also understand "arguments." I'm afraid I'm a little too
good at this, and certainly I am too prone toward it. And I understand
"convincing forcefulness." I grew up with a father well versed in this
area, and I have taken on much of his traits, if lacking in his ability.
Reasoning is apparently the
layman's term for Logic. Since I don't know anything about Logic, and
the word is not in the Bible (and you know that is my purpose in
bringing the subject up), I will refrain from using Logic, and stick to
Reasoning.
In the Bible the word "Reason" is used fairly often. The Old Testament
generally uses the word to mean "by reason of" which is different than
the meaning we are researching here. However, Jesus, when He used the
word, it almost always meant what we mean when we use the word.
The Greek word for Reason
has been interpreted various ways in the Bible. We have "Consider;
Muse; Speak; Think; Dispute; and Preach" However, rarely was the word
used other than to mean "Reason." But all other forms will be examined
right along with Reason, because that is a Reasonable thing to do.
Let's look at the verses
that have used the word Reason in them. I will only include the New
Testament in this search, even though the word, in another forms and
languages of course, was occasionally used. (Pay close heed to the
pattern human logic takes in the verses that follow):
6Then
Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7And they reasoned
among themselves, saying, It is because we have
taken no bread.8Which when
Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason
ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9Do
ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five
thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (Mat 16: also Mark 8:17)
24And
Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which
if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do
these things. 25The baptism of John, whence was
it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned
with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto
us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26But if
we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a
prophet. 27And they answered Jesus, and said,
We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what
authority I do these things. (Mat 21: see also Luke 20:2-8)
6But
there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning
in their hearts, 7Why doth this man
thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8And
immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned
within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason
ye these things in your hearts? 9Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins
be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
(Mark 2:)
13And
they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to
catch him in his words . . . .15
But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? . . .
28And one of the scribes came, and having
heard them reasoning together, and
perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the
first commandment of all? (Mark 12:)
20And
when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven
thee. 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began
to reason, saying, Who is this which
speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 22But
when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason
ye in your hearts? (Luke 5:)
13Then
said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved
son: it may be they will reverence him when they
see him. 14But when the husbandmen saw him,
they reasoned among themselves, saying,
This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be
ours. (Luke 20:)
14And
they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15And
it came to pass, that, while they communed together
and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near,
and went with them. 16But their eyes were
holden that they should not know him. 17And he
said unto them, What manner of communications are
these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? (Luke 24:)
44Let
these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be
delivered into the hands of men. 45But they
understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they
perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying. 46Then
there arose a reasoning among them, which
of them should be greatest. 47And Jesus,
perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by
him, 48And said unto them, Whosoever shall
receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive
me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the
same shall be great. 49And John answered and
said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad
him, because he followeth not with us. 50And
Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that
is not against us is for us. (Luke 19:)
15And
as the people were in expectation, and all men mused
in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16John
answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize
you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire: (Luke 3:)
47Then
gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What
do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48If
we let him thus alone, all men will believe on
him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
49And one of them, named
Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know
nothing at all, 50Nor consider
that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not. (John 11:)
Did you notice that there was not one incident as given above where
man's reasoning did not get him into grave trouble? We have this very
same scenario all through the Bible, beginning with Adam and Eve. And
if you are so inclined to believe in the Satan theory, then you can add
to this a billion years of mistakes going all the way back to Satan's
fall along with a third of the angels. Even angels.
Even those closest to Jesus,
His disciples, made the most ludicrous of misjudgements. Man just does
not have it in him to do the right thing, nor to make the right
decision.
Following are verses where the Apostles speak about reasoning. Keep in
mind that "reasoning" includes "Disputing," and "Preaching."
1Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2And
Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures, 3Opening and
alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from
the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. (Acts
17:)
4And
he reasoned in the synagogue every
sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. (Acts 18:)
7And
upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached
unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech
until midnight. (Acts 20:)
8And
he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three
months, disputing and persuading the
things concerning the kingdom of God. 9But when
divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way
before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the
disciples, disputing daily in the school
of one Tyrannus. (Acts 19:)
11Because
that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I
went up to Jerusalem for to worship. 12And they
neither found me in the temple disputing
with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues,
nor in the city: 13Neither can they prove the
things whereof they now accuse me. (Acts 24:)
25And
as he reasoned of righteousness,
temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy
way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for
thee. (Acts 24:)
28Be
it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the
Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29And
when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning
among themselves. (Acts 28:)
14Do
all things without murmurings and disputings: 15That
ye may be blameless and harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; (Phil 2:)
1Him
that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to
doubtful disputations. (Rom 1:)
The following are some verses from the Old Testament. Keep in mind that
the word for "reason" in the Hebrew is not the same as for all those
above, so there could be a difference in their meaning. But since they
are not actually part of this study, I will not be investigating them
any further than this:
20For
there is
not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. 21Also
take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant
curse thee: 22For oftentimes also thine own
heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. 23All
this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise;
but it was
far from me. 24That which is far
off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? 25I
applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom,
and the reason of things,
and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and
madness: . . . 29Lo,
this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have
sought out many inventions. (Eccles 7:)
And this is the conclusion that the wisest man on earth came to after
his life of failed reasoning, making a multitude of errors in
judgement:
1The
words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2Vanity
of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is
vanity. 3What profit hath a man
of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
8All
things are full of labour; man cannot utter it:
the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9The
thing that hath been, it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be
done: and there is no new thing
under the sun. . . . 12I the Preacher was king
over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I gave my heart
to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things
that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the
sons of man to be exercised therewith. 14I have
seen all the works that are done under the sun; and,
behold, all is
vanity and vexation of spirit. 15That
which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is
wanting cannot be numbered. 16I communed with
mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten
more wisdom than all they that have been before
me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and
knowledge. 17And I gave my heart to know
wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is
vexation of spirit. 18For
in much wisdom is
much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
(Eccl 1:)
16Wash
you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine
eyes; cease to do evil; 17Learn
to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow. 18Come now, and let us
reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool. 19If
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20But
if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword:
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah
1:)
21Produce
your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob. 22Let them bring them
forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things,
what they be, that we may consider them, and know
the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. 23Show
the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are
gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it
together. 24Behold,
ye are
of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is
he that chooseth you.. . . yea, there
is none that showeth, yea, there
is none that declareth, yea, there
is none that heareth
your words. 27The first shall say
to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that
bringeth good tidings. 28For I
beheld, and there was
no man; even among them, and there
was no counsellor,
that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29Behold,
they are
all vanity; their works are
nothing: their molten images are
wind and confusion. (Isaiah 41:)
People did not understand Jesus. They rejected Him because He didn't
tell them what they wanted to hear. Things have not changed. If the
words that come to our ears are not what we want to hear, we either
block them off, or change them to fit our understandings and our
desires.
The Apostles did nothing but
make mistakes in judgement before Pentecost. After Pentecost almost
everything that came from their mouth, and all their deeds were not
only correct, but they were miraculous. What made the difference?
The educated and religious
rulers and teachers of the day made some horrible errors in judgement.
The more educated, the more religious they were, the higher up they
were in the church of the day, the bigger and the more drastic was the
mistakes they made. It was the poor, the uneducated, the despised that
could see and hear the word of Jesus (Luke 7:29-30).
Below are some excerpts from
the Bible where reasoning is used after Pentecost:
14Now
about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
15And the Jews marvelled, saying, How
knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16Jesus
answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
17If
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God, or whether
I speak of myself. 18He that
speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his
glory that sent him, the same is true, and no
unrighteousness is in him. (John 7:)
5And
it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and
scribes, 6And Annas the high priest, and
Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred
of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7And
when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by
what name, have ye done this? 8Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people,
and elders of Israel, ..... 13Now
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts
4:)
33O
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are
his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35Or
who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him
again? 36For of him, and through him, and to
him, are all things: to whom be
glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:)
11And
the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is
sealed, which men
deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I
pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is
sealed: 12And the book is delivered to him
that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and
he saith, I am not learned. 13Wherefore the
Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me
with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed
their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men: (Isaiah 29:)
7But
they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of
the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong
drink; they err in vision, they stumble in
judgment. 8For all tables are
full of vomit and filthiness, so that
there is no place clean. 9Whom
shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? them that are
weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts. 10For
precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and
there a little: 11For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people. 12To
whom he said, This is the rest wherewith
ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the
refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13But
the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and
there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken,
and snared, and taken. (Isaiah 28:)
We pride ourselves on our own knowledge and our own understanding. We
do not pay attention to what others say, but we hear what we think
they're going to say. Then we demand that what we believe of them is
true regardless of evidence presented to us to the contrary.
We don't only do this with
one another, but we do this with ourselves as well; and more
importantly, we do this with God. And we fully expect that God will
abide by our conclusions, and we look no farther into a matter.
Would we accept this from
someone else if it were done to us? Then why do we expect God to accept
it from us?
2Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; 4And
they shall turn away their
ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2
Tim 4:)
13But
he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not
planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let
them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Mat 15:)
Why is it that we are unable to understand what God is telling us? Is
it because we're just too dumb? Or is it because we think we already
have the answers and won't listen to anything that doesn't fit the
answers we want to believe?
44How
can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the
honour that cometh
from God only? (John 5:)
46For
had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47But
if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John
5:)
Did I hear someone say that the Old Testament is not for us today? I
wonder why Jesus and the Apostles were constantly quoting and
reaffirming the tenants of the Old Testament when they were giving us
instructions if it does not apply to us?
43Why
do ye not understand my speech? even
because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46Which
of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not
believe me? 47He
that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them
not, because ye are not of God. (John 8:)
6But
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And
I give unto them eternal life; and
they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:)
1Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. 2Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:
and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world. 4Ye are of God, little children, and
have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that
is in the world. 5They
are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world
heareth them. 6We
are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of
error. (1John 4:)
19And
he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD
sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on
his right hand and on his left. 20And the LORD
said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at
Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that
manner. 21And there came forth a spirit, and
stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 22And
the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will
go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him,
and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 23Now
therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all
these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
(1Kings 22:)
Now would God do a thing like that? Would God send a lying spirit to
come down and intentionally deceive us? According to doctrines taught
in the churches He wouldn't. But according to the Word of God, He
would. Which, I ask, do you choose to believe? Your doctrine? Or God?
But then maybe this was a
misquote, or merely a vision the prophet was having, or perhaps it was
just a parable. Let's look and see if there are any other witnesses to
this occurrence.
3Yea,
they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their
abominations. 4I
also will choose their delusions, and will bring their
fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake,
they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes,
and chose that
in which I delighted not. 5Hear
the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; (Isaiah 66:)
10And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might
be saved. 11And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12That they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Thes 2:)
For some good examples of this very thing in action, read: No
Details, Please, and Christian Agnostic,
and Jesus and Other Gods, and Scatter
Shot.
21Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him
not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. 22Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. 24Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts,
to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
Amen. 26For
this cause God gave them up unto vile affections . . .
. . 28And
even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient; 29Being
filled with all unrighteousness, . . . . 32Who
knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that
do them. (Romans 1:)
10And
the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in
parables? 11He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. 12For
whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
that he hath. 13Therefore speak
I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. 14And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye
shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive: 15For
this people's heart is waxed gross, and their
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed;
lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I
should heal them. 16But blessed are
your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. (Mat 13:)
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