Skip to main content

Logic

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

 

I’ll admit it. This morning - possibly because I’m listening to Sherlock Holmes stories, and partly as a result of some recent events, I’m feeling logically argumentative. I hope it’s of use to you at some point when you encounter the same idea.

          Let us suppose that I have put these two mugs on the table before you:



          I grant that one has the handle pointing left, the other has the handle pointing right, and that one has flowers nearer it, but those are not real differences. If I asked you to describe them, you might say that they are usable, identical white, 12 oz mugs and ask that I pour us both cups of coffee. I might tell you that you’re wrong. They’re not identical: one has a tiny hole in the bottom, and they are light gray.

          The biggest point is that we cannot both be right and honest. We may both be honest if one or both of us is wrong. But if one of us is right, the other must be mistaken or dishonest. If we are correct that they are both 12 oz mugs, that does not make us correct about any of the rest.

          Yes, this is all a restatement of C.S. Lewis’ trilemma. Scripture states that Jesus said the words above. He either said them, or He didn’t. At this point, while there are those who say that He didn’t say them, they present no documentary evidence to that effect. They have theories, but no evidence. So, they may be right, they may be wrong, or they may be lying. But if we are going to reject the notion that Jesus said it without solid evidence, we must also reject all other statements by all people unless we have heard it from them ourselves. Even audio recordings must be suspect in this day of AI.

          If He did say them, He told the truth, was mistaken, or lied. And this is where we come back to the coffee mug idea. Some claim that all gods are the same, and all religions are the same. The first problem I have with this is that if all gods and religions are the same, then why should the person seeking to convince others to join their religion not be the one to join the one they hope the others will leave? If both cups are identical, why try to get me to drink out of the one you’re holding? Ultimately, every leader of every religion - even the ones that claim all religions are the same - maintain that their own religion is somehow superior. If they weren’t superior, they would have left their religions for something that was superior to theirs and there would be no reason to suggest to anyone that they should change.

          But let’s make it even tougher. Jesus said that no one comes to the Father but by Him.  In II Corinthains 6:15, Paul said it well, “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” If someone’s religion rejects the notion that Jesus is the only way to God, then there are two choices:  Both parties are wrong, and neither Jesus nor the other is true and good or one party is deceived or deceptive (or both) and should be rejected.  They cannot both be correct and good, and there cannot be harmony or peace between them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more