Farrell Till takes a biblical inerrantist to school on the subject of logical fallacies. From the Errancy discussion list, June 14, 1997:
MAGILL
Your response my dear was indeed quick but your brain nevertheless is
slow to listen and quick to judge as all fool's brains are!
TILL
Oh, well, why not have a little fun and analyze the logical fallacies in
Magill's posting?
MAGILL
"THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS NO GOD!" (Psalm 53:1)
TILL
This is an appeal to authority, tradition, and popular belief. It carries no more force of argument than would a Mormon's quotation of the Book of Mormon or a Muslim's quotation of the Qur'an. We have pointed this out many times to Magill, but he persists in thinking that he can settle any issue by just quoting a scripture or two.
MAGILL
By God's very definition of non-believers you are a fool! He said it not me!
TILL
This begs the question of God's involvement in the writing of the Bible.
Until Magill has established beyond reasonable doubt that God inspired the
writing of the Bible, his scripture quotations prove no more than a Mormon's
quotation of the Book of Mormon or a Muslim's quotation of the Qur'an? I
don't suppose Magill is ever going to learn this basic logical fallacy.
MAGILL
He can say it because He is God and you are not!
TILL
This is an appeal to both authority and fear. It also begs the question of
God's existence. Magill needs to establish beyond reasonable doubt that a
god exists, and then he can talk to us about what God has the right to do.
MAGILL
This is the first lesson in true humility.
TILL
This is a fallacy of unproven assertion. Magill should accept the burden of
proof and try to establish that the assertion is true.
MAGILL
If you cannot accept it your heart is hard and your brain is on recess not
to mention the fact that your spirit and soul are dead!
TILL
In this we have an ad hominem attack and the begging of a question that
Magill needs to prove. Is there a spirit or soul? What is the evidence
that such exists?
More important, does Magill expect anyone to take him seriously when he
sends the list sophomoric postings like this one? If he will make serious
attempts to state and support arguments, I will gladly respond to him, but
stuff like this doesn't deserve to be dignified with responses. Thus, he
will hear no more from me until he posts a serious argument or else makes a
serious attempt to rebut an argument.
Farrell Till
MAGILL
Your response my dear was indeed quick but your brain nevertheless is
slow to listen and quick to judge as all fool's brains are!
TILL
Oh, well, why not have a little fun and analyze the logical fallacies in
Magill's posting?
MAGILL
"THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS NO GOD!" (Psalm 53:1)
TILL
This is an appeal to authority, tradition, and popular belief. It carries no more force of argument than would a Mormon's quotation of the Book of Mormon or a Muslim's quotation of the Qur'an. We have pointed this out many times to Magill, but he persists in thinking that he can settle any issue by just quoting a scripture or two.
MAGILL
By God's very definition of non-believers you are a fool! He said it not me!
TILL
This begs the question of God's involvement in the writing of the Bible.
Until Magill has established beyond reasonable doubt that God inspired the
writing of the Bible, his scripture quotations prove no more than a Mormon's
quotation of the Book of Mormon or a Muslim's quotation of the Qur'an? I
don't suppose Magill is ever going to learn this basic logical fallacy.
MAGILL
He can say it because He is God and you are not!
TILL
This is an appeal to both authority and fear. It also begs the question of
God's existence. Magill needs to establish beyond reasonable doubt that a
god exists, and then he can talk to us about what God has the right to do.
MAGILL
This is the first lesson in true humility.
TILL
This is a fallacy of unproven assertion. Magill should accept the burden of
proof and try to establish that the assertion is true.
MAGILL
If you cannot accept it your heart is hard and your brain is on recess not
to mention the fact that your spirit and soul are dead!
TILL
In this we have an ad hominem attack and the begging of a question that
Magill needs to prove. Is there a spirit or soul? What is the evidence
that such exists?
More important, does Magill expect anyone to take him seriously when he
sends the list sophomoric postings like this one? If he will make serious
attempts to state and support arguments, I will gladly respond to him, but
stuff like this doesn't deserve to be dignified with responses. Thus, he
will hear no more from me until he posts a serious argument or else makes a
serious attempt to rebut an argument.
Farrell Till
No comments:
Post a Comment