Logical Reasoning (More to come...)
The initial and founding reason for this website is because I became concerned that people in my church were believing, without diligent enquiry and comparison with God's Word, too many things that really did cry out for some scepticism and discernment.
Now I doubt that I'll be able to deal with every theological point or doctrine that I think requires serious inspection because I don't think it measures up to what's actually in God's Word. That would be an impossible and, quite likely, a fruitless task.
One reason is that I don't have the knowledge, insight and time to deal with every item I'd like to review. Another reason is that I'm self-aware enough to know that what might disturb me doctrinally may not be so crucial for the majority of my brothers and sisters. However, the most important reason is this - Not every doctrine is a cardinal, you-can't-really-be-a-Christian-without-believing-this doctrine. Many doctrines that divide churches and create entire new denominations are, in the end, not spiritual life or spiritual death issues. However, some are.
When we start to evaluate a situation or perhaps some statement or dogma that someone wants us to believe (or that we already believe), understanding "Logical Fallacies" can help us achieve a solid reasoned outcome.
"Reasoning" is simply a term for the thinking process used when deciding something. Obviously, it is best to employ thorough, unbiased, logical, and rational reasoning.
Such reasoning requires weighing up all that you know or can rightly assume, thinking deeply about the implications of what you know and the actions you intend to take, and then concluding or deciding which course of action is best.
The reasoning you employ can also be shallow, biased, based on little evidence or knowledge (or no evidence or knowledge) and given precious little effort. Hence, you make a decision (or decide on an action) hastily, without really thinking it through.
At other times, we are led to conclusions or embrace something as true, not because it is true but because we want it to be true. Making our reasoning processes more robust will help us to make "good" or "reasonable" or "supportable" decisions more reliably, especially when it comes to what we believe about God and our relationship with Him.
Of course, there are many shades of grey. No one reasons perfectly. And it's not always necessary to completely exclude emotions or your "gut feel" either; however, our "gut feel" may be a result of last night's pizza fermenting. Be discerning.
You won't find a "7 decision making pitfalls to avoid" listicle anywhere here. I'm interested in how a person who wants to be faithful to God's word can think about what they are asked to believe and work out. "Is it true? Is this the right way to look at God's word?" or perhaps, more simply, "Is it plausible?"
There's more
coming soon so watch this space.