In light of Saturday... our continued need for training in logic

Well, the world did not end this weekend.  Of course, many students of the Bible as the Bible, students who were not members of Cult Camping, were not surprised.

One thing must be perfectly clear: this does not mean that the world will not end, or that it will not end very soon.  But adding up a bunch of numbers in an effort to figure out some secret coded message, as God demonstrated for us time and time and time again in history, is not the way to go about Bible study.

There are several ways that we could respond to this, and there is some great material on the blogosphere.  For instance, here's a piece by Al Mohler (president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), another by friend and Th.M student Slimjim, an interesting academic correction by Dan Phillips (Camping is not a false prophet but a false teacher) and countless others I'd love to point out if it weren't for time.  Good hermeneutics (the "science" of understanding the Bible) is the one sure-fire way of preventing such Scripture twisting from infiltrating our churches.

But let me point out another series of posts that could also prove helpful.  One of the deficiencies of our culture, whether we speak of believers or non-Christians, is the ability to spot logical fallacies.  This should be a foundational human ability, a tool like grammar that helps us mold our theology by exercising our mental faculties.  Could a better grasp of logic  inoculated a few would-be Campingites?

Apologetics 315 has been partnering with MandM to post audio and text posts under the heading "Fallacy Fridays."  This is something I am happy to see, having taught grade-school logic classes myself.  God is a rational being, has given humans a brain able to reason, has created a universe operating according to logic, and has granted us a Book full of propositions.  It makes sense, then, that grasp of simple logic is a necessity for anyone wanting to live in the world God has created.

Here are the 315 posts for your edification:

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