More Foolish False Antitheses

Believers need to think much more carefully:

Christians, just as much as anyone else, are called to think straight. Believers are meant to use their minds for the glory of God, and not be sloppy and lazy when it comes to their thinking. As C. S. Lewis put it in Mere Christianity, “God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.” He went on to say this:

If you are thinking of being a Christian, I warn you: you are embarking on something that is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But fortunately, it works the other way round. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself. That is why an uneducated believer like Bunyan was able to write a book [The Pilgrim’s Progress] that has astonished the whole world.

But I encounter shallow and sloppy thinking far too often amongst believers. It almost seems that some of them actually delight in not using their brains for Christ and the Kingdom. Thus you so often hear some real howlers coming from various believers.

That in part is why some years ago I set up a new theological subcategory, “Dumb Theology Posters” This is my 34th article in this section. As that title implies, you really find plenty of poor thinking on the social media, often in the form of memes, posters, quotes and so on. Basic clarity of thought and logic seems to go missing there far too often.

Anyone who has taken a course in logic or has read up on it knows that there are various logical fallacies to be aware of and guarded against. Some basic ones include the strawman argument, begging the question, and the category mistake. If you want a bit more info on these, see this earlier piece of mine: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2012/08/23/critical-thinking-and-logical-fallacies/  

Another quite common logical fallacy is known as the false dilemma. There are various ways this fallacy expresses itself. One is to demand an either/or when a both/and is the way to go. Or it can involve a situation in which two alternative points of view are held to be the only options, but in reality there exist one or more other options which have not been considered.

Something Charles Spurgeon once said is an example of the former. When he was asked which was more important, prayer or Bible reading, he famously replied with these words: “What is more important: breathing in or breathing out?”

An example of the latter would be something like this: Some folks will insist that either you love heroin addicts and support heroin injecting rooms, or you just want them to die. But there is a third option of course. Because you love the drug addict and want him to live, you will seek to get him free of his addiction. Getting him off drugs is the loving thing to do.

But as I keep saying, there is a never-ending supply of loose thinking in general, and false dilemmas in particular. Let me share two more that I have recently come upon on the social media. One meme that is making the rounds says this: “The Bible isn’t a rule book, it’s a love letter. It’s the story of God’s heart for His people.”

This is another one of those things where you have to reply with a ‘yes and no’. Yes, in one sense it contains the words of a loving God to his people. But no, that is far from what the Bible is only all about. The truth is, there are hundreds, if not thousands of rules or commands found throughout the Scriptures.

And the best way to show the silliness of this meme is to look at the relationship between love and commands. Way too many believers glibly claim that the two could not be further apart, and that love is not something that can be commanded or ordered.

Um, these folks need to start reading their Bibles. Consider Deuteronomy 6:4-6: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

And Leviticus 19:17-18: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Here we see that love is actually commanded! ‘Oh, but that is Old Testament’ some critics will reply. OK, let’s go with Jesus in the New Testament who quotes both of these texts, and in all three Synoptic Gospels. Here is how Matthew 22:36-40 puts it:

 “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend on all the Law and the Prophets’.”

So many other passages can be mentioned. Here are just three more:

John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

1 John 5:2-3 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

And it is not just that love and rules go together, but the Bible is much more than just the loving words of God to his people. It also contains so many hard words of judgment and rebuke, not just to his enemies, but so often even to his own people. Passages about God’s wrath, judgment on sin, and things like hell are found throughout the Bible.

As for my second example, I had posted on the social media about a new 4-volume set of large tomes on the resurrection and how I was eager to get them, even despite the hefty cost of each. One person sent in this comment to my post: “Just need the HOLY SPIRIT to reveal Christ in you & fellowship with HIM in prayer & worship & you will become more enlightened than any books could do it justice! Close Relationship is so much better than, just letter’s!”

Hmm, this is another unhelpful false dilemma. First of all, is not the Bible itself full of letters, words, paragraphs and so on? And did not Paul actually ask that his books be sent to him? As he said in 2 Timothy 4:13: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.”

If Paul, fully walking in the power of the Spirit, could ask for books and write books (epistles), why cannot any of us? Why the silly false choice: either rely on the Holy Spirit, or read books? Why not do both? Indeed, they go together. God intends for us to love him with our minds, as the verses above emphasise.

And that will involve reading and studying as Paul also made clear (2 Timothy 2:15). The mindset behind comments like this is that all we need is a direct pipeline to God via the Holy Spirit, and we should not waste time with what mere humans have to say.

But I assume the person who said this goes to church and listens to sermons by a pastor. But these involve letters and words and ideas of ‘mere men,’ and they likely were in good measure gleaned from the study of many books and commentaries.

So we cannot avoid reading and reflecting on the words of others. That is how we live and operate in this world. And the very fact that this gal sent in her comment to me means that she expected that I should read and take heed of HER words and thoughts!

Let me say in closing that both of the examples I looked at here were shared by folks who likely meant well, and as mentioned, they had SOME of the truth. But when false dilemmas are resorted to, you end up missing out on other vital biblical truths. When that happens, you end up with half-truths, mistruths and theological error.

All of Scripture must be considered, and not just a few bits cherry-picked to push a certain point of view. And yes, I realise that things like memes by their very nature are greatly limited in the truth they can convey. They are just short, punchy and pithy comments, and usually require some background knowledge and context.

I share memes often, and when required, I might add to them a qualifying statement or explanatory remark. So care is needed in what we share and how we share it, especially on the social media. That being said, there are still too many believers posting too many faulty, dodgy and just plain wrong things online.

Christians are commanded to love God with all of their minds, and when we refuse to do so, we are being disobedient and sinning against God. If things can be more easily twisted or misunderstood online, then that is all the more reason to take greater care in what we share and how we present things.

‘Let my people think’ is the need of the hour. Late last year I wrote two pieces that deal with all this. The first one featured 30 key quotes on the importance of the mind: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2024/12/28/christianity-and-the-mind/

And the second one listed 33 worthwhile volumes that speak to the Christian and his need to think clearly for the glory of God: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2024/12/29/33-top-books-on-the-importance-of-the-christian-mind/

You might want to check out those two articles. We all need to work on obeying the first great commandment that Jesus gave us. None of us have yet fully arrived there. Yes, we love God with our whole being, but that DOES include loving him with our minds!

[1761 words]

2 Replies to “More Foolish False Antitheses”

  1. Great article, thanks Bill, a great reminder that our faith involves the devotion of our whole selves to God, including the Gray matter! Cheers!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *