Thursday 10 September 2009

AfF #7: Argument from Scripture

(Click here for Arguments for Fred #6)

God exists because it says so in the Bible. How do we know the Bible is true? It says so in the Bible. But that's circular reasoning! How do we know it's circular reasoning? Because the laws of logic say so. How do we know the laws of logic are true? Because the laws of logic say so. But that's circular reasoning!

Does the above place the Bible on a par with the laws of logic? No, because the "God exists because it says so in the Bible" argument is invoking the laws of logic, while the initial accusation of circular reasoning does not invoke the veracity of the Bible. The two arguments are not equivalent, because one is internally consistent (the laws of logic say that circular reasoning isn't proof of anything) while the other (the veracity of the Bible) must rely on something external to itself (the laws of logic):
"It's okay to use circular reasoning to prove the truth of the Bible, because reasoning itself is circular when it says circular reasoning doesn't prove anything."
Clearly a tu quoque argument par excellence.*
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*Why use only one language when you can use three?