Thursday, August 9, 2012

Something God Cannot Do

Something God can't do?  Them's fightin' words in evangelical Christian circles.  What do I mean?  Well, God cannot break the rules of logic.  It is often heard in Christian churches that God's ways are far above our ways, so far in fact the He transcends our ways of thinking.  The rules of logic are man's inventions, and God is above all that.

I want to point out the problems with that view.  First, let me describe one of the most basic laws of logic, called the Law of Non-contradiction.  This law states that a thing (call it "A") cannot be not-that-thing (call it "non-A") at the same time and in the same manner.  "A" can't be "non-A."  It's as simple as that.

For example, the statements, "My apple is round" and "My apple is square" cannot both be true at the same time and in the same way.  Maybe I cut my apple into a square shape later, but that's not at the same time.  Maybe by square I meant to say that the apple is healthy and is part of a "square meal," but that is not in the same manner.

Second, let's apply this to the Christian God.  Consider the statements, "Jesus is the only way to God" and "Jesus is not the only way to God."  Now if God is above "man's" Law of Non-Contradiction, then both of these statements could be true of God at the same time.  But clearly this is not what we believe, and it's incoherent.  Should I believe in Jesus or not?  If not, why did he bother to come?  This Law is written into the fabric of the universe, not because we made it, but because we discovered it.  Without this Law, our faith would be worthless, and life becomes incoherent.  The only possible way that we can pursue evangelism and the making of disciples is if Jesus truly is the only way to get to God.

In summary, even God cannot break the laws of logic.  They flow from His character and are not arbitrary inventions.  Life cannot be lived otherwise.  As Ravi Zacharias has said, if I step into a busy street right in front of a bus, it's either me or the bus, but not both.

That's the logic of reality.

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