On my last post I introduced the importance of reasoning from the Scriptures and pointed out that the practice is not as easy as it may appear. To make the difficulty explicit I chose three examples from the New Testament. So far we have seen one of them. Here are the two others.

Second example

“Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” (John 7:50–52 NASB)

In this second example the Pharisees had enough knowledge of the Scriptures but a lack of knowledge of the facts they were judging by the Scriptures. Their syllogism was thus built:

First premise: No prophet came out of Galilee.                                                            Second premise: This man comes from Galilee.                                                   Conclusion: This man is not a prophet.

Here the first premise is right but the second is wrong. Jesus was not from Galilee. He was raised there but he was not born there. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. The amazing thing is that these Pharisees knew that the Christ was going to come from Bethlehem. At least that’s what John suggests in his Gospel:

⁴⁰ Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” (John 7:40–42)

The fact is, hardly anyone knew where Jesus was really born, for at the time of His birth Joseph and Mary were dwelling in Nazareth. But because a decree had gone out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered, Joseph and Mary had gone up from Galilee—out of the city of Nazareth—into the city of David which is called Bethlehem to be registered. Joseph went there because he was of the house and lineage of David. And, as Luke reports, the Child was born during that journey (Luke 2:7). Therefore it was by no means common knowledge that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Most people believed He was born in Nazareth.

So what do we learn from this second example? We learn that we must be very careful when we lay down premises. We must know, not only the Scriptures but also everything related to the premises we put forward. Remember! The Pharisees didn’t have the New Testament. They thought the second premise was valid but it was not. So their conclusion: “This man is not a prophet” was an absolute blunder.

Third example

“Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” ²¹ Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” ²² Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:20–23)

Here the disciples were reasoning badly. Their syllogism was inadequately constructed:

First premise: Jesus said that John will not die.                                                           Second premise: Jesus always speaks the truth.                                                  Conclusion: John will not die.

Here, as verse 23 explains, their first premise was build on a misunderstanding. Therefore, their conclusion was wrong. That’s right, we must read the Scriptures carefully to make sure we understand what they say. A misinterpretation can mislead us to a wrong conclusion, and some wrong conclusions can be very costly.

The snowball effect

The problem with deficient reasonings is that they lead to invalid conclusions, which in turn are used as a premise in subsequent reasonings. It can be compared to putting the first button of a shirt in the wrong hole. When this happens all subsequent buttons go in a wrong hole, and this, until the fist step is rectified. In the Gospel of John we have an example of such a chain reaction.

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” (John 9:13–16)

The first reasoning goes as follows:

First premise: To keep the Sabbath a person must not work.                                    Second premise: To heal a blind man is to work.                                                 Conclusion: Jesus broke the Sabbath.

The problem here is with the second premise. Their concept of working was invalid. Jesus refers to such invalidity in other passages, see Luke 13:15 or 14:5. Therefore a wrong concept led them to a wrong premise and the wrong premise led them to a wrong conclusion, namely, Jesus broke the Sabbath. Then this wrong conclusion was used in their next reasoning. It goes this way:

First premise: A godly person keeps the Sabbath.                                                        Second premise: Jesus broke the Sabbath (the conclusion of the first reasoning) Conclusion: We know Jesus is a sinner (John 9:24).

So here they claim “knowledge” when there was none and, subsequently, put/set/ forth premises based on the knowledge they thought to be valid. And there goes the snowball effect.

Conclusion

What I am saying is that to reason from the Scriptures can become a very complex process. Actually, we can join Paul and say: “And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16) I insist! To reason from the Scriptures is an activity that is not primarily intellectual; it is fundamentally spiritual and therefore will never succeed without God’s help and guidance. That’s why a clean heart is primordial.  

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