Preaching to a congregation is obviously a very different scenario from teaching a class on logic in a University or Seminary setting. Yet I believe that we as ministers can teach the Scriptures using logical arguments without having to resort to using technical language which the vast majority of folk would not be able to understand.
I am sure that all of us as preachers have at times been guilty of speaking over the heads of our people. Yet one of the ways to remedy this is to simply be constantly aware of this tendency. Then we need to apply the discipline of working out how to say the exact same thing we would say to a group of intellectuals (using the same logic) to the people in the congregation, by using language and explanations which all can follow. This takes work – sometimes a great deal of work. Yet I do believe it is very much possible to bring logic into a sermon.
For instance, when I was preaching on the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16 to our congregation, I spoke of the need to think through what the verse actually said, rather than assume its meaning, which is something we all tend to do. The text reads:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 teaches that God’s love for the world is seen by the giving of His Son so that
all who A (believe in Him)
will not B (perish)
but will have C (eternal life).
There is no possibility of someone believing in Christ and then perishing, but all who believe will have eternal life. That’s what the text clearly teaches.
I then asked the congregation, what does this verse teach us concerning who it is who has the ability to believe?
There was silence for a few seconds while people thought about the answer; but I then answered my own question by saying, “actually the verse teaches us nothing at all about who WILL believe or who CAN believe. All the verse tells us is that those who DO believe will not perish, but will have eternal life.
John 3:16 does not address the question of who has the ability to believe. We might as well ask what the verse teaches us about the correct carpet color for church sanctuaries – why? Because that too is not in any way addressed by the text! The question of who has the ability to believe is addressed by John elsewhere – earlier in the chapter, Jesus taught that unless a man is born again he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5, 7) and in John 10:26, Jesus said, “you do not believe because you are not My sheep.””
Now in teaching this in the church service, I didn’t use technical language at all or use pie charts and venn diagrams. If I did, I think the vast majority of the people may well have switched off and felt everything was way over their heads (even if it was not). The problem would have been that nothing would have been communicated to the vast majority of people, which would have been a pointless exercise.
Another reason I share this is because I am sure that most in the congregation would not know that they had been presented with interpretation through applying the laws of logic. They simply heard the text interpreted in language they understood (hopefully). And that’s exactly my point. We don’t have to use technical language to communicate with people, and in fact, we should avoid it whenever possible.
Perhaps this is what Paul was refering to in 1 Corinthians 1:17; 2:1, 4, 5 when he wrote, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void… And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom… my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
I believe the truths of the Bible can be attested to by the principles of logical reasoning (the Bible is not an illogical book), yet to serve a congregation, the minister needs to present the truth in ways which can be understood by the people – people who may or may not have received a higher form of education.
As one man said,”anyone can make the simple things complex, but it takes genius to make complex things simple.” Yet even if we present the truth precisely and with great simplicity, we need to always remember that it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to write the truth upon the heart.
As Dr. James White says, “many are blinded by their traditions, and those most blinded are those who don’t think they have any.” Our job as preachers is to present the truth as clearly as we can. It is, of course, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who will lead God’s people into all truth. We rest in His ability to do this rather than our own.
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The following is a short quote from Dan Phillips on the Apostle Paul’s use of logic in 1 Corinthians 15…
“It is perfectly logical and reasonable to examine a position, or the progression of a position, and work out its implications. Paul himself does this to the Corinthians.
Evidently swayed by Greek philosophy, some puddingheads in Corinth denied the doctrine of bodily resurrection. Paul was appalled, and with inexorable logic worked out the implications of this view. Notice his progression, “If you are saying A, then B naturally follows, as well as C, and D, and….”
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then [A] not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then [B] our preaching is in vain and [C] your faith is in vain. 15 [D] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, [E] not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, [F] your faith is futile and [G] you are still in your sins. 18 Then [H] those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, [I] we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)
Paul works out easily nine implications of this fundamental error, all designed to show where it necessarily leads. Perhaps the errorists would have cried, “Paul, that’s a straw man! We’re not saying any of that!” To this, the apostle might have replied, “Not yet. But this is where your premises necessarily lead.””