Fallacious Fundamentalists: Logical Fallacies Committed By Fundamentalists

1. Abusive analogy: a form of ad hominem that attacks a person through negative analogies.
1. We are removing God from America with all the fervor of Germany just before WWII.
2. “Yes, I had been wrong to forget [her birthday], but I hadn’t ignored her birthday intentionally. I felt judged, put down—and rightly so. At the time, I couldn’t describe my feelings with a word like disrespected. During those years, when the feminists were going full blast, men didn’t talk about being disrespected by women. That would have been arrogant, and in church circles it would have been considered a terrible lack of humility.” (Eggerichs, 12)
3. When I walk across campus and see the girls dressed the way they are, it’s like walking through a minefield (Mahaney, 1:22-1:32). Anyone arguing for being blown up by mines?
4. “The impact [of media] is usually not felt immediately – it’s more like an IV in your arm that goes drip … drip … drip … gradually pumping a foreign substance into your system. If the substance dripping through that plastic tubing is toxic or poisonous, you may not feel the results right away, but once it gets into your system, your whole body will definitely be affected! … It all comes down to whether you’re going to let the world’s values, morals, and thinking drip day by day into your system, or you’re going to intentionally choose to be exposed to input that will help you become more wise and godly” (Demoss and Gresh, 152). By now, the listener can’t help but feel the drip … drip … drip as she remembers the TV’s shampoo ad that wrecked her life. There is, of course, no alternative.
5. “Women who do not want to do the will of God in regard to their husbands remind me of atheists always ready with a few reasons not to believe, but never considering the many reasons to believe” (Pearl, 22).
2. Accent: the use of emphasis to subtly change the connotative meaning of what is said, regardless of denotative meaning.
1. Of course women aren’t inferior to men. They just have different roles.
2. The Bible says God wants all men to be saved. That doesn’t mean God calls all men.
3. Accident: Calling up extreme and unlikely exceptions as reasons to reject a proposal.
1. If we reduce God’s law to love, people could justify sexual perversion.
2. Questioner: Why doesn’t BJU put locks on dorm room doors to enable privacy while changing or prevent stealing when absent from the room? Fundy: Well, if a girl were trying to commit suicide, we wouldn’t be able to get in to stop her.
4. Affirming the consequent: “cart before the horse” If AàB, then BàA
1. If you pray in faith, God will answer. God answered; therefore, you must be full of faith.
2. Those who are sexually reprobate, God punishes with aids. This person has contracted aids . . .
3. All things work together for good to them that love God. You love God; things will go well in your life.
5. Amphiboly: when a person says something in such a way that the meaning is lost in ambiguity
6. Analogical Fallacy: falsely assuming that an analogy that applies in one area must apply to others
1. America’s (tolerance of homosexuality, consumerism, violent entertainment) is like Rome’s. America’s collapse is inevitable.
2. When Israel forsook God’s law, they lost God’s blessing. America’s collapse is inevitable.
3. The church is your spiritual family. Obey your Pastor.
7. Argumentum ad antiquitam: arguing something’s correctness based on its age
1. Give me that Old Time Religion.
2. The Puritans made church an all-day affair. Why should we cancel our evening service?
3. “CCM is definitely traveling on a new road, a road much different from that traveled by the historic church.” (Fisher, xiv)
8. Apriorism: rejecting new evidence based on a preexisting belief
1. We know that God created man in His image. This fossil cannot be a prehistoric ape-man.
2. We know that homosexuality is not natural. Therefore, any scientific or psychological evidence that says otherwise is false.
3. “The only way the Scripture can lose its authority is if it contains errors, but Christ taught that the Scripture cannot be broken. Thus He must have believed it did not contain errors. . . Who can say he fully follows the Lord without accepting His teaching concerning the inerrancy of the Scriptures?” (Ryrie, 106) In other words, we know that the Scriptural representation of Christ is accurate; therefore, what Christ said in the Scriptures about the Scriptures must be true.
9. Argumentum ad Baculum: appeal to force
1. If you don’t straighten up your attitude, I will spank you.
2. If you continue to spread discord, we will be forced to discipline or expel you.
3. If you refuse to surrender your life to God, dear unsaved friend, you will go to hell.
10. Bifurcation: false dichotomy; bogus dilemma; reducing a choice to a couple or handful of extremes while ignoring other valid possibilities
1. If you support homosexuality/abortion, you either don’t understand the Bible or you don’t believe it.
2. You believe in either 7-day Creation or are an evolution-believing atheist.
3. If you want to surrender your life to God, come put your stick in the fire. If you want to remain in rebellion, stay in your seat. Remember inaction is still action.
4.  “Just two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self” (Collier, 83).
5. If you support abortion, you aren’t truly a Christian.
6. This one contains many fallacies; other fallacies are noted in brackets. “If I come to the Bible with confidence that its words were breathed out by God and are therefore without errors, and if that confidence has been buttressed by years of proving the Bible totally reliable [argumentum ad ignorantium], then I won’t be shaken by a problem and I certainly will not conclude that it is in error [circular reasoning]. But if I think that there can be errors in the Bible, however few or many, then I will likely conclude that some of those problems are examples of errors. And even if there is only one, I have an errant Bible” (Ryrie, 108). The overall fallacy is false dilemma. He leaves out, of course, the options that you could believe the Bible inerrant and come across error or that you could search for errors but never find one.
7. This last one wins the prize for how many false dichotomies possible in one paragraph. “‘What’s the status of your lying embers?’ Quiz: 1. Relaxed or Totally stressed out? 2. Happy-to-be-single or Gotta-have-a-guy? 3. Good-with-what-you-got or Ugly? 4. FORGIVEN OR GUILTY? 5. Definitely-taking-my-problems-to-God-first or Gotta-ask-my-friends-for-advice? 6. Got-just-enough-friends or Lonely? 7. Friendly or Totally PMS-ing? 8. AUTHENTIC or HYPOCRITICAL? 9. In-control-of-my-tech-world or Would-die-without-text-messaging, facebook, and more? 10. Confident-in-my-stand-to-be-pure or Ashamed-to-stand-alone? 11. Content-with-what-you-got or MUST-shop-now? 12. The-real-deal or Different-depending-on-who-I’m-with? 13. Walking-in-victory or Unable-to-overcome-certain-sins? 14. Content-to-submit or Angry-at-my-parents? 15. Confident-of-God’s-protection or Afraid-of-Satan” (Demoss and Gresh, 15).
8. “You have two choices. You can doubt God and say, ‘I know God does not expect me to honor this mean man.’ Or, you can say, ‘God, I know your word teaches me to be a woman who is there to help meet all my husband’s desires and dreams. Make me that woman’” (Pearl, 49).
11. Blinding with science
12. Complex Question: loaded question; asking more than one question at once while requiring just one answer
1. Are you willing to surrender your life to God by giving up your sinful music?
2. What areas do your roommates need spiritual help in?
3. “Have you ever come to the point that Tish came to? Have you realized that, by your sin [sex before marriage], you’ve actually been rebelling against God? Have you confessed your sin to him? And have you surrendered control of your life to him” (Demoss and Gresh, 129)?
4. “Do I truly agree with God that this behavior is sin, or do I secretly think there is really nothing wrong with what I’m doing” (Demoss and Gresh, 137)? Bifurcation, poisoning the well, and loaded question all in one!
13. Composition
14. Concealed quantification: hiding the quantity involved by changing the sentence structure
1. Atheists are immoral. How many of them?
2. Homosexuals are promiscuous. All? Many? We’re left to guess…
3. “The prophet Ezekiel gives a vivid description that most Bible scholars agree refers to Satan” (Demoss and Gresh, 60).
15. Conclusion which denies premise: reaching a conclusion that, if true, falsifies the original premise and nullifies the argument
1. Everything must have a cause that in turn must result in a previous cause. Since we cannot go back forever, we know there must be an uncaused causer to start the process.
2. God died for everyone, but only some were elected for salvation.
3. Maybe it’s not sinful in and of itself to go to a bar, but others could see you there. So you would be sinning by allowing your Christian testimony to suffer.
4. When Christians question their faith and get off the straight and narrow path, some of them turn their backs on God and blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Obviously, they were not saved to begin with.
5. The notion that you can do something to have value or to earn God’s love is heretical… Responding to God’s love… is all that is required for you to experience His favor” (Demoss and Gresh, 78). So ‘responding’ doesn’t require action of some sort?
16. Contradictory premises
1. God created everything, and God did not create sin or evil. So God is not responsible for sin or evil.
2. Everything has a beginning; God has always been; therefore God is not everything. Obviously, then, pantheism is false.
3. God predestines all things. God doesn’t predestine sin. Your sin is not God’s will.
17. Argumentum ad Crumenam: appeal to riches
18. Cum hoc ergo prompter hoc: assuming that because two things happen simultaneously, one must have caused the other
1. I was reading the Bible and had a revelation. God spoke to me.
2. If you are feeling uncomfortable during this alter call, you know what I’m saying is true.
3. Rock n roll was becoming popular during the free sex era of the 60s. Obviously sex and drugs are inherent in the music.
4. “If you were trying to convince me of the truth of your argument by telling me the ‘full gospel’ crowd encourages women to take positions of leadership, you sure used the wrong argument. Check out their divorce rate, and you will understand my amazement at your choice of arguments. Statistics reveal that, on the average, modern Christians have a higher divorce rate than does the general population” (Pearl, 52). A response to a woman’s appeal to a different translation of the submission passages; because they teach equality and have a higher divorce rate, their divorce rate must be caused by their wrong views of women, marriage, and submission.
19. Damning the alternatives: falsely claiming one position’s veracity by disproving known alternatives
1. If Christ were just 100% God, he could not have been tempted; if he were merely 100% man, he would not have been able to pay for our sins. The hypostatic union is the only accurate understanding of Christ.
2. “One of Satan’s strategies is to blind us to the lies we have bought into…In a few cases you may find yourself saying ‘I don’t believe that is a lie.’ Let me appeal to you no to get tripped up by a handful of particular issues where you may have a genuine disagreement. I am simply presenting what I understand the scripture to teach…I have chosen to start by dealing with lies that women believe about God (DeMoss, 46-47).
20. Definitional retreat: changing the definition of words in order to deal with an objection
1. Fundy: Women cannot hold leadership positions in the church. Respondent: But you allow women to teach Sunday school. Fundy: But that’s teaching children.
2. Fundy: The Old Testament law was how God wanted the world to function. Respondent: So God wants rape victims to be blamed and punished? Fundy: I’m not talking about that; you have to look at the big picture.
21. Denying the antecedent: If A à B, then –A à –B
1. If a person honors their parents, the person will live long. Matthew has not honored his parents; therefore his young death was God’s punishment.
2. “Teach your kids the Importance of living inside the circle. Inside there is peace and blessing. Outside the circle is danger.” (Tripp)
22. Dicto simpliciter: sweeping generalization
1. I don’t care that you were responding to an emergency; it’s disrespectful to text during the sermon.
2. It doesn’t matter if the mother’s life was in danger and the fetus couldn’t live outside the womb; abortions are murder.
3. Of course you voted for Obama; you’re a liberal. All liberals support Obama?
4. It’s wrong to lie. It doesn’t matter that you did it to protect someone’s life.
23. Division: Assuming that what is true for the whole is true for the individual parts
1. The Bible is inspired by God, and the Bible says “spare the rod, spoil the child.” Therefore spanking children is inspired by God. With that reasoning, going out and hanging yourself (Judas) or stabbing fat men while they defecate (Ehud) are also equally inspired biblical commands.
24. Emotional appeals
1. If you’re afraid to die, it shows that you need God to save you.
2. “If there is anger, unforgiveness, or rebellion in your heart, you are opening the door to the Enemy. Slam it shut” (Demoss and Gresh, 66)!
3. How can you refuse to surrender your sin when Jesus died for you?
25. Equivocation: using two different definitions of the same word in the same argument
1. Support the Church. Give your tithes so we can maintain our church.
2. “I (Dana) struggled with respecting my husband for nearly ten years of my marriage before I learned how beautiful it could be if I would choose to honor Bob” (Demoss and Gresh, 114). No argument was made as to why “respect” and “honor” are the exact same. Yet she seamlessly equivocates the two.
26. Every School Boy Knows: appealing to common knowledge or assuming that something is so self-obvious that even simple people understand it
1. Everyone knows that homosexuality goes against nature.
2. Even a child knows when he has done wrong. Anyone who claims to not be a sinner is, therefore, obviously lying.
3. “It is obvious to any reader by now that the CCM movement is seen as standing in opposition to the scriptural position” (Fischer, 173).
27. Exception that proves the rule: dismissing a valid counter-example
1. Fundy: Women are the weaker vessel. Respondent: This woman over here is stronger than most men. Fundy: The fact that you have to find an exception shows that women are generally weaker than men. Yes, indeed, shift ground in a definitional retreat while you prove the rule via the exception.
2. Your obvious need to bring up the XXY-male exception just goes to show that men are meant to be with women.
28. Exclusive premises: starting an argument with two negative statements; telling us what something is not says nothing about what it actually is.
1. No lifestyle homosexuals are saved, and no saved person would agree with bad doctrine that accepts homosexuality, so it’s obvious that homosexuals have bad doctrine.
2. Christians are not habitually sinful, and habitually sinful people are not truly loving, so true Christians possess Christ’s love.
29. Existential fallacy: using terms that imply existence without proving existence
1. All demons follow Satan, and Satan wants to control you, so some demons could possibly possess you. Also, since unicorns are magical, so drinking some unicorn blood will make you immortal. Unfortunately, nobody’s proved the existence of unicorns, Satan, or demons.
30. Ex post-facto statistics: applying probability laws to events that have already happened
1. Had I been in front of the slow driver, I would most likely have ended up part of the 10 car crash that happened minutes before I arrived. God must have been watching out for me.
2. What’s the likelihood that the earth would have evolved with the right temperature and atmosphere for us to breathe and live? It couldn’t have been just chance. The likelihood is irrelevant, because earth has already come into being.
3. “French scientist Lecomte du Nouy said it is 1 chance out of 10²⁴³. Swiss mathematician Charles E. Guye calculated it as 1 chance out of 10¹⁶⁰. Murray Eden of MIT and Marcel Schutzenberger of the University of Paris both concluded that their digital computers showed that evolution was impossible.” (Ryrie, 201). So evolution was unlikely. But out of the many options, something had to happen. Once something did happen, it became 100% probability because it had happened. You can’t look at a past possibility and say the current (debatable) fact is not true simply because it was unlikely. This could also be a form of blinding with science, which many fundamentalists tend to avoid, seeing science as opposition to Scripture.
31. Existential pruning: starting by using a colloquial definition for a word, then retreating to a technical, literal, and scientific definition.
1. Fundy: Life begins at conception. Respondent: But heartbeat, breath, and consciousness are absent at conception. Fundy: But its cells are living.
32. False conversion: assuming that because something belongs in a category, the category equals that thing and assumes its characteristics.
1. All 66 books of the Bible are inspired by God. God’s inspiration is contained in the canon. Yes, and since all cats are animals, all animals must be cats.
33. False precision: statistical statements not backed by facts or actual information
1. 90% of what PP does is abortions.
2. Only 1% of the population is gay.
34. Gambler’s fallacy
35. Guilt by association
1. Doctrine of secondary separation. Enough said!
2. This rock beat is evil because tribes in Africa worship the devil with it.
3. Using a video projector is not a good idea. Liberal churches use projectors for their rock music worship, so we cannot use one.
36. Half-concealed qualification: hiding exceptions behind absolute statements in a way that emphasizes the absolute but allows an escape via definitional retreat
1. Practically everyone who starts enjoying and listening to rock music will end up endorsing bad doctrine.
2. “It is generally agreed that this church council [Council of Carthage] fixed the limits of the New Testament canon as including all twenty-seven books as we have them today” (Ryrie, 124).
3. “I often ask husbands, ‘Does your wife love you?’ They reply, ‘Yes, of course.’ But then I ask, ‘Does she like you?’ And the answer usually comes back, ‘Nope.’” (Eggerichs, 17)
4. “In many cases, the wife’s dislike is interpreted by the husband as disrespect and even contempt.” (Eggerichs, 17).
37. Hedging: an argument using ambiguous terms in order to allow for definitional retreat
1. We are against child abuse. What we advocate is biblical discipline, which involves corporal punishment and breaking the will of the child.
38. Argumentum ad hominem abusive: attacking the argument by attacking the person making the argument.
1. Don’t listen to what the feminists have to say. They aren’t natural women; they want to kill their babies.
2. Obama’s healthcare plan is bad because Obama is a socialist.
3. Rob Bell’s critique of Christianity cannot be trusted because he is a Universalist.
4. John Boswell’s attempts to reconcile homosexuality with the Bible are invalid because he is gay, and therefore biased.
39. Argumentum ad hominem circumstantial: appealing to someone’s belief in something to attack their argument
1. You can’t possibly support gay marriage if you believe the Bible. Do you believe the Bible?
2. Of course you’re supporting rock music; you like to listen to it.
3. The judge couldn’t possibly have ruled fairly on the gay marriage case; he’s gay.
40. Argumentum ad ignorantiam: assuming that what has not been disproved must be true, or assuming that what has not been proven must be false
1. Every attempt to disprove the flood story has failed miserably; having stood the test of time, the truth of the Bible’s description of the flood defeats any attempts to disprove it.
2. Secular scientists have never produced a genuine missing link; therefore, evolution must be false.
41. Ignoratio elenchi: setting out to argue one thing, and ending up arguing for something completely different without realizing it
1. Rock music is bad. Just look at Romans 12:1 where we are warned strongly against anything worldly.
2. We’re not a cult; we have lots of good things happening in our church.
3. “Guilty plea could mean a LOT of things. I think they would plead guilty because in the sight of God they are. NO matter what happened their daughter died while in their care.” In trying to prove that a guilty plea didn’t mean the Schaz’s were guilty, she doesn’t realize she argues that they are guilty. (facebook commenter).
42. Illicit process
43. Irrelevant humor: essentially a red herring, in the form of a funny story
1. Frank Sinatra said he did it his way. And look where it got him; he’s burning in hell!
44. Argumentum ad lapidem: ignoring an argument
1. If you place too much trust in your intellect, you will reason away the truth only discerned by faith.
2. I can’t understand everything in the Bible. Some things just need to be accepted by faith.
3. Questioner: These rules are unnecessary and unbiblical. Fundy: But God has placed you under our authority, so you must obey them. That wasn’t the question, and non-sequiturs to ignore the argument at hand is fallacious.
45. Argumentum ad lazarum: appeal to poverty
1. Mega churches cannot be biblically following Christ because they are too rich.
2. You know I’m not preaching hogwash. You don’t go into preaching for the money, so you know I’m honest and sincere in my plea.
46. Loaded words: tainting an argument with emotionally charged words
1. Don’t let the lies of the devil mislead you; feminism can’t bring liberation – it only tears families apart.
2. Girls whoring around in their short skirts destroy men’s minds.
3. Christian rock is an oxymoron, like Christian prostitute or Christian drug dealer.
4. “Let me give you an honest definition of rock music: that music where text, music performers, and performance practices are conforming to the image of the earthly, sensual, and devilish” (Fisher, 73).
47. Argumentum ad misericordiam: appeal to pity
1. Don’t talk badly about the school. Just think of the damage to Christ’s testimony that would occur were Christians to disagree and fight amongst ourselves.
2. By going to the police and news about your abuse, you are destroying a man’s life, family, and Christian reputation. How can you do that to his family?
48. Naturalistic – appeal to nature: arguing that because something occurs in nature, that it is good or should occur that way
1. Homosexuality is wrong because it goes against nature. So are skyscrapers, medicine, and monogamy.
49. Naturalistic – is-ought: arguing that because something is, that it therefore should be
1. “We should seek to understand that communication [the Bible] plainly, for that is the normal way beings communicate.” (Ryrie, 131)
50. Argumentum ad nauseum: ignoring new arguments by repeating one’s original position
1. Fundy: Questioning your spiritual authority shows a rebellious spirit. Respondent: But questions can be good and not necessarily rebellious. Fundy: An attitude of rebellion is evidenced by a multitude of questions.
2. “My thought process went something like this: ‘A husband is to obey the command to love even if his wife does not obey this command to respect, and a wife is to obey the command to respect even if the husband does not obey the command to love.’ So far, so good. Then I reasoned further: ‘A husband is even called to love a disrespectful wife, and a wife is called to respect an unloving husband. There is no justification for a husband to say, ‘I will love my wife after she respects me’ nor for a wife to say, ‘I will respect my husband after he loves me.’” (Eggerichs, 16) Can you say the same thing with different words just one more time?
51. Non-anticipation: rejecting new ideas because all the good ones must have already been thought of
1. “[That old time religion] was good enough for the Hebrew children and it’s good enough for me” (Give Me That Old Time Religion)
52. Argumentum ad novitam: appeal to newness
53. Argumentum ad numeram: appeal to numbers
1. 500 people saw Jesus alive after he rose from the dead. It must be true.
2. So many godly preachers have decided against rock music. It would be unwise to disagree.
3. The canon of Scripture has been accepted for centuries by the church. I trust the wisdom of so many men of God.
54. One-sided assessment
1. There are no legitimate arguments for evolution. Think of the intricacy of the human brain … etc … etc …
2. This Christian college might not have your specific major, but you’ll make long term Christian friends, be steeped with the Word of God, free of worrying if your teachers teach the truth, and be prepared to face the professional world with a Christian worldview.
55. Oversimplification: assuming one simple cause in situations where multiple factors may have contributed to the outcome
1. We listen to a lie. We get too close. We dwell on the lie. We believe the lie. We begin to believe the lie is true. We act on the lie. We sin (Demoss and Gresh, 172). In this chain of events, apparently if you listen to a lie, you will end up sinning. Or perhaps the listening was the sin. Who knows, when slippery slopes and oversimplifications abound.
2. When you question your faith, you open yourself up to doubts. Doubts become Satan’s tools to undermining your faith in God.
56. Petitio principia: circular reasoning, or concluding exactly what your premise states
1. We know about God because the Bible tells us about God. And we can trust the Bible because it is the inspired Word of God.
2. God created the world. Just look at creation; God’s handiwork is evident throughout the world.
3. “It is essential to remember that the Bible is self-authenticating since its books were breathed out by God.” (Ryrie, 119).
57. Poisoning the well: preemptively discrediting your opponent’s character in order to diminish the effects of his arguments
1. No true American would say that. An example of the No True Scotsman fallacy
2. Only churches who have been deceived by the devil would accept homosexuality.
3. Those who dispute our rules are simply deceived, bitter, or a troublemaker. You were mentioning our lights-out policy? You now agree with me? How convenient!
4. “Immature Christians often try to justify worldliness by saying, ‘I can listen to any style of music I want to because it won’t affect anyone but me. And I’m saved, so I can always ask God to forgive me if I change my mind. What have I got to lose?’ The reasoning behind this thinking is a misuse of the concept of Christian liberty” (Fischer, 180). Anyone still want to side with the “immature,” “justifying worldliness,” “misus[ing] liberty” people? Didn’t think so.
5. “We are convinced that many young women are experiencing the destructive consequences of believing lies, but cannot the connection between what they are experiencing and those deeply embedded lies. It makes us wonder: can you see the deception in your own life” (Demoss and Gresh, 14)? So if I disagree with your overall point, I’m being deceived with lies? Guess I’ll keep my mouth shut.
6. “Apparently, some of you see it as clearly as we do” (Demoss and Gresh, 111).
58. Argumentum ad populum: appeal to popularity
1. There’s a reason that virtually all Christians from all ages disagree with abortion. The positive version, combined with a half-concealed quantification.
2. Popular music must be wrong because our current world system endorses it. The negative version, combined with guilt by association.
3. The world is rushing headlong towards accepting gay marriage, so obviously Christians should fight against the world’s devilish philosophy. The negative version, with some added loaded words.
4. “The path of least resistance is to go with the flow and follow the crowd, without stopping to ask, ‘Is this really true?’ Those who love Christ and stand for Truth will always be a small minority” (Demoss and Gresh, 36). The positive version, with a smidge of poisoning the well.
59. Positive conclusion from negative premise
1. No lifestyle homosexual is a true Christian, and no true Christian is depraved. So lifestyle homosexuals are depraved.
60. Post hoc, ergo prompter hoc: assuming that because one thing happened before a second thing, the first must have caused the second
1. My wife and I walked into the hotel room where jazz music was playing. I immediately was aroused, so obviously the jazz music caused my arousal.
2. Rome accepted homosexuality. Rome then declined morally and economically, eventually crashing. America must avoid homosexuality or befall the same fate.
3. I didn’t have sex w/ husband during the week of my period. He cheated on me that week. Obviously I sinned by refusing his sexual advances, thereby causing him to fall.
4. Birth control acceptance and use rose, and then divorce rates rose drastically. Obviously birth control destroys families.
5. Prayer was taken out of schools in 1963. Quality of education has decreased, school shootings have increased, and drug and sex abuse has increased since then. We need to put God back into schools or face dire consequences.
6. Jonny went to a secular college and then became an apostate. Attending secular schools destroys your faith.
7. She wore a miniskirt and was subsequently raped. Ladies, dress modestly.
61. Quaternio terminorum: using four terms in a syllogism (one too many)
1. My pastor follows God. By following my pastor, I will be following God.
2. “Since music is an emotional language, and since some emotions are wrong for the child of God, then some music is wrong for the Christian” (Garlock and Woetzel, chapter 3). The four terms in this faulty syllogism are ‘music,’ ‘emotional language,’ ‘some emotions,’ and ‘child of God.’ ‘Emotional language’ does not equal ‘some emotions,’ and valid syllogisms contain only three terms.
62. Red Herring: a non-sequitur designed to distract from the actual question
1. Questioner: rape is approved by God in Numbers 31, Deut. 22, etc. Fundy: Rape is not approved by God. Ephesians 5:25 says for husbands to love their wives.
2. Questioner: In the Old Testament law, God allows captors to take captives and rape them. Fundy: But in that time, indentured servitude was preferable to death. But it’s still rape.
3. Why focus on Christianity’s discrimination against LGBTQ and women? Islam is much worse and would kill LGBTQ or women who disagree with them.
63. Refuting the example
64. Reification
65. Runaway Train: supporting an position with an argument so broad that it applies to more than they are willing to advocate for
1. We must separate from the world and its music, dress, and worldview. So you also shun the world’s forks, knives, snow sleds, mirrors, vehicles, and buildings?
2. The more you give, the more you will be blessed. I will give my entire paycheck each week, why is God not blessing me or providing for my needs?
66. Secundum Quid: hasty generalization
1. Wow, that woman’s child is a brat. She must not spank him.
2. Spanking doesn’t harm children. I was spanked my entire childhood, and I’m ok.
3. My father used to drink and get drunk every night until he got saved… Alcohol is the devil’s brew.
4. “When you look to a relationship with a guy to make you happy, you are setting yourself up for disappointment, and potentially for disaster. It did for Samantha (Demoss and Gresh, 86).
5. “I sat down with my seventeen-year-old son, Rob, and his best friend, Ryan, to get a guy’s perspective on all this. What these two godly guys had to say was compelling” (Demoss and Gresh, 164). A guy’s perspective? Really? Hiding a half-concealed quantification in a hasty generalization is merely a red herring.
67. Shifting ground: intentionally changing the substance of the argument when the original proposition becomes untenable
1. No good Christian should read Twilight. Well, sure it’s not a sin. You’re right. But I believe that it is dangerous for children.
2. Christians have no business in sinful places like bars or nightclubs. The Christians might not sin themselves while attending such places, but surely their testimony would suffer.
3. Fundy: God brought this pregnancy into her life. He must want her to have the child. Respondent: “But God brings cancer into people’s lives. Does that mean they should simply accept it and die?” Fundy: No, God has given us the means to fight cancer.
68. Shifting the burden of proof: stating a position without justification and expecting others to do the work of proving or disproving it (specialized form of ‘argumentum ad ignorantiam’ and often followed by the ‘exception that proves the rule’ fallacy)
1. Rock music portrays sex, anger, and rebellion; there is no such thing as a wholesome rock song, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.
69. Slippery slope: essentially arguing that anything you propose will lead to absurd ends
1. If you question solid doctrine, where will you stop? Pretty soon you’ll be questioning everything, and truth will become relative for you. Without truth, how can you even make an argument for anything?
2. “If, for instance, some errancy can be expected and tolerated in historical matters, but not in doctrinal areas, how do I know which historical matters? After all, some important doctrines are built on historical matters. So where do I stop?” (Ryrie, 108).
3. “When you arrive for your first day of college you’ll be greeted by numerous credit card companies. All of them will have ‘free’ gifts for you if you sign up for their credit card. You could be tempted by the cozy collegiate blanket for home games, the month of free pizza, and the $25 iTunes gift card (Don’t fall for it. If you do, by the time you get out of college, you are likely to have racked up credit card debt in the range of $3,000 – 7000.) (Demoss and Gresh, 62).”
70. Special pleading: justifying holding a double standard, exempting your position from the critique you levy at others
1. Normally, I wouldn’t tell a congregant that Twilight is part of the occult, but when preaching from the pulpit I must come across stronger than normal for people to listen.
2. Fundy: Islamists pose a great threat to American freedom. Just look at the atrocities committed in Allah’s name. Respondent: But look at the atrocities committed in the name of God and Jesus. Fundy: But that’s not the same thing. True Christianity calls people to love their neighbors.
3. Normally I wouldn’t condone covering up sin, but he’s a role model to too many people. His public fall would destroy many people’s faith.
4. Piercings are prohibited by the Old Testament. But piercing the ears looks feminine, so one piercing in each ear is all right for women.
5. Sure, contradictory premises are fallacious, but since we are clearly told that God is sovereign, having predestined everything, and man fully responsible for his choices, I must accept this paradox and live with the tension it produces.
71. The straw man: setting up a weaker, more absurd version of a person’s argument so it’s easier to knock it down
1. “The mantra of [the feminist movement] was ‘women can do anything men can do.’ Convinced that women needed the same jobs and pay as men, women like Gloria Steinam led the way to redefining woman. They burned a few bras here and signed a few petitions there and won the attention of women and men alike. Today, women can hold the same jobs as men, but there is little in our culture today that encourages these women to make being a wife and a mother a priority. In their quest for equality, feminists have undermined the concepts of motherhood and homemaking… [To feminists,] having a career outside the home is more valuable and fulfilling than being just a wife and mom” (Demoss and Gresh, 161).
2. Evolution teaches that “life began completely by chance when a single cell appeared from nonliving matter” (Ryrie, 198). He is oversimplifying and misrepresenting their views in order to make them seem absurd.
72. Argumentum ad temperantium: urging listeners to accept your position because it’s more moderate or closer to the middle
1. If both sides are shooting at us, we’re probably close to the truth.
2. Liberal Christians hate us and KJV-only Christians disagree with us, so our moderate position is likely true.
73. Thatcher’s blame (damned if you do, damned if you don’t)
1. John is struggling financially. God refuses to bless him because of his liberal theology. George has two houses, four cars, and a golf membership. Obviously his liberal theology doesn’t factor in Matt. 5:5, which says the meek will inherit the earth.
2. Jocelyn Zichtermann is bitter at God. All she does is criticize Christians and condemn good doctrine. That’s when she’s not off sulking in her liberal church.
3. If Obama gets reelected, America will continue to devolve into economic poverty because of his socialist ideals. Either that, or America will godlessly prosper, eventually becoming the harlot described in Revelation.
4. “One of the most antagonistic questioners vehemently objected to my assertion that at heart we as human beings were basically self-driven – hence our bent to evil. The louder she argued, the more she proved my point” (Zacharias, 64). And if she hadn’t argued, she would have proved his point.
74. Trivial objections
1. Tattoos are bad because they look trashy.
75. Tu quoque: but you did it too!
1. You say I’m using a logical fallacy, but just a minute ago you used one too.
2. Many evangelicals “are also antagonistic toward those who take this [biblical] position. They use terms such as legalistic, tradition-clinging, old-fashioned, ostrich-like, unconcerned for souls, and pharisaical to describe those who hold a high standard… We should not be afraid to identify some of these views… as worldly, compromising, lacking in spiritual understanding, carnal, hypocritical, and selfish” (Fischer, xv, preface). It’s like Tim Fischer planned it – first show that they’re poisoning the well, and then it’s ok to do it to them. Brilliant!
76. Unaccepted enthymemes: building an argument off an unstated assumption that your opponent has not and may not agree with.
1. Rock music is definitely Satan’s tool. Satan loves ensnaring Christians in worldly lusts. Perhaps he does. But we never agreed that rock music is a worldly lust.
2. Depression is caused by sin in your life. All sin originates with the sin of pride. While the listener spends time disputing the first or last statement, the unaccepted enthymeme (depression is pride) slides by unnoticed.
3. “Many women are offended at the thought that there are any differences between men and women… Concepts like femininity, submission, or respecting men are foreign to them” (Demoss and Gresh, 162). But we never agreed that the difference between men and women is femininity, submission, and respect.
4. “Thus a contradiction and therefore an error appears in this account only for those who want it. Good exegesis requires no error” (Ryrie, 109, grammatical errors in original). But we never agreed that allowing for error requires error.
5. “Repeatedly we ask girls, ‘have you ever been exposed to satanic activities?’ Repeatedly they answered, ‘no.’ Then we ask them about specific things. ‘Have you ever looked at or read your horoscope?’ Have you ever participated in psychic activities?’ ‘Have you ever had your palm read?’ ‘Have you ever played a video game or watched a movie that portrayed demonic forces or witchcraft in a positive way?’ (Demoss and Gresh, 63). What if the girls didn’t agree that horoscopes, psychic palm readings, or video games and movies are satanic activity? But you’ve already bypassed that step via unaccepted enthymeme…
77. Undistributed middle: Assuming two sub-categories are equal to each other simply because they both belong to a broader main category. An easy to understand example: horses are mammals and dogs are mammals. Therefore horses are dogs.
1. All true Christians follow God. Many followers of God are oppressed and persecuted by the world. True Christians will be persecuted for Jesus’ sake.
78. Unobtainable perfection: unfairly holding other arguments to perfect standards
1. Rock music is bad because it can take the attention off God and focus it on the person’s feelings. The same could be said of any music.
2. We shouldn’t make condoms available because they encourage promiscuity. But teens still have sex, even with abstinence-only teaching, so indicting the condom argument for not achieving actually perfect abstinence is unfair.
79. Argumentum ad verecundiam: appeal to false authority by supporting an argument by citing ‘experts’ from unrelated fields
1. “Hundreds of leading scientists reject evolution. (Close examination shows few, if any, whose expertise is in evolutionary biology.)” (Pirie, 173)
2. You struggle with depression? Pastor says that is a pride problem. Is ‘Pastor’ trained and licensed in Psychology?
3. Many rock singers believe that sex and drugs are inherently part of rock and roll. Their singing prowess has no bearing on their knowledge of morality or science.
4. “God gave Adam the most precious gift a man will ever receive—a woman. I know it to be so because my husband tells me quite often” (Pearl, 21).
5. “My experience as a counselor and as a husband confirms this truth [that men’s primary need is respect and women’s love].” (Eggerichs, 17) Considering that he has not done any formal research and that his own personal relationship does not necessarily generalize to all other couples, he is not qualified to claim such a “truth.”
80. Wishful thinking: arguing that because something is more agreeable, it must be so
1. There must be life after death. If not, there would be nothing left to live for.
2. Imagine where we would be if Jesus hadn’t come to save us! Yes, imagine. But imagination has no bearing on whether or not Jesus actually did come to save us.
3. Christ must be risen. Otherwise, everything I’ve taught you is false, my preaching was worthless, your faith is in vain, and the dead have no hope (Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:12).
4. “The Lord said the mustard seed was the smallest of all the seeds. Is this plainly an erroneous statement because the mustard seed is not the smallest? Before jumping to that conclusion, remember that it was stated by Jesus Christ, and if He spoke a lie, then how could He have been sinless” (Ryrie, 113)?

Works Cited

The Bible. KJV, of course.

Collier, Ken. Biblical leadership: becoming a different kind of leader.

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh. Lies women believe.

DeMoss and Gresh. Lies young women believe.

Eggerichs, Emerson. Love and Respect

Fischer, Tim. The battle for Christian music.

Garlock, F., and Woetzel, K. Music in the balance.

Mahaney, C. J. What guys think about modesty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n-NWbd3pis

Pearl, Debi. Created to be his help meet.

Pirie, Madsden. How to win every argument; the use and abuse of logic. http://www.scribd.com/doc/31763545/How-to-Win-Every-Argument-The-Use-and-Abuse-of-Logic

Protestant Hymns. Give Me That Old Time Religion. http://www.hymnlyrics.org/hymns_spirituals/give_me_that_old_time_religion.php

Ryrie, Charles C. Basic theology.

Tripp, Tedd. Tedd Tripp Live; Parenting During Early Childhood http://kimddavidson.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/tedd-tripp-live-parenting-during-early-childhood/