Did Jesus Commit a Fallacy? Journal Articles uri icon

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abstract

  • Jesus has been accused of committing a fallacy (of denying the antecedent) at John 8:47. Careful analysis of this text (1) reveals a hitherto unrecognized valid fonn of argument which can superficially look like the predicate-logic analogue of denying the antecedent; (2) shows that detennining whether a published text can be fairly charged with committing a fallacy may require (but often does not get) extensive and detailed analysis; (3) acquits Jesus of the charge; and thereby (4) conflrms a claim by Michael Burke that published arguments can seldom be fairly charged with denying the antecedent, or analogous fallacies.

publication date

  • January 1, 1995