How Is Logic Evidence For God?
[A short article originally written for the ILIAD Forum.]
Logic is simply the science of reasoning and argumentation. In essence, the study of logic is concerned with inferences: what conclusions we should—or shouldn’t—draw from one or more premises (initial assumptions or claims). Logic distinguishes between good inferences (i.e., reliable forms of reasoning) and bad inferences (i.e., flawed forms of reasoning).
It might sound strange to suggest that logic itself could be evidence for God. Isn’t logic just a tool that people use to evaluate evidence for (or against) God or to construct arguments for (or against) God’s existence? Certainly. But the very fact that there are laws of logic, and our minds have access to such laws, is a truly remarkable thing. To say that there are laws of logic is to say that laws of logic really exist. But whatever they are, laws of logic cannot be material things, like subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves. The laws of logic don’t have physical properties like mass, electric charge, or spatial location. They are non-material, non-physical entities. The laws of logic have been aptly called laws of thought or laws of reason: they are norms or principles that govern thinking and reasoning.
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