Shout for Joy
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In a recent article, "Coming out of the Faith Closet," Lynn Swayze Wilson cites "the illogicality of the virgin birth" as one of the reasons for her conversion from Southern Baptist Christianity to Judaism. In her search for certainty she has found her home in Judaism. There were problems other than logic (for example, Evangelicalism's opposition to the kind of music associated with pop culture, a faith that excludes large numbers of people) but her journey away from Jesus to the "old G-d" (as she puts it) of Judaism seems to have begun with what she understood to be logical in¬consistencies in the faith she inherited. Let's think about that.
There is no question that logic plays a central role in human thought and communication. We have no problem accepting the conclusion that if all boys like baseball and John is a boy then John likes baseball. That follows logically. So, is the virgin birth logical? Does it conform to the laws of reasoning? Well, that all depends (as we used to say). Are we talking about an issue that falls completely in a given realm (e.g., boys and baseball) or do we have a context that brings in something from beyond? For example: Philosophi¬cal naturalists cannot believe in the virgin birth because it would involve the action of a god, and for them god does not exist. The prior assumption rules out the conclusion. But what about the supernaturalist who, by definition, as¬sumes the existence of God? There is nothing illogical about God taking some action in his own creation. God is God and does what he pleases. All the Christian faith asks in regard to the virgin birth is that God be allowed to do something that, for all who believe in him, is perfectly logical. The interesting point for me is that since God is in both Juda¬ism and Christianity it would not be logical to allow him to part the Red Sea in the former, but deny him the power to effect a virgin birth in the latter. What would be reasonable in a conversion from Christianity to atheism (i.e., the rejection of Christianity on the basis of miracle) is unreasonable when it comes to a conversion between two religions, both of which assume the same God. Of course there were other reasons for Ms. Wilson's switch to Judaism, but a perceived lack of logic due to the miraculous in Christianity is a questionable base.
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AuthorRobert H Mounce Archives
January 2019
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