I began my venture into philosophy because of a debate I saw with brother Thomas B. Warren, a Christian philosopher and member of the Lord’s church. This entire debate can be viewed on YouTube. Here is the first video (of many) in the series:
In this debate Brother Warren went against the leading atheist of the time period (this being circa 1976) – a philosophy professor from Oxford, England named Dr. Anthony Flew. Dr. Flew was a brilliant man and I’m sure he stepped into this debate (concerning the existence of God) without a second thought. After all, he was willing to pit his mind against the mind of any man, including Dr. Warren.
I believe Dr. Flew was correct in his assumption that he and Dr. Warren were of similar intellectual capacities. What he did not count on was that Dr. Warren had help from God. I don’t necessarily mean that brother Warren was helped providentially (though I’m sure he prayed and was indeed so helped). What I mean is that brother Warren had the Word of God to go by -God’s logic – while Dr. Flew did not.
Brother Warren, an expert in Propositional Logic, took Dr. Flew to task by cornering him with the objective truths of the Bible. Everywhere Dr. Flew turned he was cut off by his own contradictions which were brought to light through brother Warren’s powerful use of God’s Word.
Set points such as mathematics, physics, morality, and yes, logic are given to us by God. They are the unchangeable rules of the world we inhabit. Today I see a weakening of Logic and critical thinking within some congregations of the Lord’s church. I may write about this on this website sometime in the future (at this time I am still observing and gathering information).
Dr. Flew was one of the preeminent intellectuals of his time, but when he tried to push against God’s set point of logic he lost his debate with brother Warren. Let us (in the Lord’s church) not make the same mistake. Let us use logic and reason to rightly divide God’s Word. If we do so many of the “controversies” that have come to light recently will fade into the ether, being dissolved in the written essence of God.