Come Let Us Reason

by Norman Geisler; Ronald M. Brooks

Publisher:

Baker

, 1990

Overview

Logic texts intended explicitly for Christians are indeed rare. Even more rare is a volume as cogent and helpful as this study by one of evangelicalism’s leading philosophers.

Norman Geisler, along with Ronald Brooks, shows how Christians can greatly improve their thinking skills. “To learn the rules of clear and correct thinking,” the authors maintain, “is more than an academic exercise. For the Christian, it is also a means of spiritual service” since “the principles of good reason flow from God’s very nature.”

After defining logic and delineating its values, the authors focus on two types of reasoning: deductive and inductive. They articulate rules to form syllogisms and list formal and informal fallacies to be avoided. They then outline a strategy for converting everyday reading into logical arrangements and conclude with a discussion on the scientific method of inductive reasoning.

In the Logos edition, all Scripture passages in Come Let Us Reason are tagged and appear on mouse-over, and all Scripture passages link to your favorite Bible translation in your library. With Logos’ advanced features, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “logical thinking” or “syllogisms.”

Key Features

• Numerous charts and diagrams illustrate the authors’ principles
• Glossary explains the technical terminology
• Bibliographical references and indexes

Product Details

• Title: Come Let Us Reason
• Authors: Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 1990
• Pages: 219

About Norman L. Geisler

Norman L. Geisler has taught at university and graduate levels for nearly 50 years and has spoken, traveled, or debated in all 50 states and in 26 countries. He holds a BA and MA from Wheaton College, a ThB from William Tyndale College, and a PhD in philosophy from Loyola University.

After his studies at Wheaton, he became the graduate assistant in the Bible-philosophy department at the college. He has since taught Bible, apologetics and philosophy at Detroit Bible College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Dallas Theological Seminary, and was the dean of Liberty Center for research and scholarship in Lynchburg, VA. In 1992, he cofounded and served as the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, until 2006. Currently, he is a professor of theology and apologetics at SES.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Logic really means putting your thoughts in order.” (Pages 10–11)

“Universal subjects and negative predicates are distributed.” (Page 32)

“Logic is the study of right reason.… That is the main point. Logic is a study, an ordering, of how to think rightly, or how to find truth. Paraphrasing this, we might say, logic is a way to think so that we come to correct conclusions.” (Page 13)

“There are many kinds of logic. Why choose only Aristotelian (Western) logic?” (Page 14)

“If God created the laws of logic, then why can’t he break them? After all, he created the laws of nature, and he breaks them every time he does a miracle. There is a big difference between the laws of nature and the laws of logic. Natural law is really only a description of how things normally do operate; but laws of logic are more like ethical laws that tell us how our minds should operate, even if that is not the way we always think. Natural laws deal with the way things are; logical laws deal with the way things ought to be. In this sense, logical laws are prescriptive, calling for our obedience, since we ought to think logically. But natural laws are only descriptive and make no such demand.” (Page 19)

Product Details

• Title: Come, Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking
• Authors: Norman Geisler, Ronald M. Brooks
• Publisher: Baker
• Print Publication Date: 1990
• Logos Release Date: 2002
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Logic; Philosophy and religion
• ISBNs: 0801038367, 9780801038365
• Resource ID: LLS:42.20.23
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-28T20:20:39Z