The false dilemma is a logical fallacy. My favorite illustration of this fallacy is a courtroom scene. The lawyer asks the witness, "Mr. Jones, yes or no; have you stopped beating your wife?" Mr. Jones can say, "Yes" which is an admission that he used to beat his wife or he can say, "No" which is an admission that he is beating his wife, but he cannot answer, "I've never beat my wife" because of this false dilemma. Get it?
In the book of Joshua, Joshua is standing outside Jericho before he "fit the battle." (Where did "fit" come from?) We don't know what he was doing out there, but apparently he was looking down at the beginning of this event because "he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn" (Josh 5:13). Well, now, Joshua is the leader of Israel getting ready to begin a major war with the people of this territory in general and Jericho in particular, so he had to ask, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" And the warrior answered ... "No." False dilemma, you see? Joshua believed this "guy" was either for Israel or for Canaan and Joshua was wrong. This warrior was the "captain of the host of the LORD" (Josh 5:14). Now, if you had been following this story from, say, Abraham on, you might now be confused. This was either one of God's head angels or, more likely, a theophany -- a visible manifestation of God. He could be a Christophany -- a visible manifestation of the pre-Incarnate Christ -- or just God, but we know what side He was on, and it wasn't Canaan's side. Apparently, it also wasn't Israel's either. Whose, then? This Captain of the Hosts of YHWH was, obviously, for YHWH.
It is our own arrogance that trips us up on that false dilemma. We figure we're important and God is on our side. Ultimately, though, God is on God's side. Insofar as we are with Him on His side, He and we are working together, but never let your pride lead you to believe that He owes you. He is always on His side. He wouldn't be the only God if He wasn't. If God is #1, then God would be unfaithful to Himself if He didn't regard Himself as #1. Which only goes to magnify the grace and mercy and love He provides to us when He really doesn't have to.
8 comments:
'Fit' represents a way of saying 'fought'. Oxford dictionary. :) duh I should have known that.
Who else could God be for besides Himself? If He is for anyone else that makes Him under their command, which I think was Joshua's question, which army do you serve, He would not be God and thus not worthy of our total devotion.
Yes, Leigh. It's actually from the negro spiritual. I just thought it was funny.
Yes, David, when we talk about it out loud, so to speak, it's "Duh!", but we live too often like "God is on our side" when we're supposed to be living "We are on God's side."
Stan, your comment makes me think of the “God is my co-pilot” cliché from years back. No, God is absolutely THE PILOT. No “co-pilot” necessary. (We might be the “flight attendant” on a good day.)
Yes, Lorna. Although I just came across an interesting phrase in Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica. He referred to Timothy as "God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ" (1 Thess 3:2). Not "my fellow worker" as he did in other places. God's fellow worker. So, sure, He has to be the pilot; there's no other possibility. But we do get to work with Him. I like that.
Hi Stan,
This belated comment is just to share a coincidence I found interesting. The last few issues of “Creation” magazine (to which I subscribe) have featured a series of articles called, “Logical Fallacies: How to Spot and Refute Them.” Just yesterday I read the current article, which was about ‘Begging the Question’ and the ‘Fallacy Fallacy.’ The author used “Have you stopped beating your wife?” as an example of what he termed a “loaded question,” which he stated is related to the ‘begging the question’ fallacy. (He goes on to explain how many skeptics and critics of Christianity and the Bible routinely rely on illogical statements and reasoning to “make their points.”) I found it an interesting coincidence for me to happen upon this article, since you used that very same “loaded question” in this post (but you labeled it differently). I was familiar with the saying but hadn’t realized there is a name--actually, two names, counting yours--for it. I admit I haven’t mastered philosophy at all (and I am guessing you have), but the articles have stressed that “Christians should be logical in their reasoning,” in order to “love the Lord your God … with all your mind,” so I am attempting to understand better. I always appreciate the philosophical aspects to your posts, so I hope you will continue that.
For a long time in schools and universities the textbook for the class on logic (no one teaches logic anymore) was one book -- Logic: The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth. It was written by Isaac Watts, the same guy that wrote 750 hymns. His original title was Logick: The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences, because Watts, while deeply loving Jesus, believed that loving Him with all your mind was important. Funny how so many Christians today disdain thinking as if it's inferior to "feeling good about God."
I have heard of Isaac Watts. I assume his book publisher suggested he go with that shorter title--it was a logical move. :)
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