1. Twelve Points That Show Christianity is True
Owning Your Worldview Considers:
By: Dr. Norman Geisler

2. Building Foundations Apologetics Logical Foundation (Points 1 and 2)
Supernatural Foundation (Points 3 through 5)
Historical Foundation (Points 6 through 12)
This session will cover point 1 of 12.

3. Session Goals (Point 2) Review: What is truth & what is false?
Consider why opposites cannot both be true.
Consider the problems with religious pluralism.
Answering objections.

4. Review: What is "truth"? The truth is “telling like it is”.
The truth corresponds to the facts.
The truth is a recognition of reality.
An correct description of the object’s attributes.

5. Review: What is "false"? The opposite of truth.
Does not correspond to reality.
Actively rejects reality by redefining “truth”.
ANY attribute of an object that is incorrectly stated.

6. The Tale of Six Blind Men

7. Relativism Says: The man holding the tail was really holding a rope.
The man holding the leg was really holding a tree.
The man holding the ear was really holding a fan.
The man holding the trunk was really holding a snake.
The man touching the side was really touching a wall.
The man holding the tusk was really holding a spear.
While that may not be true from your point of view, it was true from his point of view.

8. The Correlation View Says:
This tale attempts to support relativism but it fails to account two major facts:
The person hearing the tale knows the objective truth...there is a single elephant.
The tale wouldn't make any sense if you didn't already know the objective truth.
No matter how much the men believe what they feel, the elephant remains an elephant.

9. The Primary Laws of Logic
The Law of Identity: A is A
The Law of Non-contradiction: A is not non-A
The Law of the Excluded Middle:
(A is X) or (A is not X) is true
(A is X) and (A is not X) is false

10. The Law of Non-Contradiction
The Law of Non-Contradiction states:
"Contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time." OR
"A statement cannot be true and not true at the same time and in the same sense."

11. "Those who deny [the principle non-contradiction] should be flogged or burned until they admit that it is not the same thing to be burned and not burned or whipped and not whipped."
–Avicenna

12. Contradiction?
“Friday was a good day."
AND
"Saturday was a bad day."

13. Contradiction? “John is sitting in the park."
AND
"John is running down the street."

14. Contradiction? “John Smith is sitting in the park."
AND
"John Jones is running down the street."

15. Contradiction?
“Tim is out to lunch."
AND
"Tim is not out to lunch."

16. Contradiction?
“Tim is out to lunch (mentally unstable),but he isn't out to lunch (physically away)."

17. Contradiction?
"My younger sister is an only child."

18. Contradiction?
"Pat is a woman."

19. Contradiction?
A negative even number?

20. Contradiction?
A triangle with four sides.

21. Contradiction?
Can anyone give an example of a time when the Law of Non-Contradiction wouldn't apply?

22. What we have learned:
The Law of Non-Contradiction is based on common sense.
No one lives their life as though the Law of Non- Contradiction doesn't exist.
Some people live their lives with contradictions, but these are choices, and are usually related to morality.

23. Self-defeating
The denial of the Law of Non-Contradiction is self- defeating.
If someone states that something can be true and also false, then statement that the Law of Non- Contradiction is wrong is true...and false.
This is logically incoherent.

24. God and Logic
Does God operate within the boundaries of logic, or does He transcend logic?
Is He limited by logic?

25. God and Logic It is a false dilemma.
If God is limited by logic then He isn't omnipotent.
If God isn't limited by logic then He is logically incoherent and self-defeating.
The Laws of Logic (like other natural laws) represent the order, structure, simplicity, and efficiency of the Creator.
God is not limited by logic, it reflects the mind God.

26. Religions and Exclusivity
Every religion (belief system) makes truth claims.
Many of these truth claims are called "exclusivity claims" since they state that belief system is correct and all others are incorrect.
Any belief system that has no exclusivity claims isn't actually a belief system since it is identical to some other system.

27. Religions and Exclusivity
In Atheism there is no salvation because there is no afterlife.
In Judaism salvation is complicated but requires being a member of the Jewish faith, practicing in Levitical Law, and loving Yahweh.
In Islam salvation is found by following the teachings of Muhammad and obedience to Allah.
In Christianity salvation is found by belief in Jesus as God's only Son who died for our sins.

28. Religions and Exclusivity
Each religion makes exclusive claims about salvation.
The Law of Non-contradiction tells us that only one salvation claim can be correct.
It is possible they could all be wrong.

29. In Conclusion
We can be confident that reality is built upon a logical foundation.
The Laws of Logic reflect the amazing mind of our Creator.
Exclusivity claims are a powerful way to use logic to probe for the truth of a belief system.
We will use these tools to better understand our beliefs and the beliefs of others, so we can make informed decisions about our worldview.