Also known as Common train Wrecks to Clear Thinking. Most are illustrated using Bible verses, where possible.
Often we find ourselves seemingly losing an argument, discussion, or negotiation simply because the other party employed illogical statements. The student of these will soon realize the great extent to which they are used and never realized that these statements simply are built on bad thinking, and therefore refutable.
Be careful though! Once you master these and others, you may find yourself alone as you unravel conversations, win discussions, but find everyone else has stormed out of the room.
Ambiguity |
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| Accent or Emphasis | I did not say that. I DID not say that. I did NOT say that. I did not SAY that. I did not say THAT. |
| Amphibole | “I live by the river, drop in sometime” The airplane took off with Mary on it, her nose hugging the ground.” |
| Equivocation | Using the same word twice with different meanings. “If all men are created equal, why are basketball players so tall?” |
| Significance (or circumstance) | Son of God means two different things to a New ager and a Christian. |
Relevance |
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| Ab Annis | Arguing to age. “New! Improved Tide!” “Sexual purity is an outdated Victorian idea.” |
| Ad Baculum | By force. “You can believe my argument, or get an F for the test.” |
| Ad Futuris | Appeal to the future. “The future will hold the answer to our problems.” “Missing links will no doubt be found to support evolution.” |
| Ad Hominem abusive | Attack against the person. “That Brown is such a dirtball. Don’t believe anything he says.” |
| Ad Hominem circumstantial | An attack against a group of people or a circumstance surrounding an individual. “Since Christians are narrow minded bigot-homophobes, don’t believe what they say. |
| Ad Ignorantiam | Arguing for the proof of something by showing no evidence for the opposing position. “There can’t be a God since I can’t see Him.” |
| Ad Misericordiam |
An appeal to pity. “Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple roble. Pilate said to them ‘Behold the man’ (lit Ecce homo) John 19:5. Pilate appeals to pity the beaten whipped Jesus as a way to get himself out of a politcal mess.
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| Ad Populum | Believe this because it is popularly believed. “Since Christianity is a divisive doctrine, we should reject it.” |
| Ad Verecundium | An appeal to false authority, like having an actress plead in front of Congress about the effects of Alar (a agricultural chemical used in apple production) on babies. What in the world would an actor know about biochemical properties so as this? Or “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” |
| Begging the Question (Petitio Principii) | Circular Reasoning. Index fossils are used to date rock layers. Placement in a rock layer is used to date fossils. |
| Category Error | Mixing apples and oranges “Can God make a rock so big that He Himself cannot lift it?” |
| Cliché | This says to believe an argument because a cliché makes it seem true. It overgeneralizes. “Avoid clichés like the plague.” |
| Complex question | Presupposing the truth of a thing in order to prove it. “Do you still beat your mother?” |
| Composition | “Our Church is superior because of its superior members.” |
| Consensus Gentium | A majority of people believe a thing, therefore it must be true. “The vast majority of scientists believe evolution is true, therefore it must be.” But Dad, everybody is doing it.” |
| Dicto Simpliciter (fallacy of the general rule) | Trying to fit a unique case to a general rule. Satan tried to pull this on Jesus when he said “If you are the Son of God throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will give His Angels charge over You lest You dash your foot against a stone.'” This quotation of Psalms 91:11-12 was meant as a comfort for the confidence of God’s anointed. |
| Division | Our church members are better because our church is superior. |
| Faulty Analogy | Using an analogy to attempt to show superficial similarities to another thing. “Believing in Jesus is like believing in the tooth fairy.” |
| Faulty Dilemma | This is creating a dilemma where none exists. “Lord, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” John 9:2-3 |
| Genetic Fallacy | Something should be rejected because it comes from a bad source. “Can anything goo d come from Nazareth?” Used to reject creationism. |
| Hasty Generalization | Using an exception to build a case where the exception doesn’t fit. “If Paul recommends wine for Timothy, then it must be OK for me.” |
| Hypothesis Contrary to fact | The name says it all. Using a known false statement as the basis of an argument or advancing a position. |
| Ignoratio Elenchi (Irrelevant conclusion) | Arguing a point, and giving a conclusion that is only vaguely related to the argument. “Legalizing marijuana is right because many are helped by the good feelings they receive when they smoke it.” |
| Natural Fallacy (is ought) | What is, ought to be. “We should give kids condoms because they’re going to have sexual relations anyway.” |
| Nothing Buttery | Reducing a complex thing without a valid reason. “Man is nothing but protoplasm.” It is an overgeneralization. |
| Operatergo veritat | It works therefore it is true |
| Petitio Principii | (see Begging the Question) |
| Prestige Jargon | This is a use of specialized jargon usually meant to intimidate or divert. “Well Bill, I can’t come over today because of my entire family has come down with acute coryza, and I fear for their health.” (Coryza is the common cold.) |
| Red Herring | This is a simple diversion away from the facts. Often used to create a shock reaction. Reporter:” Mr. President, when you stop saying Medicare is being cut when it isn’t.” President: “Why just as soon as you people in press quit reporting it that way yourselves.” |
| Slippery Slope | An overgeneralization that says to reject something because it will slip into that. “The use of marijuana will lead to heroin addiction.” |
| Special Pleading | Using only that portion of evidence that looks unfavorable to an opponent when the majority of the evidence supports the opponent. “How can a good God allow suffering to exist?” Specially worded surveys are a common tactic that commit special pleading. |
| Straw Man | A way of stacking the deck by exaggerating or distorting the opposing argument. “Creationists believe the Earth was created in 4004 BC.” ” If men are saved by grace, then we might as well continue to sin since Go d can show more grace.” Romans 6:11ff |
| Post Hoc | Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc – After this, therefore because (on account) of this. The questionable cause fallacy. “Everyone who has eaten an egg has eventually died, therefore eating eggs causes death.”Luke 13:4-5 “Do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Jesus dissociates the cause and effect of some unfortunates to get to the real need these people had: forgiveness of sins. |