Faulty appeals

Amos 7:10-17; Jeremiah 38:1-6 – God’s prophets were often rejected without reasoning through their warnings. People tried to ignore or stop their message with force.

What is it?

Appealing to faulty sources of authority might be very effective or persuasive, but it is faulty reasoning because it does not prove a proposition.

The appeal to force/fear: “You better accept my claim or there will be consequences!”

Daniel 3:6

You do not see this sort of appeal in the New Testament. The apostles did not try to force people to be baptized.

The appeal to emotion: attempting to persuade people by stirring powerful emotions rather than making a logical case.

The appeal to pity: a particular type of the appeal to emotion that occurs when an arguer tries to persuade people to accept a position by generating sympathy for those who hold the position.

The appeal to ignorance: the fallacy of appealing to the unknown; specifically, it is when a person argues that a claim is probably true simply because it has never been proven false.

The appeal to the majority of what’s popular: the fallacy of deciding proof by opinion polls.

Spiritual importance

Acts 4:14, 21; 5:18, 28, 40

What about preachers who primarily tell anecdotes and poignant stories instead of reasoning with people from the Scriptures (Acts 17:2)?

“What about the tribal member deep in the jungle who’s never had a Bible and doesn’t know about Jesus?”

“If you teach creation in this school, we’ll sue you.”