- The Law of Non – Contradiction was discovered and coined by famous philosopher Aristotle. This law of logic helps us discover that which is false. The Law basically states something cannot be both true and not true at the same time when dealing with the same context. Opposite ideas cannot be both true at same time and in the same sense. This is the intellectual too we use to discover things. Consider the following:
Math: 2+2 cannot equal 4 and 9.
Science: Living things cannot have DNA and not have DNA.
History: George Washington cannot have been the first President of the United States of American and not the first President of the USA.
English: Someone cannot end a sentence with the word the.
In the law of non-contradiction, where we have a set of statements about a subject, we cannot have any of the statements in that set negate the truth of any other statement in that same set. The Law of non – contradiction is undeniable. For example, we have a set of two statements about Jesus.
1) Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life, no one can enter heaven except through Him.
2) If you Repents and puts their trust in Christ alone for their salvation they will go to Heaven.
Neither statement about Jesus contradicts the other. That is, neither statement makes the other impossible because neither excludes the possibility of the other. The statements can be harmonized by stating: Jesus is the only way to God the Father, and when one repents of their sin and puts their trust in Him alone for their salvation they will go to heave. In order to make the set of statements contradictory, we would have something like:
Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Jesus is not the only way to Heaven.
Since either statement excludes the possibility of the other, we would then have a contradiction. Hence if it is true that Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven then going through Mohammed (Islam), Buddha (Buddhism), Krishna (Hari Krishna), or any other means would be false. Equally if Mohammed (Islam) is right then Jesus is wrong and Christianity is false.
If the Law of non – contradiction works in every other field, such as math, science, history, English, etc…, then why would it not be true spiritually? We live in a society that pushes relativism, which is a belief that all truths are relative. This in itself is a contradiction because the statement itself would be relative, while claiming itself to be absolutely true that all things are relative.
Contradictory worldviews cannot both be true!
The following is adapted from I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek and from Josh McDowell’s sermon “Evangelism in a New Millennium”:
Truth is discovered, not invented or created. Gravity existed before Newton was born and discovered it. It exists independent apart from anyone’s acknowledgment of it
Truth is transcultural: It is true…
…for ALL people.............It is objective (not subject to one’s feelings)
…at ALL times ...............It is constant (unchanging)
…in ALL places ..............It is universal (everywhere)
Gravity exists for all people, at all times, in all places. If someone 5 or 95 years old, male or female (the only two genders) jumps off a building in India or China at 2pm today or 5 am next Tuesday the person will still fall. It is true for all people, at all times, and in all places. The Earth is spinning for all people, at all times, and in all places.
Truth is unchanging even though our beliefs about truth change. Science believed the earth at one time was flat, yet is never changed the fact that it was indeed round. Christopher Columbus used the book of truth (The Bible) to validate his belief about the round Earth Isaiah 40:22: “He sits enthroned above the circle ... Isaiah wrote this about 700 B.C., 2000 years before Christopher Columbus sailed around the world.
Truth is not affected by beliefs no matter how strongly or sincere one may hold a belief. You can sincerely believe the Earth is flat, but you are sincerely mistaken in your belief.
Truth is not affected by the attitude of the one professing it. An arrogant or prideful person does not make the error or fallacy he or she professes to be true. A humble person does not make the error he professes true.
Contrary beliefs are possible, but contrary truths are not possible. We can believe everything is true, but we cannot make everything true.
We live in a truth war in today’s culture so make sure that you live on the side of truth!
