Page 12 - Masters Sample Courses

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We
have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
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Einstein was a rationalist. He believed that the mind of a man was the source of reason and knowledge.
Rationalism is the belief man looks to himself to gain knowledge. Rationalists hold man’s mind to be
perfectly suitable alone to acquire knowledge about the world in which we live. Thinking is the key.
Descartes’ “I think therefore I am.” is their well-beloved adage. Rationalism holds that but man is born
with certain innate ideas. The laws of logic are thought to be some of these; they are not learned, but
rather, every man is equipped with these ideas apart from experience regardless of whether they know
it.

According to the Christian worldview, the laws of logic are remnants of God’s creation found in
mankind. Genesis says that God created man in His image. It’s obvious that that image is not a physical
image, but a mental and spiritual image. Man can think. He can reason. He can communicate. He has a
spiritual dynamic. All of these are images of God built into mankind. Once significant remnant of God’s
mind is that he gave man the ability to use logic to reason.

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The Four Laws of Logic

• Everything that is, exists. (A is A)
• Nothing can simultaneously be and not be. (A is not not – A)
• Each and everything either is or is not. (X is either A or not -A)
• Of everything that is, it can be found why it is. (If A then B (A implies B))

The first law is called the law of identity. It is a very simple law. Another way of saying this law is
“whatever is, is.” It’s like saying an apple is an apple. This leads to a logic conclusion with the following
equation: if X is a man, and A is a man, then X = A. In mathematics, it is called the commutative law.

The second law is called the law of non-contradiction. It says, “nothing can both be and not be.” In
other words, two or more contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense as the same
time.” For example, you may say, “The Bible is true.” If that is a true statement, then the statement
“The Bible is false” is not true. Both statements cannot be right. Another example is “Jesus said, I am
the way to the Father, and there is NO OTHER WAY.” If Jesus told us the truth, then if another person
says, “There are many ways to God”, then that statement not true. Both statements cannot be true at
the same time.

The third law is called the law of excluded middle. It says, “Everything must either be or not be.”
Basically the law states that the negative statement of a statement cannot both be true. For example, if
you say, “An apple is a fruit”, and that is true, then the statement, “An apple is not fruit” would be false.

The fourth law is called the law of self-existence. It says, “if something is, then logic would lead us to
find out why it is.” We need to ask the question, “If an apple is a fruit, why is it a fruit?” We should be
able to define what a fruit is to determine if an apple is really a fruit. Based on this law, a tomato is a
fruit and not a vegetable.

5 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7105426-the-intuitive-mind-is-a-sacred-gift-and-the-rational
6 https://biblicalscienceinstitute.com/logic/the-biblical-basis-for-the-laws-of-logic/