Page 13 - Sample Masters E-book

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. One 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 logical 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.

These laws are also called “rules of inference.” They reflect the way God thinks and the way we must
think if we are to think God’s thoughts. These laws of logic are universal, invariant, and abstract rules of
thought that govern all correct reasoning, because they parrot the mind of God. They are universal in
that they apply everywhere in the universe to every situation. They are invariant in that they, like God,

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