*** SHOW NOTES (not fully edited or a transcript) ***

Lead:

What does “self-refuting” mean? Why should I care, and how can I spot self-refutation?

Intro:

I just got back from an apologetics conference where one of the speakers was JP Moreland — a guy named in the Top 50 philosophers who happens to love Jesus and teach at the school I attend. I was inspired to share a tactic with you today that will be useful even for non-religious conversations.

That said, you’ll recall that as we got started into the book of 1 Corinthians yesterday that Paul is responding to a report he received about stuff going on in the church there. He anchors what he’s about to say in the message of the cross, and then starts calling people out for being divisive — specifically for saying they’re all about their favorite preacher. Today we wrap up that argument, and listen for what he says we should be paying attention to.

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Bible:

Passage: 1 Corinthians 3-4
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 44
Words: ~933

All Our Minds:

You do not need to be a philosopher to grow by learning the concept of self-refutation. When is a statement self-refuting?

What Is Self-Refutation?
A statement is about its subject matter. The statement “dogs are mammals” is about dogs. Some statements refer to themselves; that is, they are included in their own field of reference. The statement “all sentences of English are short” makes a statement about all English sentences, including itself.
When a statement fails to satisfy itself (i.e., to conform to its own criteria of validity or acceptability), it is self-refuting. Such statements are necessarily false. The facts which falsify them are unavoidably given with the statement when it is uttered.(1) (emphasis mine)

So how do you spot a self-refuting statement?

(A self-refuting) statement has three features:
1. The claim establishes some requirement of acceptability for an assertion (such as having to be empirically verifiable).
2. The claim places itself in subjection to the requirement.
3. When the claim falls short of satisfying the requirement of acceptability that the assertion itself stipulates. In other words, when a statement is included in its own subject matter (i.e., when it refers to itself) but fails to satisfy its own standards of acceptability, it is self-refuting.(2)

The simplified answer, then, is to ask yourself, “Does this person’s statement fail its own standard?”

So how do you respond to someone who just uttered a self-refuting statement? Situations vary, of course, but I’m a fan of questions that shine a light rather than making a statement back. For the sake of time, let me throw a couple examples at you that take a moment to think.

Person: “I only trust science.”

You: “Let me make sure I understand you correctly: You’re saying that truth is knowable only when it can be tested scientifically?” And assuming they corroborate that that’s what they meant, “So if you say, ‘Only science can give us knowledge,’ is that statement testable scientifically?” The answer, of course, is no. It’s not science, it’s a statement about science, which is a philosophical statement.

Person: “You shouldn’t judge people.”

You: “When you say that we shouldn’t judge people, are you saying that it’s wrong to make a statement of truth about someone else?” It’s possible, of course, that they’re just spouting something they’ve heard somewhere and repeated because they think it sounds good.

The bottom line

A self-refuting statement is one that can’t live up to it’s own standard of acceptability. A good way to engage with someone is to clarify what they meant and ask questions that shine a light on the falsehood of that statement. And always with love, gentleness, and humility — the goal is to win hearts and minds, not arguments.

Wisdom:

Passage: Psalm 113-114
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 17
Words: ~279

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

Thank you for supporting this ministry should you choose to use the Amazon affiliate links below.

(1) J. P. Moreland, “God and the Argument from Mind,” in Christian Apologetics: An Anthology of Primary Sources, ed. Khaldoun A. Sweis and Chad V. Meister (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 403. (link)

(2) J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), Kindle location 656-657. (link)

Others:

The Story of Reality, Greg Koukl — Love this book. A killer intro to the Christian worldview that is philosophically and theologically sound while being accessible to all readers.

How to Read the Bible Book by Book, Fee & Stuart — Just bought this myself (and haven’t read it), but Fee’s book on how to read the Bible for all it’s worth is a mega-best-selling classic.

#927: 1 Corinthians 3-4 | Responding to self-refuting statements | Psalms 113-115