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Making Good Arguments

Making Good Arguments. How to make a claim and support it. The problem with many sermons/papers is not that they are illogical but that they are. Sub-logical. Why Argue?.

Samuel
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Making Good Arguments

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  1. Making Good Arguments How to make a claim and support it

  2. The problem with many sermons/papers is not that they are illogical but that they are Sub-logical.

  3. Why Argue? • 1. An argument is often an attempt to find out which views are better than others. Some conclusions can be supported by good reasons; others cannot. • 2. An argument is the way in which we defend the views that we believe can be supported.

  4. All arguments must have: • A Claim-What you want your readers to believe • Evidence-The grounds on which your readers should believe your claim Claim Evidence

  5. Warrants: The Warrant is- • The warrant of an argument is the general principle that bridges the claim and its supporting evidence. • The warrant answers questions not about whether the evidence is accurate but about whether it is relevant to your claim. • The warrant is the bridge between the claim and the evidence.

  6. Warrant Claim Evidence

  7. Qualifications: • Qualifications limit the certainty of your conclusions. • They use such words as may, unless or some.

  8. Warrant Claim Evidence Qualifications

  9. Making Strong Claims • Your claim must be substantive-if the claim is not substantive then why argue about it? • Your claim must be contestable-if your claim is self-evident there is no need to argue about it. • Your claim must be specific-an unspecific claim will result in an incoherent argument.

  10. What is the problem with these claims? • I will examine the book of Ephesians. • The book of Ephesians will be examined in an effort to prove that Paul uses the phrase “rulers and powers” as an indicator of demonic activity. • The book of Matthew speaks about Jesus. • The book of Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses, leading his people from exile.

  11. Problems • The book of Jeremiah was written before 70 A.D. • The LXX version of the book of Jeremiah shows that some first century Jews still believed that they were in exile. • The Bible is a book Christians read in church. • 87% of Christian churches read the Bible in Sunday morning worship.

  12. Good Evidence Must Be: • Accurate-you must do all within your power to make sure that you use your sources accurately. • Precise-your evidence should be as precise as the field will allow. • Sufficient-do you need more evidence in order to prove your point?

  13. Good Evidence Must Be (Cont.): • Representative-be careful about small samples. • Authoritative-A quotation from a grade school Bible teacher will not be as helpful as one from a well known scholar. • Clear-if your readers/hearers cannot understand your evidence you may as well not have any.

  14. Practical pointers for Papers/Sermons • Know your Audience • 1. Know the presuppositions that your audience brings to the discourse. • 2. Know the expectations that your audience brings to the discourse. • 3. Know the limits that your audience brings to the discourse. These may be limits of language, knowledge, interest, etc.

  15. Practical Pointers • Know Yourself • 1. Know your limits-don’t try to do more than you are capable of doing. • 2. Know your abilities-don’t be satisfied doing less than you are capable of doing.

  16. Practical Pointers • Know your material • 1. Know what has been written. It may be that you are disproving something that has not been believed for the last one hundred years. • 2. Be prepared to read purely for background information.

  17. Practical Pointers • Know your argument. • 1. Start from reliable premises. • 2. Use definite, specific, concrete language. • 3. Avoid loaded language. • 4. Stick to one meaning for each term.

  18. Practical Pointers • Know your question or topic • 1. Examine the argument from all sides (as much as is possible). • 2. Question each argument’s premises. • 3. Revise and rethink arguments as they emerge. This will take TIME! • 4. Explain the counter-evidence.

  19. Helpful Works • The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb and Williams • Come Let Us Reason by Geisler and Brooks (Edited by Professor Beisner) • Logic by Clark • A Rulebook for Arguments by Weston

  20. At the end of the day remember: “One of the highest complements that can be paid to you in the church is to be mistaken for the janitor.” • M. J. Harris

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