Re: 2:7-8 and Contradictions?

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Wed, 24 Sep 1997 21:12:23 -0400

At 05:26 PM 9/23/97 -0400, Jim Beale wrote:
>On Sep 23, 5:08pm, Jonathan Robie wrote:
>
>> To me, every paradox contains a contradiction, but truth is often best
>> expressed in paradox.

I don't want to beat this into the ground, but for the sake of clarity:

1. My working definition of a contradiction is a set of statements that
affirm both A and NOT A.
2. Paradoxes are often expressed in this form.
3. The meaning of a paradox generally cannot be derived by formal logical means.
4. To me, 1 John 2:7-8 meet criteria 1-3, where A="I am writing you a new
letter" and NOT A="I am not writing you a new letter".
5. I do not believe that either paradox or contradiction indicate error, nor
that formal logic is the only or best avenue to truth.

Jonathan

***************************************************************************
Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie
POET Software, 3207 Gibson Road, Durham, N.C., 27703 http://www.poet.com
***************************************************************************