Question from John:
Chapter 2, Lesson 6, Number 9 Why does the demonstration not prove the case?
Answer from Cassidy Cash:
The issue is that in number 9 he has proved a SINGLE CASE, not all cases. If I tried to prove to you that the sun is “Always” to the west and walked outside in the afternoon – would you believe my evidence? You would tell me to try in the morning and you would show me I was wrong. Here Raoul demonstrated that the statement is true in a PARTICULAR case – but he did not PROVE it is so in ALL cases. It so happens it is true in all cases – but hopefully you can see from this that a simple example is NEVER proof.
In Number 10 Similar to number 9 above, even 1000 examples showing me something does not PROVE anything. In fact all I need to DISPROVE 1000 examples is ONE example showing it does not work.
This is an important issue in science and in logic in general. Think about it. Even when you hear something on the news! How often do we find a particular example being used to argue truth? If someone steals from you have you proved ALL people are evil? No – you showed one example. Much of what people argue in society is from examples – which can be evidence of some larger truth – but not always. So like the word “TRUTH” the word “PROOF” is very powerful and has a very specific meaning. They do NOT mean sometimes or most of the time – they mean at ALL times. Now read John 17:17 and consider the word TRUTH and PROOF.
