By: Eli Ayala
First, I would like to differentiate between logic as such, and the laws of logic. I would say that the laws of logic are a creation of man in as much as the linguistic constructs we use to talk about logic are a product of man’s use of language to capture and categorize something that has ontological grounding.
O.k. let’s try that in English now. The language that we use to talk about the “laws of logic” are created by man. But these “laws” that we speak of are describing something that is not based in human invention. The laws of logic: 1) The Law of Identity, 2) The Law of Non-Contradiction, and 3) The Law of Excluded Middle[1], are language descriptions of something more fundamental.
Logic as such, is not invented or created by man even though man develops and creates language to describe logical truths. From a Christian perspective, logic is a reflection of God’s mind. God is by his very nature logical. When we speak of the laws of logic we are speaking of the rules of proper thinking. God’s thinking is always coherent and logical because it is his own mind that is the paradigm of that which is coherent and logical.
The laws of logic as conceptual[2] laws do not stand above God such that there are these abstractions called the “laws of logic” to which God’s thinking must be subservient to, but rather, logic just is the reflection of God’s own thinking/thoughts. God did not create logic just as God did not create his own mind. Logic is just as eternal as God is because logic is simply a reflection of his own mind.
If God created logic, then it would be the case that logic did not exist “prior”[3] to creation, but if logic did not exist prior to creation, how could God’s mind reflect coherence and purpose to create at all? The notion that God created logic seems to be a contradictory (or illogical) notion and therefore self-refuting.
Within apologetic interactions with skeptics the question is often asked: Can God violate the laws of logic? The answer is no! God cannot violate the laws of logic. Now of course, the skeptic will want to pounce on this right away: Aha! If God CANNOT violate the laws of logic, then there is something your God CANNOT do, and therefore, he is not omnipotent (all-powerful). Well, it is no mystery that within Christian theology there are things in which God CANNOT do and we openly admit as much; indeed, there are explicit scripture references which tell us things God cannot do. For one, the Bible says that it is “impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). But then again, there is nothing here that conflicts with the notion of an all-powerful God and there being certain actions that God cannot perform since traditionally, the Christian conception of omnipotence is NOT the idea that God can do the logically impossible. God cannot perform logical contradictions. God cannot cease to be God. God cannot create a square circle. God cannot be unholy or unrighteous and so forth.
Indeed, I would say that it is a logical contradiction for a perfectly holy and righteous God to perform unholy and unrighteous acts such as lying. It is no deficiency in God to not be able to perform that which is logically absurd. This might conflict with the skeptics preconceived notion of what omnipotence is supposed to be, but it is a far cry from showing a logical contradiction within the Christian conception of God. Indeed, it is instead, an example of imposing non-Christian categories upon the Christian God and critiquing him according to those categories.
Because God is always logical, coherent, and consistent with himself, we can trust in his promises. This complete and utter consistency and logical cogency within God is a source of encouragement to believers in that we can rest assure that he is the “same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
[1] Law of Identity: something is what it is and is not what it is not. Law of Non-contradiction: a statement cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same way. Law of Excluded Middle: a statement is either true or false, there is no middle option between these. [2] I am aware that logic is often described as an abstraction as opposed to being conceptual in nature. I am simply stating here what I perceive to be a theologically consistent understanding of logic as a reflection of the mind and thinking of God. [3] Prior is in quotations because it does not make sense to literally speak of “prior” to creation, since God creates time itself. If time had a beginning, then it is not meaningful to speak of time before time began.