Re: Logic biblical?

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Jun 06 1997 - 19:50:51 EDT


At 12:31 PM -0400 6/6/97, WFWarren@aol.com wrote:
>Carl, while I agree with most of your post and the intent very much so, I
>wonder if we are looking at this from too much of a cultural viewpoint. From
>a cultural anthropological viewpoint, all cultures have a need and have
>obtained a certain level of "logical" consistency in the inter-workings of
>the various components of the culture. In that sense, to speak of any
>culture as having a monopoly on "logic" would be "illogical". :) On the
>other hand, the Western heritage of Greek philosophy with its specific focus
>on "logic" is obviously not to be identified with the "logic" of other
>cultures nor the internal consistency of those cultures. On this I agree
>with you whole-heartedly. To the degree that we speak of the subculture(s)
>of Judaism and of early Christianity, major differences in the concepts of
>what constitutes "logic" exist.
>
>I'm not sure if this post would help on-list, however, so I'll send it to you
>personally in order not to stir up a hornets nest of reactions.
>
>Bill Warren
>Professor of New Testament and Greek
>New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Thanks for your note. I think you are right, but I believe that the response that my post drew from Paul Dixon demonstrates, although he seems to be unaware of it, that it is precisely the Alexandrian Hellenistic Jewish impact on early Christian theology that assures him that logic is inherent in the Bible. His concluding paragraph might almost come straight out of Philo. But I don't (at this point) intend to be drawn back into the discussion; I simply expressed an opinion, and it appears to have been a provocation to Calvinists.

Are you by chance an associate of Carlton Winbery? I know he spent some time there at N.O. Baptist Seminary this spring and once taught there. He and I both knew a former teacher there, Joe Billy McMinn, who was my first Greek teacher at Tulane (I grew up in New Orleans, went to Fortier High, took a B.A. and M.A. at Tulane).

Regards, cwc



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