The McFly Fallacy

In the classic film, Back To the Future, Marty McFly walks into Lou’s cafe and orders a Pepsi Free. Two aspects of this make me laugh. First, the brand “Pepsi Free” is a caffeine-free relic from the 80’s that lasted just 5 years (1982-87). Second, Marty, a time-traveler from 1985, was ordering in 1955. The guy behind the counter, clearly confused, replied, “You want a Pepsi, pal, you’re gonna pay for it.” This is an anachronism, which is “a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other.” Sometimes, anachronisms make us laugh or entertain us, as with the Society for … Continue reading The McFly Fallacy

Faith, Reason, and the Spirit, Part 2

Last week, I critiqued an excerpt from Joyce Meyer’s book, Battlefield of the Mind. I considered this important because Meyer’s misguided and self-contradicting attitude (“reasoning is dangerous”) likely represents a large swath of the Christian community. Why bother to write about it? Because I believe that this mindset is harmful–both to society in general, and to the Church. But rather than focusing on the harms as reasons to reject Meyer’s view, I will focus chiefly on the fact that being anti-reason is thoroughly unbiblical. That approach provides more persuasive power among Christians. Reason In the Bible Aside from the numerous passages … Continue reading Faith, Reason, and the Spirit, Part 2