{"id":52272,"date":"2022-08-21T19:27:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T00:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=52272"},"modified":"2022-08-21T19:27:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T00:27:33","slug":"necessary-inference-is-absolutely-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/necessary-inference-is-absolutely-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Necessary Inference Is Absolutely Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n<p>It is truly amazing that we have brethren who actually deny that proper reasoning on the scriptures always involves the use of necessary inference. It is the most basic plank of common sense reasoning, and yet, some brethren draw an inference that they don&#8217;t use inference and reason from implications.<\/p>\n<p>Anytime we reach a judgment or conclusion about anything we are of necessity using the tools of common communication that involve drawing from available evidence a necessary inference. We may not consciously think we are using this thing, but we do every day. When there are no more shirts in the closet to wear, but the laundry basket is full, we draw a necessary inference from this evidence that we need to wash a load of clothes in order to have clean shirts to wear the rest of the week. When we think about what to eat for supper and look in the refrigerator and pantry for food choices and find nothing, we draw a necessary inference that we need to make a trip to the store. It is the most basic form of thinking and decision-making. In a court of law, the prosecuting and defense attorney&#8217;s present and test the available evidence before the jury so that the jury can reach a &#8220;verdict,&#8221; which is the conclusion or necessary inference they drew from considering all the available evidence. There is no part of life where we do not use the logic of necessary inference.<\/p>\n<p>Consider just a few cases of necessary inference in the scriptures.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;W<em>e believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 15:11). That was a necessary inference. When the evidence was considered on the topic of whether Gentiles need to be circumcised to be saved, they considered the available evidence and &#8220;judged&#8221; from that evidence to the necessary conclusion. James said &#8220;<em>therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 15:19). This was drawing the evidence to a necessary conclusion. The evidence inferred the conclusion or judgment.<\/li>\n<li>I Corinthians 14:34 and I Timothy 2:11-15 show Paul drawing from the order of man being created first and then the woman, that this shows the priority of man over the woman in the divine arrangement. This brought the inspired apostle to the logical conclusion that a woman is not to teach over the man but to be in subjection.<\/li>\n<li>Matthew19:3-12 shows Jesus drawing a necessary inference from the fact that God made the first couple &#8220;one flesh&#8221;. The implication is that what God joins together as one flesh, man is not to put asunder. That is not stated but is the necessary implication of the original one flesh arrangement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since the Bible does not specify that I have sinned and need salvation, I must look at the evidence and draw the necessary inference that I have sinned and need to be saved. To deny necessary inference as an essential part of biblical reasoning is to prove oneself to be unreasonable or unable to draw common sense deductions! That assessment too would be a necessary inference drawn from the evidence shown in such a person.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Terry Wane Benton It is truly amazing that we have brethren who actually deny that proper reasoning on the scriptures always involves the use of necessary inference. It is the most basic plank of common sense reasoning, and yet, some brethren draw an inference that they don&#8217;t use inference and reason from implications. Anytime&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,529],"class_list":["post-52272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-hermeneutics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66519,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-believed-in-necessary-inferences\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":0},"title":"Jesus Believed in Necessary Inferences","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton He said, \"Moses wrote about Me\" (John 5:46). Still, since Moses never used the name \"Jesus,\" it would have to be a necessary implication of Moses and a necessary inference on our end to conclude that Moses wrote about Jesus. The evidence of reason is strong;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/possible-inference-versus-necessary-inference\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":1},"title":"Possible Inference Versus Necessary Inference","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is \"of necessity\" (necessary) \"a change of the Law\" for Jesus to be a priest since He was not a Levite (Hebrews 7:11f). In other words, the evidence of Psalms 110 and Jesus being that priest after the order of Melchizedek forces the necessary implication\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47693,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/peters-vision-and-the-great-necessary-inferences\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":2},"title":"Peter&#8217;s Vision and the Great Necessary Inferences","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wayne Benton Acts 10-11 Some brethren have erroneously concluded that direct command is the only way we can know the will of God for us. They attack or dismiss the idea of reasoning from statements, commands, examples, and drawing necessary inferences. But, I find it to be very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41227,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/necessary-inference-in-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":3},"title":"Necessary Inference in the Old Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton It has been said that the Old Testament was always direct in communicating the will of God and that the idea of having to \"infer\" the will of God has never been necessary and therefore is not necessary now, but is\u00a0that\u00a0argument a necessary conclusion? Consider just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67332,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/of-necessary-inferences-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":4},"title":"Of Necessary Inferences Again","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton All my detractors say they believe in necessary inferences, but then they act like I made some point that was counter to their understanding of necessary inference. So, I will define my terms and show that all I have said is beyond dispute on any legitimate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-renting-facilities-for-worship-a-necessary-inference\/","url_meta":{"origin":52272,"position":5},"title":"Isn&#8217;t renting facilities for worship a necessary inference?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding \"Necessary Inference,\" I am amused at the simplicity of learning that necessary inference promotes. Necessary inference doesn't add anything to the equation but simply brings together all of the elements whether in the stated equation or the equation as a whole. For example Lydia. If it had stated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}