“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” – Genesis 5:5.
My family job that evening was to bring home some food. To have a little fun with my kids, I emptied one of the food sacks but puffed it out to make it look like it was full. As everyone opened a bag, one of my daughters opened the puffed up sack and proclaimed, “This one’s empty.”
With a straight face I denied it, “No, there’s food in there, you just didn’t see it.”
She gave me a double-take then looked back in the sack. She then held the sack opened so I could see inside, “Really dad, it’s empty.”
I looked at the sack seriously, knelt down, and reached my hand down under the sack cupping the bottom. Now at eye level, my face was close to the top and I looked in as she held the top of the sack opened. I met her eyes, smiled, and said, “Maybe you have to reach in and pull out your food.”
My young daughter looked at me seriously and shook her head, “No,” then nodding her head, “it’s empty.” But with one hand she reached inside the sack.
As her arm plunged in, I simultaneously pushed the bottom of the sack up to her hand, shook the sack a little, and made a noise. She yelped and jerked her hand out of the sack. We all laughed.
Of course, after we ate she brought me an empty bag wanting me to stick my hand inside.
The first claim was, “The sack is empty.” And though not said specifically, the second claim was, “The sack is not empty.” The child recognized the contradiction and was willing to prove it by sight and touch. Let me propose that this recognition of contradictions is the start of our ability to reason. Thinking of a sack, and knowing that even children recognize when a sack is “empty” and “not empty” helps me remember my next self-evident truth:
Contradictions can’t be true.
A contradiction is a set of statements, propositions, or phrases where opposite claims are each said to be true. I say a contradiction is a “set” because you need two opposite statements to have a contradiction (for example: “empty” vs. “not empty”). The contradiction must be in the form of statements, propositions, or phrases because both claims can’t be real. Both claims may be false, but only one of two opposite claims can be true, or real. The claims must be true opposites so we can properly compare the two claims.
The idea that “Contradictions can’t be true” is based on the Philosophical Law of Non-Contradiction. This law might be simply summarized as: One of two opposite claims must be false. This is considered the negative expression of logic, another one of the laws of reason attributed to Socrates.
Let’s go back to my conversation with my friend. It had gone well so far and now it was time to talk about reason, the use of rational, logical, and analytical thought.
I began, “Okay, you’ve made statements concerning what you believed. We accepted self-evident truth and the first self-evident truth was that words have meaning and that we understand words based on our common language. Now for the second self-evident truth; may I ask you a question?”
My friend nodded his head once.
Nodding to his drinking cup, I said, “Do you think your cup is empty or not empty?”
His eyebrows dipped and he glanced at his cup, “The cup is mostly full, so I’d have to choose ‘not empty’.”
“You say ‘not empty’, so what would you think if I were to say the cup is ‘empty’?”
He looked at me and said, “Why would you contradict me on something so obvious?”
I then asked him, “You think contradictory statements like ‘it is empty’ and ‘it is not empty’ can’t both be true?”
He grinned, “Well, you give me a little bit, I’ll drink it all gone, and then it will be empty”
“Fair enough,” I said, “Just so we understand each other, let me clarify. What you’re saying is that contradictions can’t be true at the same time in the same respect. Is that right?”
“Right,” he agreed, “I still have a drink now so it isn’t empty, but once I drink it all, it will be empty; ‘empty’ and ‘not empty’ are not the same. If you changed it up to say it was empty of drink but full of air, that wouldn’t be the same respect.”
“That’s a good example.” I responded.
We agreed that contradictions can’t be true at the same time and in the same respect. He understood contradictions and agreed it was something basic our society relied on.
Even young children can recognize a contradiction. Tell a child you’ll give them a treat, then withhold the treat and deny ever saying such a thing, and the child’s own actions will tell you they recognized the contradiction. They may not be able to tell you that you’ve “contradicted yourself”, but you’ll immediately lose the child’s trust because they intuitively know it was wrong.
I previously mentioned that the cover has a map of the U.S.A. and “six cups of coins”. I already explained why the map of the U.S.A. and explained why “six”, now for the “cups”. We understand it is a contradiction to say any container is empty and not empty at the same time in the same respect. Kids are not fooled; even kids are able to recognize a contradiction. So, let every cup remind you of what should be self-evident: Contradictions can’t be true.
What does the Bible say?
Does the Bible support the idea that contradictions can’t be true? Oh yes!
In the book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 17 through chapter 3, verse 3 (also written as “Gen 2:17-3:3”), we learn that God told Adam to not eat of the tree of good and evil or he “would die”. Eve proved she understood that part of the command when she answered the serpent’s question concerning what she was allowed to eat. After her answer, the serpent contradicted God when the serpent told Eve she would “not surely die” if she ate from the tree of good and evil.
So, was God right or was the serpent right? Did Adam and Eve die or not die? All anyone would have to do is to bring Adam and Eve into the public view to prove they are in fact still alive. No, that can’t be done because they are dead. They’ve been dead so long that people think their existence was nothing but a myth. The serpent was wrong. God was right.
My concluding verse is a reminder of this recorded contradiction; Adam died, contrary to what the serpent said, but according to the promise of the Eternal God, “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” – Genesis 5:5.
Quick Review
On the front cover are pictures of a map of the United States of America and six cups of coins. These pictures remind us:
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America wrote a Declaration of Independence in which they refer to “self-evident truth”.
Sex is the German word that is translated to “six” in English; it is used as a reminder that if we don’t know what language a person is speaking, we may not know the definition of the word they are using. This is important because: We understand each other’s words based on our common language.
A cup can have something in it or not have something in it. Even a child can recognize the contradiction that a container is not both “empty” and “not empty” at the same time in the same respect. Even the child realizes that: Contradictions can’t be true.
Up next
What is coins good for?
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