NAME: Logical Fallacies

Read the following descriptions and examples of logical fallacies. On the spaces provided, write
your own examples of logical fallacies based on the topic provided.

The Bible Priesthood

Hasty generalization: Uses insufficient or biased evidence to prove a claim.

The Bible is a bad book because some people use

Bible verses to justify their prejudices.

Perfect solution: Rejects a claim just because it does not completely or immediately solve a problem.

Even if we study the Bible all our life, we will never

become truly good people, which is why it is
pointless.

Red herring: Introduces evidence, important as a separate subject, but unrelated to the argument.

I do not believe in the Bible because of the

violence and corruption in the history of the
Catholic Church.

Straw man: Distorts the other person’s claim, or creates a false claim for the other person.

You said that you believe in the Bible, which

means that you do not believe in science.

Slippery slope: Assumes that a first event will necessarily lead to a second extreme event in the future.

If we teach the Bible to children, they will grow up

blindly believing in everything they read.

False cause*: Assumes that an event was caused by a previous event, just because the second event
happened after the first one.

The story of Genesis is similar to other earlier

creation myths, which is evidence that the story of
creation is not true.

False dilemma: Reduces the argument into two possibilities and ignores all others.

A person can either be an independent thinker or a

blind follower to the Bible, not both.

* Translated as “post hoc ergo propter hoc”, which means “after this, therefore, because of this”. 1
False analogy: Establishes an unfair moral comparison.

Believing in the Bible is as bad as believing in

superstition such as fairy tales.

Genetic fallacy: Judges a subject based on its origins instead of its merit.

The Bible was written by imperfect humans, which

is why it is not trustworthy.

Circular reasoning: Restates a claim and assumes its truth instead of proving it.

I do not believe that the Bible is true because the

Bible is a work of fiction.

Appeal to majority: Uses the popularity of a claim as evidence.

Most people I know do not believe in the Bible,

which is why I do not believe as well.

Appeal to ignorance: Assumes that there is lack of evidence, and uses that assumption to prove claim.

The Bible is not the Word of God because there is

no proof that it is.

Appeal to authority: Uses the authority of uninvolved and unrelated persons as evidence.

Just like famous actor Morgan Freeman, I do not

believe in the truth of the Bible.

Appeal to emotion: Manipulates the other person’s emotions instead of presenting evidence.

In the modern world, it is embarassing for a person

to still believe that a book such as the Bible is true.

Ad hominem: Attacks the other person instead of addressing their claim.

People like you who believe in the Bible are

ignorant and stupid.