Christian Apologetics and Logical Fallacies

Vocabulary flashcards covering Christian apologetics, biblical terminology, historical evidence, and common logical fallacies.

Preevangelism

A perspective held by some Christians viewing apologetics as a tool that is not the gospel itself, but rather prepares the soil for the gospel.

Pistis

The Greek word translated as 'faith' and 'belief' in the New Testament, encompassing an intentional, engaged trust, firm persuasion, and relying confidence grounded in evidence and reason.

Apologia

The Greek word from which 'apologetics' is derived, used in the New Testament to describe a defense, such as a legal defense or making a case.

Nicene Creed

The universally accepted creed of the church that explicitly mentions Pontius Pilate to emphasize the historicity of Jesus as a real person suffering at a specific point in time.

Caesarea Maritima Inscription

A stone discovered in 1961 by Italian archaeologists in a theater at Caesarea Maritima containing legible inscriptions of Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, and the title Prefect of Judea.

Cosmos

A Greek word referring to everything that exists, encompassing the universe itself and all of its constituents.

Cosmological Argument

A philosophical argument attempting to show that because anything exists, there must be an uncaused agent (God) who brought the universe into existence.

Red Herring

A logical fallacy involving the introduction of an irrelevant point into an argument to distract from the real question being discussed.

Ad Hominem

A Latin phrase meaning 'to the man', referring to a fallacy that attacks a person's character or motives rather than disproving their argument.

Tu Quoque

A Latin phrase meaning 'you, too', describing a fallacy where an accused person turns an allegation back on the accuser or dismisses a viewpoint due to perceived inconsistency.

Faulty Appeal to Authority

A fallacy committed when appealing to someone who lacks special knowledge in the subject area, using an authority to overawe an opponent, or relying on a single opinion on a controversial topic.

Genetic Fallacy

A fallacy that attacks the origin or source of an argument, condemning a claim based on how a person came to hold it.

Appeal to the People (Argumentum Ad Populum)

A fallacy committed when someone claims that their viewpoint is correct simply because many other people agree with it.

Generalization

A broad comment about a class composed of samples taken from that group, evaluated as being either strong or weak rather than true or false.

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy occurring when a broad conclusion is drawn about an entire class based on a sample that is too small or non-representative.

Straw Man

A fallacy involving changing or exaggerating an opponent's position or argument to make it seem weaker and easier to refute.

Circular Reasoning

A logical fallacy, also known as begging the question, where an argument assumes what it is trying to prove, following the structure $P$ is true because $Q$ is true, and $Q$ is true because $P$ is true.

Equivocation

A logical fallacy that occurs when the meaning of a key word is changed in the middle of an argument.