Logical Discernment Can Be Both Positive and Negative
At The Same Time.
Or If You Prefer,
Discernment is Perception of That Which is Obscure.


True meanings of some Bible verses can be made more manifest by using common sense and by coming to a logical conclusion. However, there are verses with reverse meanings that are sometimes not readily apparent. In some cases, those hidden meanings can be made more pronounced by using negative logic. 
For example:

In 1Corinthians 10:16, St Paul had told us that the bread of which we break is the Body of the Lord. The Catholic Church teaches that the Body of Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist.
Then he said:
"Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread".
1Corinthians 10:17

That verse sounds superficially simple enough, but by applying negative logic, can we also say that those who do not partake of the one bread are not members of the one body?
Doesn't that verse fit perfectly with John 6:53-54 where Jesus, gave us his "true presence" discourse by saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

What about this verse?
"You are my friends if you do what I command you."
John 15:14

Negative logic would say, 'You are not my friends if you do not do what I command you'.
For some, by using negative logic, the verse may seem to have a much deeper meaning. Do you agree?


As you wend your way through Holy Scripture, do so slowly and apply negative logic to some verses that you have
just read. You may be surprised to find that some verses do have a counter meaning if only you would apply negative logic and find subtle additional meanings that you may have missed completely. Holy Scripture in some verses does in fact have counter meanings, deeper meanings, that you may have not noticed the first time through and that you may open another door to deeper understanding of it.
This is merely yet another useful tool in order to glean a whole new world of understanding of Holy Scripture.


As I have written in another page of mine:
'In the Beginning, there was a little acorn tightly packed with layer upon layer of truth.'

For proper understanding of the depth of Holy Scripture these layers can be peeled back 
one by one using various methods. In this page I have presented one method which 
I have used many times on The Catholic Treasure Chest and what I have called Negative Logic.


 Written by Bob Stanley, April 14, 1998
Updated, July 9, 2014


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