November 1991
Part I. The Place of Argument.
1. What is an argument?
Argument-1: A conclusion accompanied by supporting ideas.
Argument-2: An antagonistic conversation between two people.
This work will deal only with Argument-1 and will use the word “argument” to refer to Argument-1.
2. Why would anyone want to produce an argument?
The purpose of argument is the attempt of one person to persuade another person (or persons) to believe or to do something.
3. What is there about this world that makes arguments important?
Human beings are often in doubt as to what to believe or what to do. Arguments are the attempts of one person to persuade someone (including oneself) as to what to believe or what to do.
4. Why is this world that way?
Father designed the world and his children so that they could come to truth (knowing what to believe) and wisdom (knowing what to do) on their own only with difficulty. He has prepared means by which each of His children may gain a fullness of truth and wisdom through our Savior. But many humans would rather stumble in the dark rather than to go to Father through His Son to learn truth and wisdom.
5. When we try to find truth and wisdom using only human resources, we find that some matters are easy, some are very difficult.
Learning what to believe about what is immediately and physically around us is truth that is fairly easy to come by. Learning how to deal wisely with the physical things around us is also at the easy end of the scale. But even at this easy end of the scale, human beings make mistakes which can cost them their physical and spiritual lives when they rely on human means to gain truth and wisdom.
Learning what to believe and what to do to satisfy our immediate needs for nourishment and protection is also at the easy end of the scale.
Learning what to believe and what to do to be successful and happy in this life is mid-range in difficulty.
Learning what to believe and what to do to claim our full eternal inheritance as children of God is at the very difficult end of the scale of learning truth and wisdom.
6. What are the options human beings have for learning what to believe and what to do?
Human beings have two basic options:
- a. Accept the opinions of other human beings, or
- b. Make contact with God and learn from Him.
7. Why do most human beings learn mostly from human beings?
Because:
- a. God asks men to be obedient when He teaches them. Some men do not want to be moral (obedient to God), so they do not seek to learn from God.
- b. There are always plenty of human beings ready to tell others what to believe. And to communicate with human beings is easier, at first, than communicating with God. But communicating with human beings is not a hundredth part as profitable as is communicating with God if one is willing to be moral.
8. Where does argument fit into this picture?
Human beings have noticed that some human beings are better sources of ideas about things to do and to believe than others are. The ones who are better sources usually can explain why they say what they say. These explanations are arguments.
The human being who says to others, “You believe and do what I say without questioning!” are pretending to be gods, but following any of them around for a day proves they aren’t up to much as gods.
Human beings who try to persuade others to believe and do as they say by argumentation are honoring the intelligence and the agency of their hearers.
Argument appeals to the minds of men and is meaningful to those who try to approach life using their minds to help themselves.
9. How does argumentation fit in with being skeptical?
To demand and argument (support for an idea) is the essence of skepticism. Skepticism is the unwillingness to believe or do anything where there is insufficient evidence to support the correctness of the belief or the action.
We are under instruction from the Lord to be skeptical of the sayings of every human being. But we are also under instruction to pay special attention to those whom we know are called of God and preside over us in His priesthood authority, but to believe and do only that which the Holy Spirit confirms to us is the mind and will of the Lord.
If we do not know the Holy Spirit (cannot tell when it is speaking to us), then we are trapped in the opinions of men.
10. Does God also present arguments to human beings?
God does honor men with arguments. He sends His missionaries out armed with arguments such as the continuity of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Biblical account of that gospel, as opposed to other current “Christian” versions of the gospel. The purpose of such arguments is to provide an occasion for the missionary to commend the hearer to pray to Father in the name of Jesus Christ in the attempt to establish a personal communication relationship with God. When one has come to know that he is truly communicating with God, the human being must then be willing on some occasions to accept what God says for him or her to believe and to do without demanding proof (argument) that what God says is correct. To act on the word of God which results from having prayed earnestly in the name of Jesus Christ, without demanding antecedent proof of truth or wisdom from God is what constitutes faith in Jesus Christ. Only in faith in Jesus Christ can any human being be saved (brought back into Father’s presence to share with Father and our Savior all that they have).
11. What is Father’s purpose in this freedom of choice which men have?
Father wishes to prove who can be trusted with great knowledge and power and who cannot. Thus He leaves His children free to choose between His truth and wisdom and the so-called truth and wisdom of men.
When human beings accept Father’s truth and wisdom, they also accept His righteousness. When a human being has become fully righteous, then Father can then bestow a fullness of light (wisdom) and truth (correct belief) upon that person.
But if men do not desire Father’s righteousness, He leaves them the option to accept whatever they can get by way of beliefs and wisdom from other human beings and from Satan.
12. Are there other alternatives for getting things done with human beings other than those of accepting the arguments of men or having faith in Jesus Christ?
A favorite human alternative for “getting things done” is brute force. War, police, law and personal assault are force alternatives to persuasion.
13. Is there a counterfeit to persuasion?
Genuine persuasion (presenting of an argument) is done in love, kindness, and pure knowledge of the truth. The counterfeit to this honorable persuasion is to use lies, half-truths and threats of brute force to get people to agree.
14. What is the best use to which human arguments can be put?
The best use of human arguments is to persuade all men to come to Christ. For in Christ come all good things: all light, all truth, and the only way back to Father. For a person who is full of light and truth from Christ has no further need to receive the arguments of men except to counter such arguments with better arguments from Christ by which to lead his hearers also to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
The goal of all honorable presentation of arguments is to bring other human beings to light and truth. But the best way to bring human beings to light and truth is to encourage them to come unto Christ, the earthly source of all light and truth.
15. Should all human arguments which do not persuade men to come to Christ be rejected by those who are servants of Christ?
The scriptures bear plain witness: Whatsoever does not promote good (Father’s righteousness) and testify of Christ is not of Christ (and therefore is not good).
Any servant of Christ who wishes not to be misled will take every idea to Father, in the name of Christ, to find our whether to believe and to do it or not. This is part of the strait and narrow path of which the scriptures speak.
The arguments of men are mixtures of truth and error, good and evil. To accept any human argument at face value without going to Father to discern the true worth of that message is folly. For thus the blind lead the blind.
Through the power of Christ His servants may select what is true and righteous from every human message and leave that which is dross (false and evil) behind.
16. Why then learn to argue?
Argument is the “coin of the realm” in the academic world. The academic measure of any contribution is judged by the arguments which men produce to persuade their fellowmen.
If you wish to succeed in the academic world, you must learn to judge well the arguments of others and to argue well yourself.
The greatest single help to learn to judge the arguments of others and to learn to argue well is to have the Holy Spirit to be one’s guide, which can only come to covenant (baptized) servants of Christ.
And if you learn to argue well, you can use that power to persuade other human beings to come to Christ. But one must remember that no human argument can “prove” Christ. What our human arguments do is catch the attention of other persons and get them to pray to Father in the name of Christ to see if He has any message for them. It is Father, and our Savior, and the Holy Ghost who are the ultimate persuaders. Their persuasion will eventually win the assent and love of all humans, even if not so right now.
17. How does Satan work upon human beings?
Satan’s only direct access to human beings is to persuade them. But his persuasion is never honorable. For though he teaches some truth, he also uses lies whenever it suits his purpose, and thus is an unreliable witness; and he never encourages good, but strictly and carefully pursues an undeviating course to persuade men to do evil.
Satan’s only real leverage is to whisper to men encouragement to believe what is pleasing to them and to do what pleases them. Satan can only tempt or try to persuade us through our own lusts.
Any human being who tries to persuade others to believe something which is not true or to do something which is not righteous is in the service of Satan, whether he or she knows it or not.
The only way to avoid being a servant to Satan is to come unto Christ. One cannot serve two masters. The only way to completely stop serving Satan is to come unto Christ through the New and Everlasting Covenant and through it to be perfected in Him. Then one’s faith and one’s arguments of persuasion will be pure and holy, even as the person is holy, even as Christ is holy.
18. What then is to conclusion of this conversation?
The conclusion is that argumentation is a very important human academic skill which all persons in academia must master. All of the technical professions employ this methodology. Using this skill one can either do evil or righteously apply it to eternal purposes.
Part II: The Kinds of Argumentation
1. There are five kinds of arguments (to use one taxonomy):
Arguments are used to:
- a. Clarify (interpret)
- b. Verify (establish the truth or probability of truth)
- c. Understand (tell how something works)
- d. Evaluate (establish the worth of some belief or action)
- e. Apply (this is how you do X)
2. Example of an argument of clarification:
Question: What does it mean to be “pure in heart?”
Argument:
Conclusion: To be pure in heart means to have the pure love of Christ in our hearts for all others.
Premises:
- To be “pure” means to be unmixed.
- The business of hearts is choosing.
- To be “pure in heart” means that with our hearts we choose only one kind of thing (choosing is unmixed).
- Hearts choose between good and evil.
- Pure hearts choose only good.
- The only good thing is to love Father and our neighbor with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.
- To love Father and our neighbor with all of our heart, might, mind and strength is to have the gift of charity, which is the pure love of Christ.
- To love Father and our neighbor is to love all others.
Therefore: To be pure in heart means to have the pure love of Christ in our hearts for all others.
3. Example of an argument of verification:
Question: Is it true that this earth is the most wicked of all the earths Father has created?
Clarification: Earths are not wicked. Only children of God on His earths can be wicked.
Conclusion: The most wicked of all of God’s children who had ever been given mortality up to the time of the life of Enoch upon this earth were human beings living on this earth at that time.
Premises:
- a. Moses 7:35–36 says: Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name, also. Wherefore, I can stretch forth mind hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been such great wickedness as among thy brethren.
- b. The scriptures of the Pearl of Great Price reveal the truth.
Therefore: It is the truth that the most wicked of all of God’s children who had ever been given morality up to the time of the life of Enoch upon this earth were human beings living upon this earth at that time.
4. Example of an argument of understanding:
Question: How does one become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ?
Conclusion: One becomes a son or daughter of Jesus Christ by obeying His instruction to believe in Him and His gospel, to repent of one’s sins, and to be born again of water and Spirit through authorized servants of Christ.
Premises:
- a. To become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ is to become an authorized inheritor of what Christ is and has.
- b. To become an authorized inheritor of what Christ is and has, one must hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ taught by the power of the Holy Ghost, and one must believe that divine witness.
- c. If one believes that divine witness, he or she will repent of sinning (which is to say, one will confess one’s sins and forsake them).
- d. If one believes in Christ as explained in the gospel of Christ, and has repented, one is prepared to take the covenant of baptism.
- e. If one is prepared to take the covenant of baptism, an authorized servant of Jesus Christ (bearing the Holy Priesthood) will interview the person to ascertain the fulness of that preparation, and when satisfied that one is prepared, will administer the ordinance of baptism by water.
- f. In accepting baptism by water under the power of an authorized servant of Christ one promises to: 1) Be willing to take upon them the name of Christ; 2) To always remember Him; and 3) Keep every commandment which He (Christ) gives unto them.
- g. Baptized persons who have actually made the promises specified above are ready to be confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- h. An authorized servant lays his hands upon the head of the one who is ready to be confirmed and commands them in the name of Christ to receive the Holy Ghost and announces that they are now members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- i. If the person confirmed does not receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost at the moment of confirmation, they should pray and seek for it until they receive it.
- j. When the person actually receives the companionship of the Holy Ghost after confirmation they have then been baptized with fire.
- k. Every person who is truly born of the water and of the Spirit has kept the commandment of God and is now a son or daughter of Jesus Christ and will remain so as long as they keep the promises they made in receiving the covenant of baptism.
Conclusion: One becomes a son or daughter of Jesus Christ by obeying his instruction to believe in Him and His gospel, to repent of one’s sins, and to be born again of water and Spirit through authorized servants of Christ.
Note that this argument of understanding does not consist of proofs of the correctness of individual steps: that would make argument one of verification. An argument of understanding is a careful explanation as to how to do something. If one applies the formula and gains the desired result, then the explanation has worked. In this example, one knows that one has become a son or daughter of Jesus Christ if he or she fulfills the understanding given and thereafter enjoys the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
5. Example of an argument of evaluation:
Question: What is the worth of a human soul?
Conclusion: A saved human soul is worth more that the life time of labor of an ordinary human being.
Premises:
- a. The lifetime labor of an ordinary human being is not worth a great deal, because of themselves, no human being can do any fully good thing. If human beings do fully good things, it is because they have come unto Christ and do His good (righteousness).
- b. No human soul can be saved by a lifetime of unaided human labor, because that labor is not good (not worth saving).
- c. A saved human soul will do the work of Christ. This work is eternally worthwhile, and the fruits of this work will last into all eternity. And this soul will go on in eternity doing good to all eternity.
- d. A single mortal work of a saved soul which will have eternal good consequences is worth more than a whole mortal lifetime of human work which will be destroyed at death and not be remembered any more.
Therefore: A saved human soul is worth more than the life time labor of an ordinary human being.
Note that arguments of evaluation are all comparative. Something is established as a standard or as better, and a judgment is then made about value or worth.
6. Example of an argument of application:
Question: What should one do with love?
Conclusion: One should learn to love better and better until that love is pure and complete, as is Father’s love. Then one can help wayward souls.
Premises:
- a. Every person on earth once did what was right because they felt Father’s love for them.
- b. Some persons on earth now do not do what is right because they no longer feel Father’s love for them.
- c. The best thing one can do for a neighbor is to gain Father’s kind of love and then love our neighbor.
Therefore: One should learn to love better and better until that love is pure and complete, as is Father’s love. Then one can help wayward souls.
Part III. What Makes a Quality Argument?
1. A quality argument is complete.
All must be explicit. There should be no suppressed premises.
2. A quality argument must be valid.
The argument must be formally correct. The premises must make the conclusion to be warranted.
3. A quality argument must be based in truth.
The premises must be true, and known to be true. Plausible premises only allow plausible conclusions.
4. A quality argument is audience centered.
The language, figures of speech, clarity and tone must be appropriate to the intended hearers of the argument.
5. A quality argument must be delivered in suitable rhetorical device.
If delivered by an essay, a poem, or a play, they must be well written lest they mask their message. If delivered by the actions of a person, they must be consistent and competent.
Connotations are also important. A hymn loses its spiritual force when sung in nightclub style. The vehicle must not be too long (to lose the audience) nor too short (to fail to convey the full weight of the message).