On the Power of an Implication
 

by Doy Moyer
 

Every Christian believes in the binding power of an implication, including those who deny that implications have any binding power. How so? 

First, anyone who is a Christian today is one because of the acceptance of the implication that people of all places and all times ought to be Christians. After all, where is there a direct statement telling us that 21st century Americans should be Christians? We infer that Christianity was intended to be taken beyond the boundaries of the first century time-frame. If you are a Christian, do you believe this inference is necessary? If you don’t believe any inferences are necessary, then on what basis are you a Christian? 

Second, when we follow particular commands in Scripture, we do so because we have inferred that those commands are viable and vital for those beyond the original audience who first heard them. That these commands are viable and vital is evident, but if we believe we should be following particular commands that were given to the Roman, Corinthian, or Colossian Christians, then we do so on the basis of what is implied by Scripture and what we infer as interpreters. Are these inferences necessary? Are any inferences necessary? 

Now let’s look at a case in point. Take the statement by Jesus that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind (Matt 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). Would anyone deny that this is still the greatest commandment? I surely wouldn’t. But if you believe it is still the greatest commandment, then on what basis do you believe it? Why ask this? Because it illustrates the power of an implication. 

1. In context (and context is vital), Jesus was speaking about the Law and the Prophets. He said nothing, in that context, about the New Covenant. So if it is to be understood beyond the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Covenant), then we are inferring its necessity beyond the original context and the original audience. 

2. This command is not stated this way anywhere else in the New Covenant Scriptures. There are plenty of passages telling us to love one another. There are plenty of passages telling us to love God. But that loving God with all the heart, soul, strength, and mind is the greatest commandment? Where is that? The only place that is found is in a passage that contextually is speaking of the Law and the Prophets.

3. Where, even in the Hebrew Scriptures, does it say that loving God with all the heart, soul, strength, and mind is the greatest of the commandments? Yes, the command is there (Deut 6:4). But it doesn’t say it is the greatest commandment there. How were they to know this? If they were expected to know it, then they knew it by what is implied in the command. Interestingly enough, some did get it. For example, that lawyer who asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life answered the question correctly (Luke 10:25-29). How did he know that inheriting eternal life was so connected to loving God with all the heart? That is not stated in Deuteronomy 6. Where does that passage say anything about “eternal life”? Yet, Jesus said that the lawyer answered his own question correctly. That must have been a pretty significant inference. Was it a necessary one? Was it a binding one? 

Do you believe in the power of an implication? If you are a Christian, and you believe that loving God with all your heart is indeed the greatest commandment today, then you believe in the power of implication, and you have inferred that this is necessary for you. Indeed, it is exactly what needs to be inferred. 

So, really, the question is not whether implications and inferences (even necessary ones) are an important part of our understanding of the Scriptures. What we need to make sure of is that what we infer is reasonable, not forced. 

 

Other Articles by Doy Moyer
The Logic of Authority
Baptism and the Blood
Was Jesus Literally Forsaken?
The Problem With Creeds
It Is What It Is