The Either/Or Fallacy
by Rod Jackson
All verses are quoted from the NASB anything in [square brackets] is added by me for clarity.
The fallacy of bifurcation, sometimes called the "either/or fallacy", is where someone implies there are only two options but there are in fact more than two options. So they say you must choose between either this or that. A common example would be when someone asks you
"Is the cup half full or half empty?"
They are giving you two options
1) Either the cup is half full
2) or the cup is half empty.
When the truth of the matter is that the cup is both half full and half empty.
Skeptics seem to commit this fallacy fairly often. A skeptic once asked me. Who did Jesus appear to after He was resurrected from the dead - was it to the disciples in the upper room or was it to 500 witnesses?
I hope you can all see that they are committing the fallacy of bifurcation. Paul makes it clear that Jesus appeared to both groups, but at different times when he writes,
"and that He [Jesus] appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep [died];" 1 Corinthians 16:5-6
I saw a documentary called "The God who wasn't there" by Brian Flemming. Brain Flemming is a fundamentalist atheist who believes that Jesus never even existed. In this documentary he notices that the bible has symbolic content. And this is quite true. There is a lot of the bible that has symbolic content. However he commits the fallacy of bifurcation. He believes that if an event is symbolic then it cannot be historic. Or if an even is historic (i.e. really happened in history) then it cannot be symbolic.
"Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time." Hebrews 9:6-9
The bible here clearly states that the real historic practices of Temple worship in ancient Israel, also have a symbolic meaning! Therefore it is totally illogical for one to conclude that because there are symbolic events those events are not also real historic events.