The Evangelism Fallacy
Section 3 (pgs 242-301) of John Frame’s Doctrine of the Knowledge of God includes a discussion on clear and godly thinking. In that section there’s a unit of common mistakes in thinking, commonly known as logical fallacies. He defines the fallacy of division as follows:
Here one argues that what is true of the whole (or the collection) is also true of the parts (or members). Thus one might argue that since a car is heavy, it might have a heavy cigarette lighter. Or because a grove is thick, each tree in the grove must be thick. One might mistake predicates of a class for predicates an individual, as in this specious argument: “American Indians are disappearing; Joe is an American Indian; therefore Joe is disappearing.”
Frame then provides a couple of theological examples of this fallacy. I highlight only one:
Theological examples include [the following].. “Christ commands his church to evangelize the whole world; I am a member of the church; therefore Christ commands me to evangelize the whole world.” Much grief is wrought by pastors who take commands in the Bible that are intended for the church as a whole and impose them on individuals, as if each individual had to do the whole job himself. Thus individuals are led to think that they must pray all day, evangelize their neighborhoods, become experts in Scripture, Christianize the institutions of society, feed all the poor in the world, and so forth. No! These commands are for the church as a whole, and individuals contribute to these purposes in accordance with their particular gifts (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12-14).
-John M. Frame, Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, 299.
Most of us have either made or been the victim of the Evangelism Division Fallacy. I know I have!
Friends don’t let friends use the EDF.
Posted on August 27, 2012, in John Frame and tagged Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, John Frame quotes, John M. Frame, logic. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
KINGDOMVIEW 
Frame is awesome. Thank you
Frame is making a very restricted argument here. Case in point:
The command to make disciples is a command to make disciples of individuals and thereby the ethnic groups (nations) of which those ethnic groups consist. The command to “make disciples,” is one of the commands which Jesus told his disciples they must teach to others. There is an inescapable logical loop of obedience in the Great Commission. So, no… it is not a logical fallacy that all are to preach the gospel. Without the preaching of the gospel, it is impossible to obey Jesus’ command to make disciples. See Acts 14:21 etc.
I and Frame would agree with you. I believe the full quote I provided gives the proper context for his words.
Miguel (Missionaries),
He is not negating the preaching of the gospel. Of course that is what is needed for individuals to come to Christ. But that is the task of the church in some will engage in the actual verbal proclamation. But our individualism says I’m not engaged in the task of evangelism unless I, the individual, am actually proclaiming it. His premise seems to be that if I am contributing towards the work of the church who proclaims the gospel, I am necessarily engaged in the evangelistic enterprise so long as that is what the church is doing.
I’m uncomfortable in saying that only some of the church need to proclaim the gospel verbally. I don’t think Matthew 28:18,19, and 20 are limited to subset of the church. Nor do I think Mark 16:15 or Acts 1:8 are either. I’d be willing to entertain any thoughts to the contrary.
Every Disciple should be a discipler, a gospelizer, and a witness.
I rather focus on Frame’s words “the whole world” because i think that’s the focus of this command that fulfills the fallacy. The church is called to evangelize “the whole world” but it isn’t the task of every individual to evangelize every person, but the ones in their field. Yes, Christ commands us to make disciples, but we aren’t responsible for every person as individuals.
WHEN YOU START FOLLOWING THIS APPEAL OF JESUS HIS MOST IMPORTANT APPEAL, THEN PERSECUTION IS SURE TO FOLLOW, MOST CHRISTIANS HAVE SIDE STEPPED THIS INCLUDING MYSELF THATS WHY CHRISTIANS ARE RUNNING FOR COVER TODAY, BEING CALLED RELIGIOUS BIGOTS, WHEN THEY TRY TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE. WE WERE SLEEPING ON JESUS’S APPEAL ALL THESE YEARS. GOD FORGIVE US
I think there is a difference between what you do in your ministry (your work) for your church, and what you do in your daily life as a Christian. I teach at my local church and that’s my ministry; but in my daily life, depending on the occasion and circumstances, I can preach the gospel to a friend, to a colleague, to a member of my family, or even to a completely unknown person at the street.
So, I preach the gospel if needed, but I don’t consider this my personal ministry to the church; my ministry is to teach the Word, and that is what I do.
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