Warren, Deaver And Jones
Ever since Warren and Deaver introduced their syllogism to prove that benevolent organizations are authorized in the word of God, a syllogism that was passed around some fifty to sixty years ago has often been recalled to my memory. It went like this:
John Jones boldly proclaimed that Jim Smith had a cat with three tails. Proof was demanded. He gave his proof by a syllogism which proved the matter to his own satisfaction and to the satisfaction of certain of his friends. Here is the syllogism:
Major premise: Any cat (including Jim Smith's) has one tail more than no cat.
Minor premise: No cat has two tails.
Conclusion: Therefore, Jim Smith's cat, having one tail more than no cat, has three tails.
Now if John Jones or Jim Smith could have produced and exhibited a three-tailed cat, there would have been no need for a syllogism. And if Warren and Deaver could have produced the chapter and verse authorizing the church to build separate organizations to care for the orphan and the needy, it would have been an end of all controversy, and would have saved them the labor of trying to work out their involved "syllogism." When and if these good brethren are able to figure out the fallacy in John Jones' argument, perhaps it will help them to see their own endeavor in its true light.