...  And for many people, especially women, logic does not come easily to them without receiving training in it.  A lack of logic does not mean they are self-serving or bad-willed.

On the contrary, not studying logic can prevent a good woman from picking arguments with atheists who use logical arguments and their knowledge of fallacies to convert people to atheism. I know several Catholic college-educated women who were converted to atheism by their very logical atheistic boyfriends who convinced them logically that their Catholic beliefs were not logical. These women had thought that they could convert their boyfriends. That was their downfall.

In fact, I knew a Muslim convert to Roman Catholicism. He was still a catechumen, not baptized yet, but he was very zealous about the pearl of great price that he had found in Catholicism, so he decided to join an atheistic forum and try to convert these tough guys to Roman Catholicism.  He had taken one introductory course in logic and thought that he knew it all because he knew all the fallacies and he knew (or thought he knew) how to argue logically. After all, he had received the highest scores in his college class in Logic 101.

Within one week of joining that particular atheistic forum, he had left the Catholic faith and was an atheist.

The study of logic can lead to pride, and pride goeth before a fall.

Most of our saints were schooled, not in logic, but in the New Testament writings, Proverbs, and in the Psalms of David. They also knew the lives of the saints which they emulated.  Their school was the school of faith, hope, and love. It was their love of God that led to their heroic acts of virtue. For without love they would have been nothing. With the love of God in their souls, everything was possible.

Study of logic is part of the Catholic intellectual tradition and is a characteristic of the scholastic writers.  A significant number of Saints were schooled in logic, so it is clear that it is not intrinsically wrong.  Nevertheless, I agree with your cautions regarding the danger of pride.  Since I am highly educated I am personally at risk for this.   And, course, you are right that such things are worthless in comparison to the love of God.

Thank you for your humility in this matter.

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Quote from: Maria Regina on December 17, 2018, 06:22:15 PM

On the contrary, not studying logic can prevent a good woman from picking arguments with atheists who use logical arguments and their knowledge of fallacies to convert people to atheism. I know several Catholic college-educated women who were converted to atheism by their very logical atheistic boyfriends who convinced them logically that their Catholic beliefs were not logical. These women had thought that they could convert their boyfriends. That was their downfall.

In fact, I knew a Muslim convert to Roman Catholicism. He was still a catechumen, not baptized yet, but he was very zealous about the pearl of great price that he had found in Catholicism, so he decided to join an atheistic forum and try to convert these tough guys to Roman Catholicism.  He had taken one introductory course in logic and thought that he knew it all because he knew all the fallacies and he knew (or thought he knew) how to argue logically. After all, he had received the highest scores in his college class in Logic 101.

Within one week of joining that particular atheistic forum, he had left the Catholic faith and was an atheist.

The study of logic can lead to pride, and pride goeth before a fall.

Most of our saints were schooled, not in logic, but in the New Testament writings, Proverbs, and in the Psalms of David. They also knew the lives of the saints which they emulated.  Their school was the school of faith, hope, and love. It was their love of God that led to their heroic acts of virtue. For without love they would have been nothing. With the love of God in their souls, everything was possible.

.

Study of logic is part of the Catholic intellectual tradition and is a characteristic of the scholastic writers.  A significant number of Saints were schooled in logic, so it is clear that it is not intrinsically wrong.  Nevertheless, I agree with your cautions regarding the danger of pride.  Since I am highly educated I am personally at risk for this.   And, course, you are right that such things are worthless in comparison to the love of God.

.
The problem we face today with Catholics studying "logic" in college or thinking they're experts in logic but then fall prey to atheists who challenge them, is the following:
    Logic, properly so called, is no longer taught in colleges. The Catholic tradition of logic is nowhere to be found in today's colleges.
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Therefore, when students think they've done well studying what they call "logic" today in school, they're not learning the logic of the saints or the Church. They're learning a modern mathematical imitation of traditional logic. This deceptive imitation atheists have co-opted to argue against the truths of the Catholic faith. Therein lies the rub.