Logical Fallacy of Faulty Appeal to Authority / Argumentum Ad Verecundiam / Argument from Authority / Argument from False Authority / Ipse Dixit / Testimonials / False Attribution

The logical fallacy of appeal to authority occurs when someone asserts a claim based on the person making the claim rather than on a true premise. This is always faulty unless the person is qualified to make this assertion. If the authority is all-knowing and never lies, (God) then there is no fallacy of faulty appeal to authority. There is only One like this, God. Knowing that God speaks to us through Scripture and that God cannot lie and is all knowing, it is not faulty appeal to authority to quote Scripture when the Holy Spirit brings it to your consciousness. Of course, we can misunderstand God, just like we can misunderstand human beings.

Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Faulty Appeal to Authority / Argumentum Ad Verecundiam / Argument from Authority / Argument from False Authority / Ipse Dixit / Testimonials / False Attribution

“Amazing! I gave you the actual paper of Mary Schwarzer. Add 'logical fallacy' to the list of terms you don't understand.”

Note that this is not only an example of the fallacy of question-begging epithet, but it is also an example of the logical fallacy of faulty appeal to authority. This is in response to a statement that there was a logical fallacy in Mary Schwarzer’s paper. The implication is that Mary Schwarzer is the very Oracle of God and cannot make logical fallacies.

"My teacher is a Christian. My teacher says it’s OK to believe in evolution. Therefore, it is OK to believe in evolution."

Just because a person is a teacher and also a Christian does not make that person infallible.

"Mr. Big is a famous theologian. Mr. Big believes that evolution and billions of years are both compatible with Scripture. Therefore, evolution and billions of years are both compatible with Scripture."

"Every biology text book I have every read says that molecules-to-man evolution actually happened. Therefore, molecules-to-man evolution actually happened."

Unless they are Divine revelation, what books say holds no weight. There must be reason given and credible, conclusive evidence without dependencies on assumptions or stories. There is only one Divinely inspired book. That is the Bible. Yet, even the Bible, unless it is made alive by the Holy Spirit as it is being read or heard, does not have authority. The dead letter can be misleading. Rationlizing the meaning of Scripture through the filter of the natural human mind is a major cause of division (denomination) in the Church.

"The consensus of the scientific community believes this."

First, a consensus includes every person in the group, but thousands of scientists disagree openly, and it's impossible to know how many scientists disagree silently for fear of coercion. Second, if every person on the planet believes something, that doesn't make it true. A consensus is a false authority when there is no real proof.

"The courts have ruled that the teaching of creation cannot be mandated in the schools. Therefore, creation is not scientific."

This is a faulty appeal to authority, the courts. Just because some judges believe something doesn’t make it so. There are many mistakes made in the court systems and judges also have paradigms/false realities that make them subject to error. All we can deduce from this is that some judge somewhere believes in evolution. If a scientist, theologians, or a group of both believe that evolution and the faith that is of God don’t conflict. This doesn’t make it so.