Secret Knowledge Fallacy

Whenever a logical fallacy is committed, the fallacy has its roots in Agrippa's trilemma. All human thought (without Divine revelation) is based on one of three unhappy possibilities. These three possibilities are infinite regression, circular reasoning, or axiomatic thinking. This is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known; however, that is not true. Without Divine revelation, neither logic nor math can be known. Science is limited only to pragmatic thinking because of the weakness of human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Secret knowledge, a form of axiomatic thinking, is one of these three unhappy possibilities.

The Secret Knowledge Fallacy occurs when knowledge is claimed that is only given to a certain person or group of persons, and there is no way that anyone else can check it out this secret knowledge.

Examples of the Secret Knowledge Fallacy

Gnosticism taught secret knowledge that only special people could know.

Sandy: “Evolution is true. Science says so.”

Rocky: “I would like to see the evidence of that. We have talked about this, but you never show me any conclusive evidence. I have heard from others that all the so-called evidence is based on assumptions. If you take away the assumptions, the evidence goes away too.”

Sandy: “The only reason I don't show you the evidence is because only scientists can understand the evidence. You just have to trust them like I do.”

FALLACY ABUSE

Sandy: “You are claiming that God reveals to you that the Bible is His Word without error, and then He speaks to you through the Bible? That’s secret knowledge. I can’t check it out.”

Rocky: “On the contrary, it is available to every person. Here is how you check it out. Just open your mind to Jesus Christ, sincerely, with respect, a will to obey Him, and persistence. Pray—just tell Him that you want Him to set you free from sin and you want to have the power to obey Him. You want to be cleansed. Ask Him to teach you and lead you. He will reveal the same things to you.”

Sandy: “I’m not going to do that. I’m not having God telling me what to do.”