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The statement that nothing is hidden that will not be revealed functions as a major premise, rule, or warrant for deductive reasoning. The conditional assertion about knowing what is before your face functions as a case that produces the result that what is hidden will be disclosed to you. The reasoning in the major premise is contrawisdom, so most people probably would not consider the reasoning in this logion to meet the standard either of deductive or inductive reasoning. If a person grants the truth of the warrant, however, the logic is straightforward: If everything has an inclination to reveal rather than hide itself, then if people know what is before their face, what is hidden from them will be disclosed to them. The reasoning is contrawisdom, but its logic could be persuasive to people who believe the major premise or rule. The next logion, GTh 6, applies the reasoning about hiddenness in GTh 5 to an inquiry by the disciples concerning what diet they should observe and if they should fast, pray, and give alms. Jesus' response is that they should not lie and do what they hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. Conventional religious wisdom in the Mediterranean world probably would say that fasting, praying, giving alms, and observing a special diet would disclose a special religious person who will receive the benefits of heaven. Thus, if people would grant the initial premise, they probably would construct the reasoning as follows: Contrawisdom Explanation (Rule): 6:5There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, 6:6 and there is nothing covered that will remain without being disclosed, 6:4 because all things are disclosed before heaven. [Case: Fasting, praying, giving alms, and observing a special diet discloses a devoted religious person. [Result: A person who fasts, prays, gives alms, and follows a special diet will receive the benefits of heaven.] Instead of this reasoning, the logion contains abductive reasoning: Contrawisdom Explanation (Rule): 6:5 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, 6:6 and there is nothing covered that will remain without being disclosed, 6:4 because all things are disclosed before heaven. Case put together with Result from previous logion: Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe? What is hidden from you will be disclosed to you [as unimportant]! [Abductive Result: Fasting, praying, giving alms, and following a special diet hides from people what they must do to live and become a single one.] Apotrepsis (Implication): 6:2-3 Do not lie, and do not do what you hate. Building on the major premise in the reasoning, the logion joins the minor premise (the case of fasting, praying, giving alms, and observing a special diet) with the result (what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you). When this happens, there is a "discovery" that fasting, praying, giving alms, and observing a special diet are disclosed as "unimportant" (activities that hide), and this discovery uncovers the activities people actually should be engaging in to seek life (seeking the understanding of these logia). One suddenly becomes aware, then, that the phenomenal world, the world we see, regularly deceives us. It hides |