Five years competing in speech and debate taught me a good many things.
- Never procrastinate research
- Don’t drop arguments
- Don’t bring new arguments during rebuttals
- Always shake the opponent’s hand
- Cite credible sources
And the list goes on. One of the many lessons that have remained with me is: as a debater, you should never make the judge work to understand your point. It is the debater’s objective to explain and connect the dots for the judge. Otherwise, they get lost in the sea of facts, refutations, cross-examinations and the like.
Connecting sources and points in a logical, fluid way is a difficult skill to master. It requires tact and precision in choosing words which will impact your judge. Judges enter a debate round with little to no prior information regarding the topic. They have not spent hours upon hours gathering information and formatting constructive speeches. It is imperative that the debater be able to thoroughly explain to the judge and expertly refute arguments involved in the debate round. This skill is called Logos. In this article, we will be defining this last mode of persuasion.
The simple definition of the Greek term Logos is “word,” though its meaning and use go beyond this. In Liddell and Scott’s Greek lexicon, it defines Logos as, “the word or that by which the inward thought is expressed; the inward thought itself.” You may have observed that Logos sounds like logic. This is because logic (and its meaning) is derived from the Greek Logos. Using Logos in speech refers to employing logical reasoning, sound facts, historical and literal analogies as well as qualified sources in order to persuade the audience. The renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle stated, “Persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question.” Logos involves reasoning, proving the argument with facts.
In the Gospel of John, we clearly see the word logos. John calls Jesus Logos, which again translates as “the Word.” In the time when John first penned those words, Logos had great meaning in Greek philosophy. He chose Logos to counteract that definition used by the Greeks. The Greeks referred to Logos as an impersonal power or life force that could explain all of life. Since they referred to Logos as, “the ultimate truth,” he wanted to make a clear distinction that Jesus is the truth that explains all reality. However, in Rhetoric, Aristotle does not refer to Logos in this way. He refers to it in merely an oratory sense, unlike his fellow Greek philosophers. It is important for us to differentiate the definition of Aristotle’s Logos from John’s Logos.
Logos is imperative to have in an argument if you want it to hold any weight. To be persuasive, you need to sustain your claims with fact and reasoning, and you must do so in a winning manner. You can possess the most compelling data in the world, but if you do not explain it in a logical way for your audience, they will be lost to you. And vice versa, you can make arguments, but if you fail to sustain those claims with facts, you will not have the full trust of your audience.
The letter to the Romans is presumably the best book in the Bible which comprehensively explains and defends the Gospel. It is a flawless example of Logos. The Apostle Paul builds an argument from the very basics, using Scripture and logic to make his appeal. As he proceeds throughout the letter, Paul expertly refutes the opponent’s reasoning by addressing each possible question. Studying this book, in light of Logos, will be quite illuminating.
While I am no longer in debate, I continue to utilize the skills I learned. Logos is naturally more difficult for me to employ, since I have the tendency to speak quickly without explaining my reasoning. It is a skill that needs to be worked upon.
Logos is an integral part of good communication. Whether the setting be a formal debate, casual conversation, or preaching the Gospel, let us be sure to present our words clearly so the hearers may understand.
“For argument based on knowledge implies instruction, and there are people whom one cannot instruct. Here, then, we must use, as our modes of persuasion and argument, notions possessed by everybody, as we observed in the Topics when dealing with the way to handle a popular audience.”
Aristotle
Aristotle. “The Art of Rhetoric (W. Rhys Roberts, Trans.)”. Pg. 7, pt. 1, Book 1 and Pg. 11, pt. 2, Book 1. Megaphone eBooks. 2008. http://www.wendelberger.com/downloads/Aristotle_Rhetoric.pdf. Accessed 13 August 2021.
Liddell, Henry George, and Robert Scotts. “Λόγος.” Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott. An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. 1889. www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dlo%2Fgos. Accessed 13 August 2021.
Sproul, R.C. “Interpreting the Logos.” Ligonier Ministries. 15 May 2009. www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/interpreting-logos. Accessed 13 August 2021.
