Letter To Corn's Unbeliefs

Most Christians have at times experienced a “crisis of faith” due to new contrasting ideals that may provoke questions (Carroll, 409). Entering college for the first time is a vulnerable time for anyone who has been brought up all their life to think and believe as they are told. College freshman, Alfred Corn, was experiencing this unfortunate crisis. (Carroll, 409) The knowledge we individually obtain throughout our livelihood constantly evolves and adapts to new information and experiences, unfortunately learning too much at times makes us question our current standing beliefs. In cases such as these we need the advice and direction from those that have more knowledge and experience than us to try to amend those confusing thoughts. Compelled by Corn’s letter, Flannery O’Connor, a staunch catholic, aims to convince Alfred that Christianity is a paradox; a constant fight for faith, which at times is full of doubt. Through the use a delayed thesis, O’Connor is able to enhance both her appeal to logos and ethos by presenting not only …show more content…
This point explains that questioning faith has been happening for years to all people. “Peter said, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief” (410). This statement represents a logical fallacy known as appeal to false authority, which famous people are used to testify on issues and at times editing out of context can misquote them. This statement fits this criterion because the disciple Peter never said this quote, but rather a father who was lacking the faith necessary for Jesus Christ to heal his sickly son. The mere fact that the important Peter one of the twelve disciples had a crisis of faith would immediately impact O’Connor’s argument positively by helping Corn see that he is not the only one with this kind of crisis, even those with a special