Rationalism
Definition
Rationalism describes any philosophy that claims that beliefs and opinions should always be logical, deductive conclusions rather than being based on experience, observations, religious teachings, or divine revelation.
Keywords: Rationalism, Philosophy, Logical, Reasoning, Deductive, Experience, Observations, Religious, Revelation, Contradictory.
Veracity
Rationalistic claims are false .
Proof
All self-refuting or contradictory claims are deductively false.
Premise 1: Only deductive conclusions should be believed.
Premise 2: Premise 1, being the foundation or starting point of the philosophy, is not itself a deductive conclusion.
Conclusion: Therefore, premise 1, also known as "rationalism", should not be believed.
Rationalistic claims, when adhered to, require the rejection of rationalistic claims. To accept them is to reject them, making rationalism inherently contradictory and deductively false.
Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons
Riveting, yet absurd; romantic, yet innocent; Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons is a little Roald Dahl, a little Harry Potter, and a little Chronicles of Narnia, all rolled into one. Timothy McCabe collaborates with the great Benedict Ballyhoot to bring you the novel of the century!
In Printed Form
Along with numerous other authors including Don Landis, Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, Timothy McCabe contributes analyses of various world religions and cults in this volume from Master Books.
Other Writings
"What do Mormons believe? Do you consider them Christians?"
This depends on the definition of Christian. It also depends on your definition of Mormon. For "Mormon", I will take this word to mean a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), the largest and most missionary-oriented Mormon denomination in the world. If by "Christian" we mean someone who calls them self a Christian, then Mormons are definitely Christians, as they do consider themselves to be.
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"Leonard Woolly (etc) found that the flood was local and hit only 4 major cities. This matches the Quran; only the disbelievers of Noah's time were punished. So yet again archeologically the Bible has been proven false. Are you still a Christian?"
If the Biblical flood actually happened the way it is described in scripture, then in the words of Ken Ham, CEO of Answers in Genesis, we would expect to find "billions of dead things buried in rock laid down by water all over the earth". And, this is exactly what we find. Even Mt. Everest, debatably the tallest mountain in the world, has marine fossils at its peak. Is it possible to explain individual fossils apart from the flood of Noah? Certainly it is.
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"If there is a God, but there is no evidence to be found for his existence except subjective experiences, is it not reasonable to assume that if he does exist, he does not want us to know about it?"
The conclusion does not seem reasonable to me. First, the premise is very unclear, and I will explain what I mean. Second, in the only way I can see that the premise could be considered true, the conclusion does not seem to be reasonably based on it. AN UNCLEAR PREMISE First, the premise seems unclear in that it seems to suggest that evidence is the only way to justifiably be convinced of something. But note that rational thought cannot exist without reason behind it.
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