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
"Why does God allow charlatans to use His name to extract money, sex, attention and even their very lives from devout believers, who truly, honestly believe that they are listening to the word of God?"
There are several assumptions made in this question. The first assumption made, is that God actually does this. I'm not convinced that God does do this, because I'm not convinced that these things happen as described. I haven't seen any evidence for it. Granted, this website does not allow for very lengthy questions that could include evidence, but regardless, my point is that I see absolutely no reason to accept the question as asked.
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"If God created everything and decided how it would be, wouldn't our sins be his fault?"
The word "fault" means a defect or an imperfection. God has no defects or imperfections, and it is nonsensical to suggest that the contrary could be true, for if God had defects or imperfections, they would not be recognized as defects or imperfections by anyone, including Him, and thus to call them defects or imperfections would be utterly meaningless. Further, if God were anything other than perfect-in-every-way, nothing could be trusted at all since He is the source of everything.
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"According to Christianity, do those of Jewish faith go to hell for not accepting that Jesus was the Son of God?"
Yes. Everyone has earned their place in hell, myself included (Romans 3:23, 6:23; Revelation 21:8). The only way that God has provided for us to get out of what we deserve is by trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10; John 6:29). Everyone who denies Jesus their entire life is in turn denied by Jesus before His Father in heaven -- Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, etc (Matthew 10:33).
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