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's an easy way to demonstrate that polytheism is false?"
If two equally sovereign creator gods disagree on any point, noncontradiction is no longer a valid test of truth. Without noncontradiction, there can be no test of truth at all, and rational thought goes out the window. But the problem is worse than that. Since the gods are equally sovereign, neither is in control of the other one. This means that neither one can guarantee the behavior of the other one.
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"What unique evidence is there for your religion or worldview? Can you prove that what you say is true?"
In the words of the late Greg Bahnsen, the most basic proof of Christianity is that if it were not true, it would be impossible to prove anything at all. If the non-Christian worldview is true, the laws of logic are not valid. Therefore, even though non-Christians use logic to interpret evidence, they have no real justification for doing so. In the non-Christian worldview, logic is not something that can be trusted.
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"Your god, in his own holy book, admits to having created evil (Isaiah 45:7). Why then should I worship him?"
In Isaiah 45:7, the KJV translates the Hebrew word "rah" as "evil". More modern English translations often opt for the word "calamity" instead. Either one of these translations is viable and could be the intended meaning of the passage. However, that God is ultimately the Uncaused First Cause of all sinful actions is clear from both scripture and reason, so even if the verse cited does not make the point, the general concept behind the question remains.
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