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 Pray? If it changes God's mind then he is not sovereign. If it does not change God's mind then it is pointless."
First of all, prayer is much more than just petitioning God or asking Him to do things. Instead, it is both an opportunity to build a relationship with the God of creation, and also an outpouring of that relationship. In Jesus's model prayer, known as the Lord's prayer, found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, Jesus both begins and ends by praising the Father. He states His complete commitment to Him and dependence upon Him.
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"Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?"
No. Allah is a generic Arabic term for an ultimate creator God, and could be applied by Arabic speaking peoples to any ultimate creator God, whether He be the God of the Sikhs, the Muslims, the Christians, or the Jews; while Yahweh is the personal name of the God of Christians or Jews only (roughly translated "THE EXISTING ONE"); and Brahman is the non-personal God specific to Hinduism and related religions.
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"Does Michael Martin's "Atheist's Wager" really show that leading a good life is more important than belief in God?"
No, it doesn't. I'll explain. According to Wikipedia (at the time of this writing), the Atheist's Wager states that if one were to analyze their options in regard to how to live their life, they would arrive at the following possibilities: (A) You may live a good life and believe in a god, and a benevolent god exists, in which case you go to heaven: your gain is infinite.
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