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
"Apologeticspress.org and CARM.org disagree on whether baptism is needed for salvation. Both are Christian and both quote the Bible in support. Who is right and why?"
Water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation. The apostle Paul, writing in the Book of Romans, chapter 4, focusing in on verses 9-10, provides an argument that the process of physical circumcision, the cutting off of the male foreskin, a practice commanded under the law of Moses, is not necessary to be made acceptable to God. While circumcision and baptism are not to be equated, the argument Paul makes is applicable to both. His argument can be presented as follows: P1.
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"Is what is morally good commanded by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?"
This question has been around at least since Plato, and is known by the name of the "Euthyphro Dilemma". It's really nothing more than a silly trick question wearing a "deep" philosophical mask. If one were to go with the first option provided, it leads to the conclusion that God is subject to the authority of Objective Morality and is not actually able to do whatever He wants, making Him not really God.
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"You say god cannot lie? He said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate from the 'Tree'.. yet they did not die. He said nothing about sin, he said that they would die."
Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB) The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." At first glance, it is difficult to see how this was true, according to the Genesis narrative. After all, the day that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, they didn't fall down dead.
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