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 doesn't prayer work, when the bible promises that it will (John 14:14, for example)?"
In John 14:14, Jesus says "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." In modern western "Christian" culture, the idea of praying in Jesus' name is often understood to mean appending "...in Jesus' name" to the end of our prayers.
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"Is the Bible true?"
Every worldview, when reduced to its most basic fundamentals, requires self-attestation, or, in other words, a "circular argument". Such arguments are necessary for every worldview. For example, a rationalist (someone who accepts reason as the supreme authority) can only attempt to justify his reliance on reason by... using reason. Christianity, likewise, has a supreme authority, and that authority is God. He has given us His Word and told us to use it as our basis for understanding.
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"Mr. McCabe, you obviously don't read your own Bible. On the first page alone (Genesis) in the Arabic Bibles around the world the word Allah is there 17 times. YHWH was only given in Exodus, there aren't any vowels, so why did you say Yahweh?"
This question appears to be in response to my answer to the question "Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?". Thanks for your comments. When I read the question "Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?", my understanding was that the questioner was suggesting that it was possible that we all worship the same God, just by different names. The thrust of my argument was that we worship different Gods.
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