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
"Does the biblical god "YHWH" tempt? Because it says in Gen. 22:11 that God tempted Abraham, and in James 1:13 it says "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man? Which should I believe?"
Here are the verses in question from the NASB: Genesis 22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested (KJV - "did tempt") Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
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"Why does the creator of the entire universe get the value of pi wrong (2 Chron 4: 2)?"
God didn't get Pi wrong. Rather, He rounded to the nearest cubit. "Also he made the cast metal sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits and its circumference thirty cubits." -2 Chronicles 4:2 If we were to write down the whole value of Pi, or in this case, Pi times 10, we would never finish writing. Therefore, whenever anyone, Creator of the universe or not, writes down the value of Pi for us to read, it is always rounded.
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"God knowing in advance how I will use my free will means that god knows which events will lead to me being religious, and which to me being atheist. If God does exist, then doesn't his choice to set forth the latter mean he wanted me to be atheist?"
Yes. God has designed each person for His purposes (Romans 9:21). Some people are designed for judgement and others are designed for forgiveness (Romans 9:22-23). All of us are designed to sin (Romans 3:23, 8:28). This magnifies His graciousness; His perfectly just nature; and His eternal Godhood. Whether or not God plans on you remaining an Atheist and ultimately being judged for your willing rejection of obvious and clearly revealed truths, I have no idea (Romans 1:20; Psalm 14:1).
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