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
"Can you know anything independently of what god has revealed to you?"
The short answer is no. But depending on exactly how the words in the question are defined, that could make a difference in how the question is answered. KNOWLEDGE Knowledge is generally understood to at least require justified, true belief. It may entail more than that, but it at least requires those elements. What this means is that if someone is justified in believing something, but that something is false, then it cannot correctly be said that they "know" it.
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"When did your religion or worldview first begin?"
This question requires a two-pronged answer. When God created man, at the beginning of creation, man recognized God and worshipped Him in the way God ordained. In this sense, the worship of the Christian God and reliance on His grace (which is the essence of Christianity) has been around since the time of the very first man, Adam.
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"Why am I here? Why do I exist? What is my purpose?"
According to Christ, the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). As our greatest command, it is the thing we most ought to do. We exist to love God. How are we to love God? What exactly does that mean? The apostle John tells us that love for God is to obey Him (1 John 5:3).
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