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 did God only send Jesus to Palestine at one particular point in history? If God wants everybody to be saved, wouldn’t the gospel have spread a lot faster if he had sent Jesus to every place on earth in all time periods?"
Are you sure that God wants everyone to be saved? There are many Christian philosophers who do indeed claim that this is the case, but it seems to me that this concept contradicts scripture. John 12:39-40 (re Isaiah 6:8-10) For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.
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"If God is a mysterious unexplainable trinity, then why, when Jesus was posed the question which of the commandments are greatest, did he reply "Hear O Israel The Lord OUR God is ONE?" Note he's not preaching the trinity."
Indeed there are numerous portions of scripture that proudly proclaim that there is only one God. However, remember that this is not in conflict in any way, shape, or form with Trinitarian doctrine, which likewise demands that there is only one God. Trinitarians are monotheists. We believe that there is only one God. Let's go over the three planks of Trinitarianism: 1. There is only one God. 2. This one God is revealed in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 3.
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"A religious friend declined an invitation to a coworker's going away party because he feared there would be drinking there. Does the bible not encourage moderate consumption of wine?"
I'm going to answer with more information than you probably want, in anticipation of possible objections to my answer. When reading the Bible in English, it can often be difficult to discern what the writers were referring to when we see the word "wine". In Hebrew (the Old Testament), there are at least two different words that are both translated "wine" in our modern English versions, and there is a third word we will look at as well.
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