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
"If God really did create everything, how would anyone know?"
From a Christian perspective, we recognize that God created everything because He has told us that He did (Romans 1:19; Genesis 1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16); indeed, apart from divine revelation, it is impossible to know anything at all. After all, since God created everything, and "everything" includes knowledge, our knowledge is ultimately created by God, and God's provision of knowledge to us is the very definition of divine revelation.
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"Does Michael Martin's "Atheist's Wager" really show that leading a good life is more important than belief in God?"
No, it doesn't. I'll explain. According to Wikipedia (at the time of this writing), the Atheist's Wager states that if one were to analyze their options in regard to how to live their life, they would arrive at the following possibilities: (A) You may live a good life and believe in a god, and a benevolent god exists, in which case you go to heaven: your gain is infinite.
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"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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