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
"Could Christ have prevented his alleged crucifixion? If he could have but didn't, wasn't that suicide?"
"Could Christ have prevented his alleged crucifixion?" Generally, this type of question, "could someone have done other than what they did?" ultimately means, "was there a point at which the singular cause of the event was the will of the person involved?" If I have correctly understood the intent of the questioner, the answer is absolutely (John 10:18). "If he could have but didn't, wasn't that suicide?
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"If god cannot lie, how is he omnipotent?"
God's omnipotence, as I understand it, entails that everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen, is caused by Him. This necessitates that it is impossible for anything to occur, past, present, or future, that was not ultimately caused by Him.
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"Given that some parts of the Bible are literally true and others are metaphors or parables, how do you decide which is which?"
It would be impossible to speak comprehensively to this, but there are certain factors that are fairly common that can be pointed to in answer to this question. First, it's important to note that this question not only applies to the Bible, but to absolutely any work of literature.
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