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
"How is God any different than Santa Claus?"
This is sort of an odd question as there are so many very obvious differences. For example, Santa wears a red hat, whereas God doesn't have a physical head to put a hat onto. I don't know of any religion or worldview that claims that God climbs in and out of chimneys, either. There is, in this question, an implicit attack on theism. However, it is quite possibly one of the silliest attacks on theism I have ever encountered, and I encounter it rather frequently.
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"Why can't the universe have come from nothing? Why do you insist there had to be a God?"
Atheism is forced to claim that either (1) time and the universe have been around for an infinite duration, or that (2) they sprang from nothing. Atheism is forced to claim one of these options because the only other option is that something created time and the universe. If atheists believed that, they would no longer be atheists. However, both atheistic contentions are logically impossible.
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"Why do Christians accept the Torah?"
Christians accept the Pentateuch and the rest of the Old Testament because Jesus, who is God in the flesh, accepts and teaches them (Matthew 4:4, 4:7, 4:10, 8:4; Mark 7:10, 10:2-3, 12:26; Luke 16:31, 20:37, 24:27, 24:44; John 1:45, 3:14, 5:45-46, 7:22). Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, a legal descendent of King David of Israel, as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (1 Kings 9:5; Luke 1:32).
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