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 is perfect, how did he manage to create imperfection?"
In answer, I will assume this question is referring essentially to sinful humans and fallen angels (or demons). So, rephrased, what I understand this question to be asking is how a perfect God could have created sinful people. Self-described Christians generally offer, to my knowledge, one of three answers to this. 1.
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"If the book of Genesis is not to be taken literally, why did god send himself in human form to die in order to save us from a symbolic sin committed by metaphorical characters (Adam and Eve) who never existed?"
The Apostle Paul compares Jesus to Adam in the book of Romans, chapter 5, verses 12-21, and in such a fashion that if Adam were not a real man, one would have to conclude that Christ were not either. In Luke 3, the "beloved physician" Luke provides a Genealogy of Jesus including his step-father Joseph, King David, his father Jesse, Boaz (husband of Ruth), Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Shem, Noah, Seth, and (yes) Adam.
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"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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