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 do you know your god is good, and is not actually a satan making us think he is good?"
We know this because the contrary is impossible... We know that God necessarily exists because of the impossibility of the contrary. We also know that God is good and that He cannot deny Himself for the same reason. We know that we ought to behave in a certain way, and we know that we became aware of these oughts as a result of God's personal choice. In other words, He informed us of them.
Continue reading...
"Why does God allow charlatans to use His name to extract money, sex, attention and even their very lives from devout believers, who truly, honestly believe that they are listening to the word of God?"
There are several assumptions made in this question. The first assumption made, is that God actually does this. I'm not convinced that God does do this, because I'm not convinced that these things happen as described. I haven't seen any evidence for it. Granted, this website does not allow for very lengthy questions that could include evidence, but regardless, my point is that I see absolutely no reason to accept the question as asked.
Continue reading...
"Is the Bible true?"
Every worldview, when reduced to its most basic fundamentals, requires self-attestation, or, in other words, a "circular argument". Such arguments are necessary for every worldview. For example, a rationalist (someone who accepts reason as the supreme authority) can only attempt to justify his reliance on reason by... using reason. Christianity, likewise, has a supreme authority, and that authority is God. He has given us His Word and told us to use it as our basis for understanding.
Continue reading...