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
"What does 'moral' mean? Why be moral?"
Dictionary.com defines "moral" as "of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong". Whenever we look at morality in a forum such as this, it is always helpful to present what is generally known as the "Moral Argument for the Existence of God". Briefly put, if an absolute and moral God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist.
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"If God has a "divine plan" for everyone, then does that mean he controls humans and animals to meet his plan?"
Definitely. The Biblical God is in complete control of everything. In the book of Ephesians, we see that God "works all things after the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 12:6; Psalm 135:6).
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"What's the most attractive thing about your worldview? What sets it apart from the others?"
Only Christianity can provide a solution to the problem of sin. We know that we aren't perfect. We know that we should do better. We know that there is a perfect moral law that governs us, and we don't live up to it (Romans 3:23). Atheism denies all of these obvious facts. Other worldviews recognize them, but tell us that we must do better -- that we must be perfect -- that we must fix the problem of sin. Christianity alone tells us the obvious truth -- that we can't be perfect.
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