Unitarianism
Definition
Unitarianism refers to any philosophy which claims that divine sovereignty is not shared in any way.
Keywords: Unitarianism, Philosophy, God, Irrational, False, Contradictory, Reality, Deductive, Universe, Time, Argument From Reason.
Veracity
Unitarian claims are false .
Proof
Simplified
Any worldview that denies an omniscient, sovereign, rational author of time and the universe allows for no possible rational justification for the assumption that reality is non-contradictory.
Premise 1: A rational, sovereign, omniscient author of time and the universe will, of necessity, eternally conceive of himself as his own ultimate reason for everything that occurs. The conception of himself will eternally be the exact representation of himself, sharing divine sovereignty, since this conception is the reason for everything that occurs.
Premise 2: Under unitarianism, divine sovereignty is not shared.
Conclusion: Therefore, under unitarianism, either there is no author of time and the universe; or else the author of time and the universe is not omniscient; or else the author of time and the universe is not sovereign; or else the author of time and the universe is not rational.
Humans assume that reality is non-contradictory. Under unitarianism, there can ultimately be no rational authority behind this assumption, making it an irrational assumption. This makes unitarianism deductively false.
In depth
Any worldview that denies an omniscient, sovereign, rational author of time and the universe allows for no possible rational justification for the assumption that reality is non-contradictory.
A. All things formed must be formed by reasoning causes for our beliefs about them to be rational.
Premise 1: Any belief formed by non-reasoning causes is believed without reason.
Premise 2: A belief about anything is caused in part by the existence of that thing.
Conclusion: Therefore, any belief about anything is believed without reason unless the existence of that thing is not formed by non-reasoning causes.
B. All things formed must ultimately be formed by only one reasoning cause for our beliefs about them to be rational.
Premise 1: In the convergence of multiple causes, the result is at least partly the result of the convergence of causes.
Premise 2: The convergence of multiple causes is not itself reasoning.
Conclusion: Therefore, any belief formed by the convergence of multiple ultimate causes is believed without reason.
C. God conceives of himself as his own reason.
Premise 1: If all things formed are formed by one reasoning cause (from B above), it itself is the only reason for them.
Premise 2: Anything that reasons, and has only one reason, conceives of that reason.
Conclusion: Therefore, if all things formed are formed by one reasoning cause, it conceives of it itself as the reason for them.
D. Divinity is shared in any rational god.
Premise 1: With a rational god, god's reason is god himself.
Premise 2: There is a distinction between the concept and the thing conceived of.
Conclusion: Therefore, with a rational god, divinity is shared between the concept and the thing conceived of.
Humans assume that reality is non-contradictory. Under unitarianism, there can ultimately be no rational authority behind this assumption, making it an irrational assumption.
This Argument from Reason demonstrates that unitarianism is deductively false.
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
"Why am I here? Why do I exist? What is my purpose?"
According to Christ, the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). As our greatest command, it is the thing we most ought to do. We exist to love God. How are we to love God? What exactly does that mean? The apostle John tells us that love for God is to obey Him (1 John 5:3).
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"Would it be immoral NOT to kill a baby if god commanded it?"
Certainly. To anyone who would say otherwise, I would like to ask who exactly do you say defined our moral obligations? Who issued the moral commands that you feel we ought to obey? Did you? Or did someone else? If you did, why would you think they would apply to me? You didn't create me. Why would you think they would apply to all babies? You didn't create all babies either. If someone else did, did this other person create me? Did this other person create babies?
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"A religious friend declined an invitation to a coworker's going away party because he feared there would be drinking there. Does the bible not encourage moderate consumption of wine?"
I'm going to answer with more information than you probably want, in anticipation of possible objections to my answer. When reading the Bible in English, it can often be difficult to discern what the writers were referring to when we see the word "wine". In Hebrew (the Old Testament), there are at least two different words that are both translated "wine" in our modern English versions, and there is a third word we will look at as well.
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