|
|
|
Studies
Subjects
|
Rationalism Cannot Account for
knowledge
“Thought is thought of thinking. Only that can be known for
certain. Once some more specific content is specified, certainty
disappears.
Thus, the consistent rationalist will deny that there is anything,
ultimately, except ‘pure thought,’ ‘pure being,’ etc. Everything
else is
illusion (but how is that illusion explained?). But, what is ‘pure
thought’ that is not a thought of something? Does that idea have any
meaning at all? It is a pure blank. The knowledge of which
rationalism boasts turns out to be a knowledge of... nothing!”
Many others declare that they cannot believe anything unless it
is based on reason. They try to make the world intelligible through
rationalism. Everything must bow down to human reason. There are
many problems to this. The first one is the question: Why? And the
second problem comes to light if they assert that one should base
his life on rationalism. This forces him to jump over into ethics
which
pure rationalism is silent. There are other philosophical problems
and I suggest you read Dr. Greg Bahnsen’s apologetic books or Gordon
Clark’s works on the history of philosophy if you desire a more
in-depth study. Another problem with rationalism is the mind is
just as
untrustworthy as our empirical senses. Rationalism as a worldview
discovers the truth about nothing. Our rational capabilities must
be built
on the foundation of scripture and the person of God.
Another interesting truth is that the mind can conceive and
mathematically prove that perfection exists. Mathematically, one
can propose
a perfect circle, a perfect line, and a perfect square. Yet,
no-where in our entire physical universe can you find a perfect
line, circle, or
square. Thus, the physical universe could not have produced the
notion of perfection. Perfect is based on God’s perfect nature.
Thus in mathematics and geometry, when one studies or discusses
perfection, one presupposes God. The perfect God is the precondition
for perfection. Without God, one cannot account for perfection. How
can one fully trust the mind if it can assert perfection, yet no
one can
find perfection in the physical universe?
Our minds cannot always be trusted. They are not perfectly
dependable and we cannot make sense out of the world using reason
alone.
We must rely on God who alone is the precondition to make sense out
of our world. He alone is perfect and infallible. The world is
real, and
our real human mind can know its real nature because God has given
us our mind, and He has revealed to man that the world can be
known. Our minds are not infallible and that is one of the major
problems with rationalism. Hence, there is no reason to trust
autonomous
reason.
NOTES
1. Julian Huxley, Religion without Revelation (NY, NY: Mentor Books, 1957), p. 45.
2. John Gerstner, Theology in Dialogue (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1996), p. 42.
3. John M. Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1994), p. 40-50.
4. John Muether, So Great a Salvation (Phil., PA: Modern Reformation, Vol. 10,
Nu. 3. May/June 2001), p. 8.
5. Francis Schaeffer, Trilogy: He is There And He Is Not Silent (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1990), p. 288-289.
|
|
$17.25 plus 3.50 shipping
ISBN 1-4208-2762-6
|
|
|
|
