Randal Rauser

Home of progressively evangelical, generously orthodox, rigorously analytic, revolutionary Christian thinking (that's what I'm aiming for anyway)

The new books are on their way (however slowly)

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I just received the proofs for my new apologetics book (The Swedish Atheist) back from copy-editing today. This can sure get to be a tedious process (writing, reading, re-reading, tweaking, correcting and perfecting a 280 page manuscript) but at least the end is in sight and the work will be worth it. (It’s no fun publishing a book and then discovering all the problems from gaps in argument to typos when the reviews start rolling in, so this definitely is time well invested.)

And that reminds me, for a bit of shameless self-promotion, both of my forthcoming books are currently available for pre-order on Amazon. (Unfortunately, the cover images are not uploaded to Amazon yet.)

Here is the link to The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails (available late October). And here’s the blurb to go with the book:

In the real world, we don’t usually sit in lecture halls debating worldview issues in systematic arguments. Chances are that we’re more likely to have haphazard, informal conversations over a latte in a coffee shop. Meet Randal Rauser, a Christian, and Sheridan, an atheist. Over the course of one caffeinated afternoon, they explore a range of honest questions and real objections to Christian faith. Do people hold to a particular religion just because of an accident of geography? Is believing in Jesus as arbitrary as believing in Zeus? Why would God order the slaughter of infants or send people to hell? How do you know you’re really real, and not just a character in someone’s book? Their extended conversation unfolds with all the rabbit trails, personal baggage and distractions that inevitably come in real-world encounters. Rauser provides substantive argument-based apologetics but also highlights the importance of apologetics as a narrative journey. As we get to know Sheridan, we better understand the personal history that drives his atheism and the issues that motivate his skepticism. This imaginative narrative is a model of the rigorous pursuit of truth in conversation. Apologetics is not just about winning arguments; it is a transformative apprenticeship where eternity touches down in everyday life. It’s about the discovery of truth through winding, weaving, honest, aimless, pointless and completely purposeful conversations between people who desperately want to know the way really things are. You, dear Reader, are already in this book. Randal has written you into the story, and you’re sitting with him and Sheridan in the coffee shop, listening in on their dialogue. Discover what they have to say to each other–and to you.
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And here’s the link to God or Godless? with John Loftus. Alas, this one won’t be out until April 2013.
Now you might be thinking: “What if I preorder God or Godless and the Mayan calendar turns out to be right and the world ends in December?Then I’ll never get the book!”
True, but seeing as the world will have ended, it won’t really matter, will it?