In the discussion following my critique of William Dembski’s theodicy Dima asked about Greg Boyd’s thesis that natural evil can be attributed to demonic agency. The relationship between natural evil and demonic agency was memorably proposed by Alvin Plantinga in God, Freedom, and Evil when he noted that Augustine attributed natural evil to demonic agency. Based on […]
Archives for October 2012
William Dembski on Natural Evil
Over the last couple weeks we’ve been wrestling with aspects of the problem of natural evil. Today we’re going to consider a solution to the problem of natural evil as it relates to animals which is proposed by William Dembski in his book The End of Christianity. We can summarize the problem in two parts: suffering and […]
A well written review of The Swedish Atheist and more prattling from J.P. Holding
Another review of Swedish Atheist was published yesterday, this one by matichuk. It can be read here: http://matichuk.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/beyond-the-battle-another-approach-to-apologetics-a-book-review/ This is a good review in two ways. First off, it’s a review that liked the book (and that counts as pretty good in my book). In particular I’d like to note one point that matichuk makes: […]
A few shades the other side of silly: Jerry Shepherd defends Tim Keller
In “Is the light of the cross brightened by the flickering flames of hell? ” I critiqued a portion of an essay by Tim Keller defending hell as eternal conscious torment which presented the following thesis: “The doctrine of hell is important because it is the only way to know how much he loved us […]
Schadenfreude
When I was eighteen I was driving along one day minding my own business when a cloud burst hit. Within minutes a benign, relatively grey day was transformed into a torrential downpour. I pulled up to a four way stop when, to my right, a Chrysler LeBaron convertible pulled up, the top down. I took […]
J.P. Holding’s review of “The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails”
While I did not have a clear fix on who J.P. Holding was prior to yesterday, I had heard the occasional fleeting reference. So when I discovered that he had just reviewed The Swedish Atheist I read the review with some interest. In his opening he writes that the book is “a study of how emergents/postmoderns “do” […]
The Metamucil Scale
Have you ever read something and thought, irrespective of whether the arguments were any good, “Gee, I wouldn’t want to share an elevator with that person”? You know what I mean? The angry, irascible personality? The control freak who can’t stand other people disagreeing with them? The curmudgeon who seems uptight, judgmental, knotted up, and in […]
Randal Rauser talks apologetics on Bob Dutko
On Friday, October 26 I’ll be interviewed on The Bob Dutko Show, a Detroit based Christian radio program starring … Bob Dutko! I last interviewed with Bob 2 1/2 years ago for my book Finding God in the Shack. It was definitely a lively interview as Bob was no fan of The Shack and let […]
Is the light of the cross brightened by the flickering flames of hell?
A reader sent me the following excerpt from an article by Tim Keller on the doctrine of hell and asked me to comment. (The full article is available here.) So here’s the excerpt with my comments to follow: 4. The doctrine of hell is important because it is the only way to know how much […]
Does natural evil always require sentience?
In an earlier discussion of natural evil I defined the concept as follows: Natural evil refers to any event or state of affairs which (i) directly or indirectly leads to the suffering and/or deprivation of sentient creatures, (ii) is unconnected to the acts of commission or ommission of any finite creature (iii) but which is […]
What is it like to be a bat bug? Two errors of anthropopathism
This article takes up the discussion of natural evil from “Bat Bugs? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” In 1974 philosopher Thomas Nagel published a paper in Philosophical Review titled “What is it like to be a bat?” which became a classic of modern philosophy of mind. In the paper Nagel argues that […]
Why John Piper shouldn’t work at a battered women’s shelter
“What should a wife’s submission to her husband look like if he’s an abuser?” This question opens a three minute commentary from John Piper. Let’s consider his answer: Okay, now it’s time for a debrief. Piper starts out with an obvious point. What kind of abuse are we talking about? As he says: “Is […]
To Hellbound and back: A Review
Last night I was delighted to have dinner with director Kevin Miller and introduce him for the Q&A of his film “Hellbound?” at the Cineplex in Edmonton. I’ve included my review of the film below. “Hellbound?” opens up in New York on the anniversary of 9/11. I must admit my first impression was mixed given […]
Hopeful universalism and the love of neighbor
I have defended hopeful universalism often in the past where hopeful universalism is defined (not surprisingly) as the hope that all people may one day be saved. Needless to say, this is very different from the belief that all people will be saved. One can believe an indeterminate number of people will be lost. But […]
