The first rule of hosting is simple: if you have a sidekick then treat him well because he just wants to make you look good. William Lane Craig flouted that principle on this edition of the Reasonable Faith podcast and poor Kevin Harris suffered as a result. Here’s the backstory. Craig had just made an […]
Archives for May 2013
Heaven and the Value in Achievement Thesis
In answer to the question “Why were we created here and not just directly into heaven?” I argued: “that there is intrinsic value in undergoing the personal history that brings you to a particular place or makes you into a particular kind of person which is simply not retained by creating the end product without […]
Do Christians and atheists really have to be at war?
John Loftus has offered a response of sorts to my series “Why they don’t believe”. He calls it “Randal Rauser Debunks Deconversion Stories.” Debunking? Contrast that word with my own description: “we’ll begin with an introduction to the atheist and/or skeptic. Next, we’ll consider his reasons for his position in his own words. And finally, I’ll offer […]
Heaven and the suffering of infants now
In “Why were we created here and not just directly into heaven?” I explained that there is value in a moral history, and this is one reason why human beings were created as finite, imperfect creatures who can grow into the perfection toward which we’ve been called. Jason Thibodeau responded with, gulp, sarcasm: “Babies who […]
Why were we created here and not just directly into heaven?
This is the question as posed by Counter Apologist. The question is basically this: if we will get to the point where we don’t sin any more as a precondition for entering heaven, then why didn’t God just create us at the point in our history where we would not sin and get heaven started thereby […]
Why they don’t believe: Edward Babinski
This is the third installment in my series in which atheists and/or Christian skeptics who received a golden ticket in their Willy Wonka chocolate bar are invited into my factory to share their reasons for disbelief with my readers. Today we have Edward Babinski. Ed edited the book Leaving the Fold and blogs here. * […]
William Alston on naturalism
In the last few days we’ve been talking a fair bit about naturalism. So I figure this is a good time to point interested readers to a very good essay by Christian philosopher William Alston in which he critiques naturalism by arguing it appears to be more an attitude expressed by those who really like […]
The problem of evil as discussed by three Christian philosophers
This is a thoughtful video well worth your time which is produced by Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion. I know Meghan Sullivan and Trent Dougherty and they (and Sam Newlands) are all outstanding thinkers.
Naturalism, Christianity, and my Reasonable Doubts about Justin Schieber
I’m going to respond here to Justin Schieber’s guest post which I invited him to write in response to comments I made to his statement on why he is not a Christian which I also invited him to write. Got that? Good. Justin begins: “Randal begins his criticism with his signature parable artistry, by telling […]
Justin Schieber responds … and then some!
In light of the handful of criticisms directed at my comments in the post “Why they don’t believe: Justin Schieber“, I invited Justin Schieber to provide a guest-post reply. He has done so in fine fashion. So without further ado, “Justin Schieber responds … and then some!” * * * First, I want to thank Randal […]
Why they don’t believe: Counter Apologist
This is the second installment in the series “Why they don’t believe” in which atheists, agnostics and other assorted skeptics are invited to explain why the reject Christianity and/or theism. Today we have Counter Apologist who blogs at http://counterapologist.blogspot.ca/ * * * I was raised a fundamentalist Christian, went to evangelical private schools, was taught […]
Why they don’t believe: Justin Schieber
Today I’m initiating a new series simply titled “Why they don’t believe.” Each is borne out of an invitation to a well-established internet atheist and/or skeptic to share his reasons for rejecting Christianity (or theism). I invited each to write a paragraph on the topic with my initial intention being to collate them in a […]
Gödel the magic genie?
At the end of “The A-Unicornist Replies. But is scientism still in the picture?” I point out that Mike D’s claim that philosophy is dependent on science stumbles, among other things, on the fact that the nature of scientific enquiry is defined philosophically: Jones says “science is defined as p.” P is a philosophical assertion about […]
The A-Unicornist Replies. But is scientism still in the picture?
Mike D provided a reply to my critique in “A conversation doomed from the start?” The response, which comes in the discussion thread, is rather long, so I thought it best to reply here, not least because it helpfully clarifies and illumines the nature and depth of our disagreement. I took issue with Mike D’s statement that […]
