2014 Archive

December 2014

31: Randal’s New Book on Heaven is Now Out (0)
30: 8. The 59-Second Apologist: Perfect Being Theology (11)
29: Should theistic arguments tell you which God exists? (124)
28: On believing God (or Santa Claus) doesn’t exist (16)
26: The Surprise of Judgment? A Review of The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Part 2) (14)
24: Christmas Greetings from RandalRauser.com (11)
21: The Mercy of Hell? A Review of The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Part 1) (51)
19: I don’t want your money. I just want you to save the world. (10)
18: 56. Deborah Haarsma on BioLogos, God, and Evolution (66)
17: My heaven interview with a Bold Cup of Coffee (27)
15: Then We Shall See Face to Face: Some reasons for divine hiddenness (158)
14: Is Citigroup the Anti-Christ? You might be forgiven for thinking so. (82)
12: Why the Friendly Atheist is Wrong. Or, for goodness sake, just thank goodness (15)
11: Overly Uptight Atheist Activists? (42)
10: What happens after we die? (21)
08: 7. The 59-Second Apologist: The Argument from Divine Hiddenness (35)
06: Is God like Buckley’s cough syrup? (13)
04: 55. Does the Trinity make sense? A conversation with Michael Rea (139)
02: Fundamentalists aren’t losing the battle. They’re merely changing sides. (39)

November 2014

October 2014

31: The Assertive Agnostic. The Dogmatic Doubter. The Sure Skeptic. (41)
30: When did everything become sexy? (7)
28: 53. Peter Enns Tells Me So: The Interview (10)
26: Can evangelicals support active euthanasia? (21)
22: Changing Christian attitudes about atheism (105)
21: 52. Women in Ministry (9)
20: Is there still a place to tremble before God? (24)
16: Do spirits have a ghost of a chance to persuade a skeptic? (73)
14: The Atheist as Neighbor (38)
11: The Aesthetics of Design, Automotive and Religious (23)
08: 5. The 59-Second Apologist: God, Santa Claus and Absurdity (38)
07: Peter Enns is coming to Edmonton. Or should I say Ennsmonton? (3)
04: Why debates on the existence of God tend to do more harm than good (34)
01: 51. On God and Comedy: Trading jokes with comedian and pastor Dan Taylor (16)

September 2014

29: The Evidential Problem of Evil (Part 2) (478)
27: On the Future of the Tentative (and 59 Second) Apologist (16)
24: The Bible Tells Me So: A Review (40)
11: The Tentative Apologist Goes on Hiatus (17)
10: Mother Teresa said we find Jesus in the poor. Was she right? (21)
08: The delusion of the non-creedal atheist (106)
07: Does religion make conflict worse? (138)
06: If we all reasoned like the atheistic ideologue (99)
06: Could it ever be right to deny Christ? (15)
04: Religion provides the motivation to destroy the world. So let’s get rid of religion! (84)
02: Victor Stenger, religion and violence (168)
02: Why does God always seem to call the best pastors to the best churches? (7)

August 2014

30: What are we made of? Star dust or stellar nuclear waste? (37)
29: On calling God a murderer (Part 2) (59)
28: An atheist about one less god than you (18)
27: On calling God a murderer (Part 1) (92)
26: On seeking some Oprah inspiration (4)
25: At the risk of beating a dead horse…a look at the “most helpful” review of “God’s not Dead” (42)
24: Defending the sharper edge: A modest defense of my “God’s not Dead” review (13)
22: If Richard Dawkins were king (93)
21: Yo! He is Yahweh (27)
20: David as Goliath and Goliath as David (6)
19: The beheading of Goliath and the beheading of Syrian soldiers (30)
18: Beyond the Red-Letter Bible (47)
16: The Atheist Bogeyman? Critiquing Christian paranoia about the secular conspriacy (16)
15: “God’s not Dead”: The Review (39)
15: A simple explanation for how atheists can hate God (93)
14: “50 Great Myths About Atheism”: A Review (10)
13: From weak scientism to atheism? “WIBA”: A Review (Part 15) (87)
11: “Deep Church Rising”: A Review (9)
10: God and Morality? “WIBA”: A Review (Part 14) (77)
09: God as an abusive boyfriend? (14)
02: Summer Blogging Break (5)
02: The Loftus Apologists (53)
01: Philosopher’s God? “WIBA”: A Review (Part 13) (64)

July 2014

31: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 12) (42)
31: The beauty of laughter (7)
30: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 11) (43)
29: 4. The 59-Second Apologist: What are Calvinism and Arminianism? (17)
28: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 10) (87)
27: “Why I Became an Atheist”: Debriefing Parts 1-9 (34)
26: “Heaven is for Real” A Review (23)
26: Podcasting: why the interlude? (For anyone who cares) (5)
26: Should you consider Christianity first? (10)
24: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 9) (166)
24: My interview on heaven at Theologues (33)
23: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 8) (16)
22: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 7) (174)
22: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 6) (36)
21: Hi. You’re awesome. (15)
20: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 5) (36)
20: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 4) (53)
18: The Atonement in Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” (64)
17: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 3) (210)
16: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 2) (134)
15: “Why I Became an Atheist”: A Review (Part 1) (139)
14: Can animals sin? (94)
13: We’re probably not friends … but don’t take it personally (14)
12: Homosexuality and Christianity: A Review of the Brown-Vines Debate (Part 4) (16)
10: Divine action, answered prayer, and a zero/sum game (63)
10: My psychic powers can turn street lamps off. Seriously. (Or not) (14)
09: Homosexuality and Christianity: A Review of the Brown-Vines Debate (Part 3) (25)
08: Damning the disordered? An argument against eternal conscious torment (40)
07: Homosexuality and Christianity: A Review of the Brown-Vines Debate (Part 2) (27)
06: The tale of the man who wiped his bum with silk napkins (and how it damns us all) (36)
06: Bestiality, Pederasty, Incest … and Homosexuality: The “Big Four”? (5)
05: Apologist Michael Brown responds to Part 1 of my review of the Brown-Vines Debate (49)
04: Homosexuality and Christianity: A Review of the Brown-Vines Debate (Part 1) (22)
03: Evolution plus Secular Dogma? A Response to Victor Stenger (145)
03: Why John W. Loftus Became an Atheist: A Prolegomenon to the Review (157)
01: Crap to Tap? On the idea of recycling water (19)

June 2014

30: 3. The 59-Second Apologist: What is the best argument for God’s existence? (84)
30: Cosmos meets Logos: If Carl Sagan had been a conservative Christian (18)
29: Would you rather be a great artist or a commercially successful one? (19)
28: Is it time to teach the controversy? (36)
27: Snakes and Christians: When atheist rhetoric runs amok (57)
26: 2. The 59-Second Apologist: Are atheists all fools? (114)
26: Three wheel Christianity (99)
24: “Christianity on Trial”: A Review (25)
23: 1. The 59-Second Apologist: What is truth? (33)
22: “Faith is Like Skydiving”: A review (41)
21: Open a window: Fundamentalism and the thoughtful heretic (7)
20: Two new books for review … and one of them is Loftus, “Why I Became an Atheist” (30)
20: 0. Randal launches The 59-Second Apologist (6)
18: 50. The Evidential Problem of Evil (Part 1) (89)
17: In fact, you don’t know everything: A lesson from John Loftus (159)
17: The Philosophy Fashionistas, or Sitting at the Adult Table (30)
16: Environmentalist hubris? (Do we really hold the fate of the world in our hands?) (21)
15: Reflections on the Gnu Bible (45)
14: Did God really harden Pharaoh’s heart? (47)
12: Atheists aren’t looking for converts … said The Atheist Missionary (194)
12: A faith once lost is hard to find again (111)
11: Why a perfect God might have hardened Pharaoh’s heart (82)
10: Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? On the failure of a popular apologetic response (35)
09: Why it is good to love material things (74)
08: When is a fundamentalist a fundamentalist? (32)
07: Apologetics and the Crisis Apparition (46)
06: 49. David Goa on Christianity and the Religions (5)
06: “Unbelievable? The Conference 2014”: For unbelievable people (in a good way) (3)
05: J.B. Phillips and the Ghost of C.S. Lewis (8)
05: My Book “What on Earth Do we Know About Heaven?” is FREE June 5 (eBook only) (20)
04: A call for the abolition of tipping (17)
03: Has Boghossian’s bulldog been neutered? (38)
02: Intersexuality: the pastor’s dilemma (16)
01: “I just have faith?” How atheists go wrong in understanding the concept of faith (101)

May 2014

31: Male and female he created them, but not always? Christianity and intersexuality (20)
30: Boghossian’s bulldog … or his lapdog? (178)
29: Check out the new edition of The Journal of Analytic Theology (43)
28: Ronald E. Osborn against the idea of a global flood (12)
27: 48. God is not a white man: Terry LeBlanc on Indigenous Theology (6)
26: Take a short survey on faith (from Tom Gilson) (169)
26: Peter Boghossian is a bigot. But is Tim McGrew brain-damaged? (138)
25: Tim McGrew gives Peter Boghossian an unbelievable public drubbing (158)
24: When you play RPGs, is the devil playin’ you? (22)
23: Do you dare place God on trial? (105)
22: Is Owen Strachan guilty of theological malpractice? (18)
22: Hunting heretics ’cause you’ve nothing better to do (14)
21: You can’t judge a book by its cover: A Review of “Death Before the Fall” (9)
20: Maternal God, Godly Mothers (20)
19: Scientism and Metaphysics-of-the-Gaps (89)
17: What are the chances? (108)
16: Is evolution the easiest theory to disprove? A Response to Denis Lamoureux (241)
15: An Evolving Evangelical Debate: A review of “Four Views on The Historical Adam” (115)
14: Worship. It’s a feeling, right? (25)
13: 47. The Devil’s in the Music: On growing up evangelical in the 80s (14)
11: Does religion cause more conflict than politics or sports? (26)
10: Here comes the Sensus Divinitatis again! (10)
09: God and the Burden of Proof (40)
07: 46. Kelly Kapic on A Little Book for New Theologians (5)
07: A Look at Fraternite’s Thesis (48)
06: Is “God’s not Dead” a modern classic? (34)
05: Is it elitist to lament the popularity of superhero movies? (84)
04: Who can save the box office from superhero movies? (28)
03: Comb-overs, rationality, and eternal decisions (46)
03: 45. Randal on Divine Violence in the Bible (44)
01: Chicken soup for the motorcycling soul (8)

April 2014

30: How do you preach killing babies? A sermon on the Imprecatory Psalms (12)
29: Has morality been hijacked by religion? (144)
29: Canadian war criminals? (21)
28: To bomb or not to bomb. Is this really a question? (161)
26: Does God’s perfection undermine petitionary prayer? (107)
25: 44. Travis Dumsday on the atheist’s duty to pray (59)
25: How to destroy your enemies: An excerpt from “You’re not as Crazy as I Think” (66)
23: Solitary Nation: A foretaste of hell? (15)
23: Joshua 6 in Zondervan’s True Images Bible (19)
22: Hell and the so-called liberal mind (18)
20: Was Dennis Jernigan miraculously delivered from homosexuality? (79)
20: He is risen, isn’t he? (151)
19: One person’s wrestling with tales of mass murder is another person’s belly laugh (68)
18: 43. Can pedophiles be saved? A conversation with Scott Drennan (20)
17: Must you set aside your beliefs when addressing problems with them? (187)
16: Let’s talk about violence: Discussions on the Bible (70)
15: The Bible and Violence: A Bibliography (46)
14: Gays don’t become straight. So what now? (123)
13: Reciprocal Altruism: an adequate basis for moral action? (123)
12: “We do not know what a Jew is. We know only men.” Hospitality by example (1)
11: For Jesus and Angels? The off-putting side of Christian hospitality (37)
10: Should Christians keep speaking of paradise lost? (64)
09: 42. Peter Enns on Inerrancy and the Bible (61)
08: God? Science? Evolution? Historical Adam? Explore the issues with Denis Lamoureux (59)
07: Why more atheists need to speak out against village atheism (166)
05: Does the Copernican Principle favor atheism? (75)
04: The Mystery of the Dreaming Mind (4)
04: Are we horrified by hell because we aren’t holy enough? (62)
03: How we try to avoid coming to terms with hell (Part 1): Make it small (27)
02: Hell, right doctrine, and right character (85)
01: Two visions of the Good: Cadillac vs. Ford (1)
01: Heaven, hope, and my dad’s eightieth birthday

March 2014

31: 41. Robin Parry on Universal Salvation (227)
29: Finding Jesus at the movies, but not in the Jesus movies (9)
28: Fundraising and the ethics of child evangelism (5)
27: Outraged at homosexuality, but unaware of genocide, and not angered by poverty? (30)
26: Stop supporting World Vision? On the ethical vision of some conservative evangelicals (142)
25: God, the Bible, and the Skeptics: A Wrap Up and Debrief (55)
24: Attacking the Bible by endorsing the absurd? (68)
23: The Bible and the Moral Artist Principle: A response to Jason Thibodeau (82)
22: God and Gus Van Sant: Two morally irresponsible artists? (38)
21: The Bible, the Americana Omnibus, and the brilliantly subtle classic (214)
20: 40. Oliver Crisp on the God of the Philosophers and the God of the Bible (7)
19: Trash the text? The Bible and its critics (166)
18: Existential musings on Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 (10)
17: Thoughts on universalism and hope (a response to Nate) (80)
15: Heaven and the occasional evidentialist (36)
14: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 9): Don’t be a jerk (94)
13: Atheism, free thought, and Bible burning (195)
12: Change the world, one loan at a time (24)
12: The stellar new “Cosmos”: A Review (49)
11: 39. Matthew Flannagan on God, ethics, and divine commands (32)
10: Books on heaven and evidence for heaven (12)
09: How rational is atheist disbelief? (44)
08: The problem of suffering and the Napkin Note Dad (61)
07: Randal talks heaven on CHRI 99.1 FM (8)
07: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 8): Anti-religious indoctrination (72)
06: Why Ken’s Ark really is a bad idea (8)
05: Limiting technological interruption as Lenten Observance (26)
05: When God goes to church does he wear a suit and tie? (18)
03: 38. Justin Schieber on atheism and theism (220)
02: Celebrating the publication of my 1500th article with a look back… (4)
01: A defense of Ken Ham’s fake Noah’s Ark (26)
01: All is Lost: A Review (1)
01: God, Christianity, and the Bad Hyundai Objection (18)

February 2014

28: Christians hate homosexuals because they haven’t narrated their lives (47)
28: Can the saved lose their salvation? (17)
27: Former Christian heavy metal singer Tim Lambesis convicted of conspiracy to commit murder (75)
26: Should conservative Christians care about the persecution of Uganda’s homosexuals? (131)
25: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 7): Doxastic Closure (39)
24: Atheists have lots of religious beliefs, and why it matters (95)
24: Randal talks heaven on Faith Radio Mornings (4)
24: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 6): Defining Agnosticism (26)
22: Boghossian’s book helps explain John Loftus’ recent meltdown (138)
22: The Problem of Testimonial Underdetermination (24)
21: Loftus admits Boghossian doesn’t care about truth. I call that bogusian! (52)
21: 37. Mark Roncace on Raw Revelation (9)
20: John Loftus wants me to exercise the principle of charity … and Pig Pen wants Charlie Brown to take a bath (17)
20: John Loftus defends Boghossian’s “rhetoric” because the man has found “the truth” (24)
20: John W. Loftus defends Peter Boghossian (49)
18: Testimony, God, and, er, a glass of milk (101)
17: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 5): Defining Atheism (72)
16: Is atheism a default position? (130)
14: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 4): Faith (37)
14: Bore-hole samples and bad methods (21)
14: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 3): Deepities (48)
12: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 2) (132)
12: Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 1) (165)
11: 36. David Goa on Religion in the Public Square (6)
10: The Quest for the Trinity: A Review (10)
09: What I’ve learned from the scary balloon (8)
09: God knows when you tip (and other benefits of providence) (69)
08: Farewell Jay Leno (3)
07: Do human beings have spectral bodies? (27)
06: Keeping an open mind about aliens (71)
05: 35. Kevin Miller on The Chicken Manure Incident (42)
04: NDEs and those determined not to believe in them (68)
04: Sprites and near death experiences (29)
03: If Woody Allen is a pedophile, should we boycott his movies? (55)
01: An Unbelievable debate on heaven with the Friendly Atheist (52)
01: Is God a user? A response to Nate’s Principle (60)

January 2014

31: I was creeped out by a happy face balloon (6)
31: Will cowards inherit the kingdom of God? (13)
30: Evil and Nate’s Principle (14)
30: A Martian’s perspective on the problem of evil (92)
29: 34. Wes Olmstead on the Sermon on the Mount (4)
28: Are all atheists irrational? (183)
28: Wandering in Darkness: A Review (23)
26: “That says it all for me!” Free thinkers who are the enemies of free thought (97)
25: Will Bibleman defeat Boghossian’s Epistemic Knight? (30)
24: Does Greater Goods theodicy undermine moral action? (81)
24: 33. Paul Copan on Apologetics (23)
22: Is Peter Boghossian guilty of hate speech? (225)
22: 40,000 comments … and counting (9)
21: The rationality of theism and the problem of evil (135)
21: Peter Boghossian on his opponents (109)
20: What does it mean to be an atheist today? (Part 2) (38)
19: Is belief in God rational? My Reasonable Doubts debate with Chris Hallquist (12)
19: What does it mean to be an atheist today? (Part 1) (104)
16: One man’s theist is another man’s atheist (14)
16: Thomas Nagel vs. the Atheistic Fundamentalists (92)
14: Can you be indoctrinated into atheism? (153)
14: 32. Fred Sanders on the Trinity (15)
12: Christians reason from Christian assumptions! Who woulda thunk it? (135)
12: The scandalous ‘Sound of Music’ and other favorite examples of Christian legalism (10)
10: Why Jesus almost certainly had some errant theological beliefs (118)
10: Will there be deafness in heaven? What about cancer? (36)
08: 31. Eric Seibert on biblical violence and the Canaanites (59)
08: Atheism, apologetics, and the revealing off-hand comment (100)
05: Russell Blackford, the Vacuous Atheist Critic (191)
04: John Hagee needs help insulting atheists (6)
03: Is it wrong to shape Christian doctrine by human experience? (8)
01: 30. Roger Olson on Calvinism and Arminianism (38)