Randal Rauser

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

The Tentative Apologist

The Problem with Young Earth Creationism in One AiG Tweet

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There are a lot of problems with young earth creationism. Most people are well versed in the scientific problems. But no less daunting are the hermeneutical problems as helpfully summarized in this AiG tweet: God’s Word makes it clear that he created everything in six literal days (as plainly defined per the Hebrew word for […]

My Statement on Bruxy Cavey’s Sexual Abuse of a Congregant

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The results of the investigation into Canadian celebrity pastor Bruxy Cavey are out. According to Bruxy’s statement on his blog, he had an “extramarital affair.” His statement is titled “My Confession” and is ostensibly presented as a raw and honest admission of this “adulterous relationship” which is his “darkest sin” and “greatest failure”. Importantly, he […]

What Happened When Christians Stopped Allegorizing Canaan?

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During the Reformation, Protestants widely rejected the allegorized interpretations of the Canaanite genocide that had become de rigueur since Origen. With that safeguard gone, it was not long before they were appealing to Joshua to justify their own genocides. To illustrate, here is a passage from Philip Jenkins, Laying Down the Sword: And don’t think […]

Why God Did Not Command the Slaughter of the Canaanites, Briefly Explained

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This article provides a brief synopsis of a case explaining why God did not command the slaughter of the Canaanites. It is based on a debate opening statement that I gave last year. And it provides an introduction to some of the arguments I develop at length in Jesus Loves Canaanites. “Slaughter” is defined as the […]

Hugs and Statistics: A Review of Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion and the LGBT Community

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Andrew Marin. Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion and the LGBT Community. NavPress, 2016. 213 pp. Andrew Marin begins Us Versus Us by introducing us to a photograph of Marin himself and his wife hugging a gay man at the 2010 Chicago Gay Pride Parade (see below). They didn’t know the man but he was prompted […]

Another Gospel? The Irony of Alisa Childers

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Alisa Childers has become very popular in the last few years promoting some scary thing she calls “progressive Christianity”. Sadly, Cameron of Capturing Christianity continues to boost Childers. If you want a capsule summary of how offensive Childers is, take a look at this Frank Turek tweet in which he promotes Childers’ “course” that explains […]

The Limits of Defending Biblical Violence By Appealing to a Big, Wild, and Dangerous God

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Over the years, I have seen many Christians attempt to address problems of divinely sanctioned biblical violence by reframing them as virtues: in short, the bug is a feature. How so? On this re-narration, the problem of biblical violence should remind us that God is big and wild and dangerous. This offers an essential chastening […]

Explaining the Concept of Atheistic Fundamentalism

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In my recent interview on Canadian Catholic, I explain how atheist apologist John Loftus is a fundamentalist atheist. I’ve been discussing the phenomenon of fundamentalist atheism for years now. But I often get the reply that fundamentalism cannot apply to atheism because fundamentalism is essentially a religious phenomenon. That, of course, assumes that atheism cannot be […]