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Randal Rauser

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

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biblical interpretation

The Violent God Debate: An Unbelievable Review

January 22, 2018 by Randal

This week’s episode of Unbelievable features a debate between Paul Copan and Greg Boyd regarding Boyd’s new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God. I will not be rehearsing the various arguments here, so I definitely advise you take the time to listen to this excellent exchange (the first of two rounds). Instead, I will offer […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: biblical interpretation, biblical violence, ethics, Greg Boyd, Justin Brierley, Paul Copan

The Biblical Cosmos: A Review

January 2, 2018 by Randal

Robin Parry. The Biblical Cosmos: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Weird and Wonderful World of the Bible. (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2014.) Like many conservative Christians of my generation, I was raised as a young earth creationist (YEC). We prided ourselves on taking what we believed to be the most faithful and commonsense reading of the Bible. Other Christians bowed to […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: accommodation, biblical interpretation, review, Robin Parry, The Biblical Cosmos, worldview

81. Robin Parry on the Biblical Cosmos

January 7, 2016 by Randal

In 1993 I spent a summer teaching English in Japan. It was an unforgettable and somewhat unsettling litany of new discoveries: they drove on the wrong side of the road; they wore slippers indoors; and at night they slept on the floor on futons. For goodness sake, they even slurped their noodles at the table. […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, biblical cosmology, biblical interpretation, hermeneutics, Robin Parry, worldview

The Mercy of Hell? A Review of The Skeletons in God’s Closet (Part 1)

December 21, 2014 by Randal

Joshua Ryan Butler. The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. Thomas Nelson, 2014. The title was the first thing that drew me to this book. One hears a lot about the skeletons in God’s closet, so a book that takes the topic by the proverbial […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, biblical interpretation, biblical violence, biblical warfare, genocide, hell, Joshua Ryan Butler, The SKeletons in God's Closet

Dancing on the edge of the hermeneutical abyss

April 20, 2013 by Randal

I was once in conversation with a Mormon missionary who claimed he had evidence for the Book of Mormon in the Bible. “Oh really?” I said, barely able to conceal my dripping skepticism. “Can you show me?” He opened up a Bible to Ezekiel 37 and began to read: 15 The word of the Lord came […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, biblical interpretation, Christian, hermeneutics, Mormon, Trinity

As long as you teach the Bible, I have no problem with you.

September 30, 2011 by Randal

An observation from Rob Bell: Somebody recently told me, ‘As long as you teach the Bible, I have no problem with you.’ Think about that for a moment. What that person was really saying is, ‘As long as you teach my version of the Bible, I’ll have no problem with you.‘ (Velvet Elvis, 44). Sigh. […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: biblical interpretation, doctrine, heresy, hermeneutics, heterodoxy, orthodoxy, Rob Bell, theology

Reading biblical horrors post-Enlightenment

July 27, 2011 by Randal

David P writes: My problem is this: a) Prior to the Enlightenment, everyone pretty much read the Abraham/Isaac passage literally (right?). b) After moral reflection on God’s nature and other things, modern thinkers say the passage should be taken metaphorically.  Then they proceed to point out features of the text that support their conclusion. Maybe […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, biblical interpretation, Enlightenment, hermeneutics, human sacrifice, inspiration

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