Randal Rauser

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

C.S. Lewis

Grace is Not Unique to Christianity, Even if a C.S. Lewis Anecdote Claims that It Is.

by

Philip Yancey begins chapter four of his most popular book, What’s So Amazing About Grace? with this famous anecdote about C.S. Lewis: “During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of […]

Depersonalizing the Damned: Hell and the humanity of those who go there

by

Let’s return to a discussion of the doctrine of hell and in particular, the concept of hell as eternal conscious torment. According to this concept, to end up in hell is to end up in a state of eternal alienation from God, one which results in unimaginable physical and spiritual/psychological torment. And that torment never ends. […]

The Problem of Evil and Mindfulness

by

The problem of evil has been stated in many ways but the essence of the objection is that the amount, intensity, and distribution of the evil in the world is inconsistent with the existence of a God that is perfectly good and all-powerful. The standard theistic rejoinder is that God has morally sufficient reasons for allowing […]

J.B. Phillips and the Ghost of C.S. Lewis

by

J..B Phillips was a well known Bible translator of the highly regarded Phillips Translation as well as the author of the popular 1962 book Your God is too Small. In his 1967 book Ring of Truth: A Translator’s Testimony (London: Hodder and Stoughton) Phillips recounts a stunning experience he had with a ghost … and not just any […]

How we try to avoid coming to terms with hell (Part 1): Make it small

by

In my article “Hell, right doctrine, and right character” I proposed my thesis in the form of a rhetorical question: Shouldn’t right doctrine seamlessly interweave with right character formation? In other words, the more that the consistent and clear acceptance of a doctrine frustrates the formation of one’s Christian character the less likely the doctrine is […]

C.S. Lewis’ view of hell and why it doesn’t help (much)

by

George MacDonald, the nineteenth century fantasy writer and universalist, was one of the most important influences on C.S. Lewis. While Lewis never adopted MacDonald’s universalism, his familiarity with MacDonald’s writing undoubtedly contributed to Lewis’ own wrestling with the doctrine of hell as eternal conscious torment, and his search for a less morally disturbing account of […]

Is the church supposed to be “a place for you”?

by

In the late 1970s a young preacher named Rick Warren started going door to door asking people why they didn’t attend church. He then took that data and used it as a basis to start his church. And the rest, as they say, is history. I’m sure you could learn a lot of value from an […]

On the general skepticism about ancient miracle reports

by

Many highly educated ancient historians (by which I mean historians that study ancient history, not historians that are really old) believe that the historical evidence supports the conclusion that Jesus was resurrected. For example, they point to the strong evidence for the empty tomb, post resurrection appearances, and the beliefs of the earliest followers of […]