• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Randal Rauser

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

  • About Randal
  • Books
  • Articles
    • Articles (single)
    • Articles (in series)
  • Audio/Video
    • Audio Interviews, Lectures, and Debates
    • Video Interviews and Lectures
    • Powerpoint Slides
  • Blog
    • Current Posts
    • Blog Archives
  • Podcasts
    • The Tentative Apologist
    • 59 Second Apologist
  • Reviews

christology

Is Jesus Human and Not Divine? A Review

July 8, 2020 by Randal

Dale Tuggy and Christopher M. Date, Is Jesus Human and Not Divine? A Debate. Essential Christian Debates. Apollo, PA: Areopagus, 2020. As the old joke goes, after the Sunday school teacher asks, “Okay children, who left the cap off the glue?” the answer comes back in unison: “Jesus!” You get it, right? Jesus is always the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Chris Date, christology, Dale Tuggy, debate, incarnation, review, theology

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord. Or Legend, or …

February 16, 2020 by Randal

This morning, my pastor mentioned C.S. Lewis’ famous “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” trilemma. (He also briefly traced it back to the sixteenth century: there truly is nothing new under the sun.) Next, he briefly noted that there is a fourth possibility — “Legend” — though he also noted that there is ample evidence to rebut […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, christology, Jesus, trilemma

God Became Meat: A Devotional Reflection

March 4, 2018 by Randal Rauser

I recently wrote a few devotionals for a forthcoming publication and I thought I would publish them at my blog as well. Here is the first. John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Every December, Christians around the world gather to watch the annual Christmas pageant. But for many of us, […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: christology, devotional, incarnation, reflection

Is the virgin birth an essential doctrine?

December 18, 2017 by Randal

Since we’re in the midst of Advent, it would seem to be a good time to pose a question about the relative importance of the doctrine of the virgin birth. (By the way, the term is infelicitous since the doctrine in question is really about whether Jesus was virginally conceived. Be that as it may, the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: christology, dogma, theology, virgin birth

Jesus vs. the Volcano: How Christians disagree on atonement and why it matters

October 20, 2016 by Randal

In “The depth of current atonement debates in a tweet” I noted one of the deepest divisions in current Christian debates on the atonement. Some Christians (advocates of penal substitution) believe that Jesus’ atoning death satisfies the wrath of the Father against sin, and thus that Jesus’ death provides the culmination and completion of the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atonement, christology, penal substitution, soteriology

The depth of current atonement debates in a tweet

October 18, 2016 by Randal

Jesus died for our sins. On that much Christians agree. But ask what it means to say he died for our sins, and deep fissures of disagreement quickly emerge. If you ever want a capsule summary of how deeply entrenched the current debate is, you need look no further than this tweet from Brian Zahnd: According to Zahnd, the temple sacrificial system was […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atonement, Brian Zahnd, christology, Jesus Christ, soteriology

86. Making Sense of the Incarnation: A Conversation with Timothy Pawl

February 25, 2016 by Randal

In 1977 John Hick published The Myth of God Incarnate, an edited collection of essays by leading scholars which fell like a bomb on the playground of British theology. The objections to the incarnation presented by the contributors to that book were many, but perhaps the most incisive was presented by Hick himself as he railed […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Analytic theology, christology, interview, Jesus Christ, philosophical theology, systematic theology, Tim Pawl

Did Jesus know absolutely everything?

November 3, 2015 by Randal

Don’t ever say I shy away from the hard questions. Here’s a slide from my upcoming lecture on fifth century Christology:

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: christology, incarnation, Jesus Christ, omniscience

Christology, Anthropology, Theodicy. Inconsistency?

August 7, 2015 by Randal

1 Corinthians 15:45: “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.’” The underlying premise of any self-respecting Christian anthropology is found in this maxim: Christology is anthropology. That is, if you want to understand the essence of humanity you should not look back to the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: anthropology, christology, problem of evil, theodicy

11. The 59-Second Apologist: Is the incarnation a contradiction?

June 23, 2015 by Randal

John 1:14 declares that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” But how can it be that the eternal, infinite divine Word became a temporal, finite human being?  In this episode of the 59-Second Apologist we seek to bring some illumination to this perennial theological question. For further discussion of the account provided here, see chapter four of […]

Filed Under: Podcast-59 Second Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: christology, incarnation, logic, theology

A More Christlike God: A (very long and detailed) Review

May 15, 2015 by Randal

Bradley Jersak. A More Christlike God, A More Beautiful Gospel. (Pasadena, CA: CWR Press, 2015). The back cover of Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? includes the following epigram: “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atonement, Brad Jersak, christology, evangelism, gospel, mission, redemption, salvation, theology

70. Brad Jersak on a more Christlike God

May 1, 2015 by Randal

In John 14:8 Philip the Apostle asked Jesus to reveal the Father. Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Think about that: God, the greatest mystery imaginable, is now available to us, and he looks […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atonement, Bible, biblical violence, Brad Jersak, christology, inspiration, redemption, scripture

The Wrath of God was Satisfied: A Passion Week Sermon

March 31, 2015 by Randal

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). But how, exactly? This is a great question to ask as we enter another Passion Week. In this sermon, originally delivered at Lendrum Mennonite Brethren Church in Edmonton, AB, I discuss the penal substitution theory of atonement. According to this theory, the atonement consisted of […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atonement, christology, cross, Jesus Christ, penal substitution

Why Jesus almost certainly had some errant theological beliefs

January 10, 2014 by Randal

The discussion thread to my article “Eric Seibert on biblical violence and the Canaanites” includes an interesting discussion between Geoff and Steven Jake regarding whether Jesus may have had false beliefs, and in particular false theological beliefs. I don’t believe Jesus had any false theological beliefs about matters of soteriological import. In other words, Jesus knew […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: christology, doctrine, Jesus, kenoticism, omniscience, paradox, theology

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Against Malaria Foundation

Against Malaria Foundation

Support Kiva

Support Kiva

Search this website

Archives

Copyright © 2021 • Randal Rauser • A Steady Site