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Randal Rauser

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demons

The Devil Made Him Do It? A look at the conservative Christian defense of Trump

May 18, 2017 by Randal

Today I came across this article at The Stream titled “Trump is Under Attack, and Not Just by Human Critics.” The author, John Zmirak, senior editor at The Stream, offers a jaw-dropping explanation for Donald Trump’s woes: demonic attack. He writes: Given the profound evils that Trump has promised to confront, from Islamic terrorism to Planned […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: demons, Donald Trump

How to tell if somebody is demon possessed: 1. Do they have an aversion to holy things?

December 11, 2015 by Randal

As I pointed out in “Demon-possessed or mentally ill?” Father Thomas lists several criteria which Catholic exorcists look for as a basis to warrant a diagnosis of demonic possession (or attachment). The operative principle here is Ockham’s Razor: the simplest explanation is to be preferred. In other words, if behavior can plausibly be explained by way of […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: demonic possession, demons, Ockham's razor, psychosomatic, Voodoo death

Demon-possessed or mentally ill?

December 9, 2015 by Randal

Last week Catholic apologist Matt Fradd kindly sent me the following Catholic Answers interview, “What You Need to Know About Exorcism: The Devil, Evil Spirits, and Spiritual Warfare” in which Patrick Coffin interviews well known exorcist Father Gary Thomas. You can read the transcript of the interview here. Demonic Possession and Veridical Evidence for Supernaturalism and […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: demons, exorcism, mental illness, Ockham's razor, Patrick Coffin, psychiatry, supernaturalism

47. The Devil’s in the Music: On growing up evangelical in the 80s

May 13, 2014 by Randal

I grew up reading Hal Lindsey books. Beginning with The Late, Great Planet Earth (1970), Mr. Lindsey had a string of bestsellers throughout the 1970s. And each of those books promoted a popularist form of dispensationalist Christianity that read the predicted future of the book of Revelation in the unfolding events of the evening news. […]

Filed Under: Podcast, Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: backmasking, culture, demons, devil, dispensationalism, evangelicalism, fundamentalism, Hal Lindsey, Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven

28. Robin Parry on demons

December 15, 2013 by Randal

The ministry of Jesus was characterized by many miraculous signs, chief among them his victory over demonic forces. In one dramatic encounter in Mark chapter 5 we read of Jesus confronting a demon-possessed man living out among the tombs. “Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”  “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” […]

Filed Under: Podcast, Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, demon possession, demons, exorcism, Jesus, Robin Parry, supernatural

Satan and the problem of evil: is the devil in the details?

November 1, 2012 by Randal

Let’s consider further the attempt to attribute natural evils to the operation of malevolent spiritual agencies. Kerk takes issue with the way I described the role of malevolent agencies in the natural world. He writes: I think you are distorting the way that the evil agency hypothesis purports to explain natural evil. One does not […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: demons, natural evil, Satan, theodicy, theology

Are demons responsible for natural evil?

October 31, 2012 by Randal

In the discussion following my critique of William Dembski’s theodicy Dima asked about Greg Boyd’s thesis that natural evil can be attributed to demonic agency. The relationship between natural evil and demonic agency was memorably proposed by Alvin Plantinga in God, Freedom, and Evil when he noted that Augustine attributed natural evil to demonic agency. Based on […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Alvin Plantinga, alvinize, demons, Gregory Boyd, natural evil, theodicy

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