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Randal Rauser

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doubt

Big Questions … No Easy Answers: A Discussion Series

June 7, 2013 by Randal

In May/June 2013 I delivered a series of talks at Urban Bridge Church in Edmonton, AB. Urban Bridge is a special place where they welcome questions and open-ended discussions and so it was the perfect venue for these kinds of talks. The three-part series, which I’ve called “Big Questions … No Easy Answers,” is available […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: doubt, problem of evil, salvation, soteriology

Should Christians hedge their bets?

May 20, 2013 by Randal

The other day I was speaking about doubt to a group of Christians. During the discussion that followed one lady said that while she was a Christian, she thought that even if Christianity is false and reincarnation is true, that her current belief system would put her in good stead with the law(s) of reincarnation. […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: belief, Christianity, doubt, Pascal's wager

Can a person be 100% Christian if they’re only 50% sure it is true?

February 25, 2013 by Randal

Christians are typically understood to be, among other things, people who believe certain propositions about God. For example, Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead. (Romans 10:9) However, as is so often the case, what initially seems simple becomes much more complicated upon closer inspection. In the past I’ve explored the complexities […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Christianity, doubt, epistemology, faith, God, reason, salvation

Does one sin when one doubts? A response to Pascal

February 8, 2013 by Randal

Countless people have wrestled over the years with the problem of divine hiddenness. In particular, they’ve wondered why, if there is a God, he isn’t more readily apparent in the world. More than three centuries ago Pascal provided the following answer: “It is not in this manner that He has willed to appear in His […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, doubt, faith, Pascal, skepticism, theism

How not to do apologetics: Lessons from Francis Church and Virginia (Part 1)

December 24, 2012 by Randal

If you had a big question in the late nineteenth century, and you lived in the vicinity of New York, it made sense to send your question to The New York Sun newspaper. After all, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” As a result, when Virginia O’Hanlon began having big questions about […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, belief, doubt, evidence, fath, Francis Church, Santa Claus, Yes Virginia

Is thinking about God a big waste of time?

December 12, 2012 by Randal

Walter worries that such high falutin’ discourse might be. He writes: There are times when I wonder if the mental energy expended over this question is worth it. He then goes on to offer an argument for passivity about the most perfect being there could be. My view is that if there exists a benevolent […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, doubt, knowledge, self-deception, theism

Things to keep atheists and Christians (and almost everybody else) up at night

December 11, 2012 by Randal

In “John W. Loftus and the Ideologue Barometer” I proposed the following test to discern how ideologicallly committed a person is to their beliefs: Ask yourself this: if I were invited to discuss the three things that most bother me about my belief system, how quickly could I come up with a list and how […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, Christianity, doubt, ideology, skepticism, theism

Blaming those who doubt

September 12, 2012 by Randal

In my last post I critiqued the 5 Minute Apologist Rick Cornish for his claim that “Honest, objective investigation repays our efforts with more than adequate evidence to know him [that is, to know that God exists].” I don’t dispute for one minute that some doubt in God’s existence may be borne out of an intellectually dishonest appraisal […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, belief, doubt, theism

Conversations with the Five Minute Apologist (Part 2)

September 12, 2012 by Randal

We now return to our spotty engagement with Rick Cornish’s book 5 Minute Apologist. Today’s quote comes from a chapter that discusses the existence of God as it builds toward the following climax: “When all the available evidence is considered, it overwhelmingly supports the existence of a personal, moral Spirit distinct from the world but […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: agnosticism, atheism, Christianity, doubt, faith, theism

Doxaphobia and its foolish pretenders

September 7, 2012 by Randal

So far as I know, “doxaphobia” is a neologism traceable to me. At least I haven’t seen it used elsewhere. And what is doxaphobia, you ask? Well first off, don’t confuse it with “doxophobia” which is the fear of expressing one’s opinion. However, doxaphobia is a kissing cousin of doxophobia. While the latter is the fear of sharing […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: doubt, doxaphobia, epistemology, faith, reason, skepticism

Can you be expected to love somebody who might not exist?

August 2, 2012 by Randal

In “Does God limit evidence to protect human freedom?” I critiqued Gerald O’Collins’ claim that God limits the evidence for his existence to protect the freedom of humans to choose to believe in him. David Evans responds: “O’Collins seems to be saying that God always leaves room for a reasonable doubt as to His existence. […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: doubt, epistemology, God, love

Doubting your firm foundation

April 11, 2012 by Randal

The other day a kindly elderly lady knocked on my door. She said she was from the Urban Missionaries of Canada and wanted to know if I would be interested in taking her survey. I agreed, though I told her I’m a theologian and that might skew the results. She smiled and said that would […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Christianity, doubt, epistemology, evangelism, faith, knowledge

John Loftus doesn’t believe Christianity is false after all!

March 17, 2012 by Randal

MaxVel had an interesting exchange with John Loftus over the issue of skepticism. John continues to describe himself as a skeptic who doubts. So MaxVel challenged him by asking: “Do you doubt your doubt? Are you also skeptical of your skepticism?’ John responded with the complete lack of nuance that is his trademark. The guy […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, Christianity, doubt, epistemology, John Loftus, rationality

Why Christians don’t give up God easily (and why atheists don’t accept him easily)

January 19, 2012 by Randal

Have you ever noticed that people are typically very reluctant to give up deeply held beliefs? Present a Christian with three unanswerable arguments against the truth of Christianity and next Sunday … she’ll go back to church. Present an atheist with three unanswerable arguments against the truth of atheism and next Sunday … he’ll still […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, doubt, epistemology, God, ingression, noetic structure, theism

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