A few weeks ago, I posted the following Twitter survey on cremation: Historically, the church rejected cremation in recognition of the value of the body and anticipation of the bodliy resurrection. Today, however, many Christians cremate. Forgive me if this is too forward, but what are your posthumous plans? — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) February 2, […]
eschatology
Does Christianity promise that everything sad is going to come untrue?
Today I visited a church in which the speaker addressed the problem of evil. Near the end of the sermon, he appealed to this famous quote from The Lord of the Rings: “I thought you were dead! But then I thought that I was dead myself! Is everything sad going to come untrue?” The speaker then […]
Would a loving God send people to hell?
I just wrote an article for Christian Post on this topic. You can read it by clicking here.
Hellrazed? The Book!
Five years have passed since Kevin Miller’s provocative documentary Hellbound? was released. The film explores concepts of the afterlife (in particular, the doctrine of eternal conscious torment), and how they shape the life and belief of the church here and now. I met Kevin at that time as I had the privilege of hosting the film’s […]
Will Jesus Return in 1988?
I remember September, 1988 well for one reason: my friend Sean’s parents gave away and sold all their possessions. Why? They were convinced that Jesus would return in a few days based on the calculations of Edgar Whisenant, calculations that Mr. Whisenant had published in the bestselling booklet 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In […]
TWU Today Archives Part 2: A Defense of Annihilationism
This article, published in the TWU Today Newspaper on January 23, 1996, represents one of my first forays into theological writing. Provocatively titled “Who in hell lives forever?”, the article provides a succinct summary and defense of the case for annihilationism, the doctrine that the reprobate cease to exist in hell.
The Unimaginable Torments of Hell
On January 3, 2015 the Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kasasbeh was burned alive by ISIS. A video of the murder was later released online, evoking horror and outrage worldwide. The other day I was in a conversation with a friend who told me he had watched the video of Al-Kasasbeh’s murder … and immediately regretted it. […]
Hell and Mr. Fudge: A Review
Twenty years ago I took a course in apologetics at Trinity Western University. The main assignment was a debate in front of the class at the end of the semester. My friend and I were given the task of defending annihilationism — the view that hell constitutes the final destruction of the unregenerate — over-against […]
10. The 59-Second Apologist: Will we have free will in heaven?
Mark Twain once quipped: “Let us swear while we may, for in heaven it will not be allowed.” That piece of advice, however questionable it may be, does raise an interesting philosophical question: when a person becomes unable to sin, must they give up their free will? Some theologians have supposed so. To note one […]
Easter and the Resurrection to Judgment
This morning at our Easter service the pastor quoted Frederick Buechner: “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.” It’s a great quote which eloquently summarizes the Christian hope in resurrection. In other words, Christ as the firstfruits of resurrection provides the down-payment for that future resurrection that will embrace all God’s people. Thus, […]
Love has no shelf life: The goodness of life forever
I’d like to live forever, and under the right conditions I hope I can. I discuss that wish (and rebut those who look askance at the prospect) here. So I always remain puzzled by atheists/skeptics/naturalists etc. who insist that they really don’t want to live forever, even under the most ideal of conditions. Soren Kierkegaard […]
My heaven interview with a Bold Cup of Coffee
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the folks at boldcupofcoffee.com to talk about some of my recent work on heaven, apologetics, and dialogue. This is the first of three interviews and it focused on the topic of my book What on Earth Do we Know About Heaven? You can visit the accompanying Bold Cup of […]
What happens after we die?
This past Sunday (Dec. 7th) I was invited to give a talk (aka a “sermon”) at St. Albert Alliance Church on the topic “What happens after we die?” (Thanks to Matt Garvin for inviting me and to the church for being a great host.) The talk was part of an extended series the church did […]
“Heaven is for Real” A Review
Last night I saw “Heaven is for Real” available to rent at Redbox. Having read the book, and presented seminars critiquing it, and having written a sixty page book proposal titled What on Earth Happened to Colton Burpo? which was rejected by the publishers because they were worried that I (and they) would appear to […]
