When I was looking for a teaching position in the early 2000s I repeatedly encountered a variant of this statement in countless job descriptions: We especially welcome applications from women and visible minorities. That was a bit discouraging, as you can imagine. To be sure, I understood the reasoning: society in general, and academic institutions […]
ethics
Would you disciple a Muslim child against his parents’ wishes?
Yesterday on Twitter I posed the following question: Your 15-year-old Muslim neighbor is really interested in Christianity, but his parents have forbidden him from going to church. He just asked you to help him defy his parents' wishes by secretly taking him to church youth group. Do you agree? — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) February 19, […]
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Evangelism and the Ethics of Scaring the Hell out of Children
Father John Furniss, a nineteenth-century Catholic evangelist, became renowned as the “Apostle to the Children.” Father Furniss (and yes, that was his real name) was infamous for his lurid descriptions of children in hell. Consider this excerpt from his 1861 bestselling collection of nightmarish bedtime reading, The Sight of Hell: “See on the middle of that red-hot floor […]
Teaching the Destruction of Jericho to Children
The way that “children’s Bibles” alter and distort biblical violence is a source of great interest to me as I’ve continued to mull over how best to introduce an R-Rated text to a general audience. In my book What’s So Confusing About Grace? I identify three common reading strategies. And here I’ll give an example of one […]
Does Objective Morality Need God? A Christian and Atheist Debate
Last week I moderated a debate on morality and God between my main man from Dundee, Christian apologist Andy Bannister and atheist philosopher Howard Nye. I disagreed with Andy’s attempt to argue a necessary link between atheism and nihilism. I also don’t agree with his claim that objective ethics requires theism. That said, he was […]
1 Samuel 15 and Paul Copan’s Middling Compromise
This week “Unbelievable” featured Part 2 of an exchange between Paul Copan and Greg Boyd on Boyd’s new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God. In Part 2, Justin Brierley and his two guests focus in on particular biblical texts to see how each position deals with the text in question. The first major text under discussion is 1 […]
How I wrote an article critiquing John Piper … and got attacked by egalitarians
Yesterday I posted an article in which I argued that John Piper’s ill-formed and poorly argued prohibition on women teaching in seminary reveals that he is sexist, i.e. prejudiced against the female sex and gender. I did not anticipate that my argument would receive resistance from egalitarians. Trash! One individual named Henry Imler replied: Heirarchy [sic] […]
The Violent God Debate: An Unbelievable Review
This week’s episode of Unbelievable features a debate between Paul Copan and Greg Boyd regarding Boyd’s new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God. I will not be rehearsing the various arguments here, so I definitely advise you take the time to listen to this excellent exchange (the first of two rounds). Instead, I will offer […]
Is Christian Complementarianism Immoral and Sexist?
For 150 years the Mormon church barred all members of African ethnicity from attaining the priesthood based on the alleged prophecy that dark skin reflected the “mark of Cain”. Then, in 1978 the prophet of the Mormon church received a new revelation that God wanted the ban rescinded. Good to know! An outside observer would reasonably […]
The terrible tragedy of fundamentalist Christian legalism
Christian fundamentalists have distinguished themselves as ferocious defenders of doctrines like biblical inerrancy, a literal 6-day creation, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and a pre-tribulation secret rapture. Historically, that commitment to doctrine has been complemented by an equally doctrinaire commitment to a range of ethical “don’ts”. For example, don’t drink alcohol, don’t watch restricted […]
Transgender Washrooms or Climate Change?
Which ethical issue is more important? Transgender washrooms (“washroom” is a Canadian term for “bathroom”) or climate change? If you care to chime in, I’ve got the survey right here: Which ethical issue is more important? — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) December 15, 2017 If we can discern the relative import of ethical issues by what […]
Is it always wrong for a Christian to buy a brand new $300,000 Ferrari?
This is a 2018 Ferrari 488. It costs $300,000. That’s a lot of money. Believe it or not, it’s even more than I make as a seminary professor in an entire year! So now the question: is it always wrong for a Christian to buy this car just because she wants one? I asked this […]
There are some forms of stupidity that one must be highly intelligent and educated to commit
Eighteen years ago when I was doing my PhD in England I knew a Christian theologian who was pursuing a doctorate with a focus on Christian ethics. (Let’s call him Don.) One day when I was hanging out with Don, he showed me an ethics book he had stolen from a library in continental Europe. […]
Is it wrong for Christians to watch films containing graphic sexual content?
The other day I posted a survey about the ethics of Christians viewing movies containing “graphic sexual content.” Here are the results: Today's survey: "Christians may watch movies that include graphic sexual content." — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) November 18, 2017 So a plurality of respondents believes Christians should not watch films with graphic sexual content. […]
