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Randal Rauser

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

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perfect being theology

Is God a Necessary Being?

June 27, 2020 by Randal

Today, I was a guest on John Petersen’s YouTube channel to talk about God as a necessary being. I parachuted into the conversation about 20 minutes in (I had another meeting before then) and then I had to leave early. But I had a great time while it lasted!

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God, necessity, perfect being, perfect being theology

An Argument against Islam and Calvinism

March 1, 2019 by Randal

I was recently asked by a friend to watch and respond to this short clip in which William Lane Craig offers an argument against God as defined in Islam: In that clip, Craig appears to present an argument like this: (1) If God exists, God is the greatest conceivable being. (2) For any being to […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Calvinism, Islam, perfect being theology, William Lane Craig

If the God of Calvinism exists, would you worship him?

September 27, 2015 by Randal

Yesterday I wrote an article critiquing Justin Schieber’s tweeted declaration “I refuse to repent to a god who, if real, has far more to repent about than I.” It turns out that by “god” Justin was referring to a morally monstrous deity which lacks the moral perfection of God as defined in classical theism and […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Calvinism, God, moral intuition, perfect being theology, rationality, theism

I refuse to repent to a god who…? A response to Justin Schieber

September 26, 2015 by Randal

Let’s take a look at one of Justin Schieber’s tweets from this morning: I replied: Let me unpack my tweet. Justin claims that if God exists then he needs to repent. (Repent of what? Justin doesn’t say. But we can assume this is a reference to the many evils in the world.) The problem is that Christians […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, God, Justin Schieber, perfect being theology, protest theism

8. The 59-Second Apologist: Perfect Being Theology

December 30, 2014 by Randal

Anselm famously described God as that being than which none greater can be conceived. That definition, both simple and profound, is the inspiration for the contemporary project of perfect being theology which is among the most vigorous areas of research in contemporary philosophy of religion. After you’ve listened to the 59 Second podcast at the […]

Filed Under: Podcast-59 Second Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: perfect being theology, philosophical theology, philosophy of religion

God and the arbitrary attribute charge: A response to Jason Thibodeau

May 24, 2013 by Randal

Jason Thibodeau has been offering a series of critiques of my views on God and explanation over at his blog. Here’s the most recent entry: “Do theists need to explain God’s existence? Part 3“. In case you were wondering, Jason has a PhD in philosophy from the University of California and is a professor in philosophy […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God, Jason Thibodeau, perfect being theology, theism

That theologian from which greater behavior could be conceived

October 12, 2011 by Randal

Over the last few days we’ve had some substantial conversation over the great Anselm’s ontological argument and the accompanying definition of God as that than which none greater can be conceived. There is no doubt that Anselm was an enormously important, seminal thinker. But like all of us he was also human. And like all […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Anselm, perfect being theology, sin

Why is God necessary?

April 21, 2011 by Randal

How many things do we just accept without ever reflecting on them? For instance, why do clouds, supposedly made up of water vapor, look like vast cotton balls floating in the sky? (Alas, I have discovered that a close up view looking out the window of a Delta flight does little to dispell the mystery.) As puzzling as […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, contingency, cosmological argument, God, necessity, perfect being theology

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