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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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prayer

Does God answer the prayers of nice rich people who want to purchase a new luxury?

November 7, 2019 by Randal

Let me tell you about Jones. He’s a very wealthy businessman, a respected philanthropist who has established an effective and impacting charitable foundation for disadvantaged youth, and a generous Christian who tithes north of 10% of his income to the church as well as an NGO that is providing clean drinking water to villages in […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: ethics, God, prayer, providence, theology

Prayer, Hypocrisy, and Hospitality: A Response to Stephanie Borowicz

March 31, 2019 by Randal

This week, the first Muslim woman ever was sworn into the Pennsylvania State Legislature. The Christian politician who prayed to open the session, Stephanie Borowicz, made a point of using the name “Jesus” no less than 13 times in her prayer. (To make matters worse, Borowicz’s prayer was a rambling mess of theological confusion which […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: hospitality, hypocrisy, prayer

Failed Prayer Studies: A Response

March 10, 2018 by Randal

The topic of scientific prayer studies recently came up on Twitter. As an outcome of that exchange, I committed to responding to the failure of one particular prayer study to establish a link between prayer and healing. The study in question is discussed in an article titled “Power of prayer flunks an unusual test” where […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, healing, petitionary prayer, prayer, providence

99. How do you hear the voice of God?

November 9, 2017 by Randal

There are few questions as basic and important as this: how do you hear the voice of God? How do you discern God’s will for your life? How does one seek divine guidance in the day to day? Is divine guidance a matter of hearing a literal voice from heaven? Or is it simply a […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine providence, divine will, epistemology, prayer

On Praying for Milo

February 21, 2017 by Randal

We live in an age where extreme and hateful voices like that of Milo Yiannopoulos get way more attention than they deserve. I was disgusted when Bill Maher hosted Milo on Real Time last week (and I applaud Jeremy Scahill for withdrawing from the show in protest). By the time the video surfaced of Milo advocating for […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Dead Man Walking, ethics, evil, forgiveness, Milo Yiannopoulos, pedophilia, prayer, sin

God and Answered Prayer: A response to Justin Schieber

December 22, 2016 by Randal

I guess this is the week of responding to tweets. Our latest helping comes from my coauthor Justin Schieber: When somebody thanks God for helping them find their keys they betray their belief in a God with some profoundly misaligned priorities. — Real Atheology Podcast (@RealAtheology) December 21, 2016 Before I proceed to offer a […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Justin Schieber, prayer, problem of evil, providence

God, Serial Killers, and Natural Evil

December 10, 2016 by Randal

Most of my readers will know of Stephen Law, the respected atheist philosopher who has made some perspicuous contributions to philosophy of religion, perhaps most notably in his evil God argument. (In the past I reviewed Law’s book Believing Bullshit and I’ve offered several critiques of his evil God argument, including here and here.) Today Law offered […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine action, God, natural disaster, prayer, problem of evil, Stephen Law

How to Pray for President Trump

November 10, 2016 by Randal

During the election season, some Christian leaders prayed fervently for Donald Trump’s success, including this motley crew of Baptist and charismatic Word-of-Faith preachers (check out Trump’s crazy expressions during this very awkward laying on of too many hands): However, I confess that I did not pray for Trump’s success. But he won the election and now […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: blessing, Donald Trump, prayer, providence

Did the Church of England troll Richard Dawkins?

February 14, 2016 by Randal

Following reports of Richard Dawkins’ minor stoke this past Friday, the Church of England promptly tweeted a call for church goers to pray for Dawkins: According to an article in The Guardian, several of Dawkins’ followers promptly accused the church of “trolling”. (“Trolling” involves making online posts that are intentionally offensive in order to anger […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Church of England, new atheism, prayer, Richard Dawkins, trolling

On reading (and singing) the prayers of others

November 19, 2015 by Randal

I grew up in the Pentecostal tradition in which we prided ourselves on being “led by the Spirit” to pray extemporaneously (i.e. off the cuff). Consequently, we viewed those “liturgists” who read prayers out of a book as spiritually suspect at best. The idea of reading a prayer, especially a prayer written by somebody else, […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: corporate worship, liturgy, prayer

Divine action, answered prayer, and a zero/sum game

July 10, 2014 by Randal

The other day I was visiting a non-denominational charismatic church with my twelve year old daughter. At one point the pastor asked, “How many of you have witnessed the power of God?” A few hands went up. Then the pastor asked, “Did you ever have a child who was sick and then got better?” Heads around […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine action, God, prayer, providence, theology

When God goes to church does he wear a suit and tie?

March 5, 2014 by Randal

The debate between “formal” and “informal” church continues. Some folks seem to think Jesus said “If thou wilt enter my Father’s house, thou must first don a three piece suit” while others apparently have a Bible that reads “In my Father’s house are many cabanas, so put on your favorite beachwear and join the fun.” The […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: casual, church, formal, liturgy, prayer

Is it egotistical to think God answered a prayer about the weather?

September 4, 2013 by Randal

Facing a forecast of rain, Pastor Jim prays that it will be sunny for the church picnic. Lo and behold, the day arrives and the meteorologist is proven wrong, for there is not a cloud in the sky. Hot dogs and potato salad, football and capture the flag, and much bonding among the disciples of Jesus […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God, prayer, providence, weather

Does Ganesha answer prayer?

July 16, 2013 by Randal

Yesterday Honest John Law responded to my critique of Jonathan Pearce by making the following observation: “I have personally known Hindus who are educated and intelligent and fully capable of considering the degree and complexity and specificity of events, and they believe Ganesha was an agent for them.  However, I doubt many Christians are willing […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: coincidence, Hinduism, prayer, providence, religion

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