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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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problem of evil

Why I’m grateful for open theism (even though I’m not an open theist)

November 17, 2017 by Randal

A few years ago I heard a lady speak on the devastating experience of losing her son. As the extraordinarily painful narrative unfolded, she described how her faith had faltered on the rock of divine foreknowledge. And she recounted the central question she faced: how could she worship a god who foreknew and — by […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: open theism, problem of evil, problem of suffering, theology

“I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth…” Could God be punishing Texas?

August 29, 2017 by Randal

13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. […] 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, hermeneutics, natural evil, problem of evil

A Case Where I Spend WAY TOO MUCH Time Analyzing a Snide Atheist Meme

August 18, 2017 by Randal

Here is a tweet from the folks at “Atheist Republic”. Call it a meme if you want. (Might as well since the word “meme” seems to apply to most anything that gets retweeted.) So here’s the meme: pic.twitter.com/AduwjnloUq — Atheist Republic (@AtheistRepublic) August 16, 2017 I’m not sure what definition of “bullshit” the folks at […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, bullshit, evil, falsification, problem of evil, providence, rhetoric

Today I Think of Bob Jyono

June 30, 2017 by Randal

Yesterday I learned about the latest emerging pedophile scandal in the Catholic Church, one that centers on Cardinal George Pell, by some reports the third most powerful man in the Church. (I’m not up on Catholic polity so I won’t render an opinion either way on that.) This will be settled in the courts, but […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bob Jyono, Catholic Church, Deliver us from Evil, pedophile, problem of evil

Gnu Atheism? Wildebeest and the Problem of Natural Evil

June 22, 2017 by Randal

Natural evil concerns any suffering within nature which is not the result of the morally culpable actions of a moral agent. (For my previous discussions of natural evil see here.) Instances of natural evil are not hard to come by. Consider, for example, this image of a young wildebeest being eaten by a hungry crocodile. […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, natural evil, problem of evil, providence

The Hiddenness of God: Thoughts on the Giunta-Schieber Debate

February 27, 2017 by Randal

The most recent episode of “Unbelievable” features a very fruitful exchange between Justin Schieber and Christian apologist Blake Giunta on the hiddenness of God. Schieber defends the hiddenness argument from J.L. Schellenberg. (See my review of Schellenberg’s recent book here and his reply here. And just for the heck of it see his endorsement of […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, argument from divine hiddenness, atheism, Blake Giunta, divine hiddenness, J.L. Schellenberg, Justin Schieber, problem of evil

Skeptical Theism and Skepticism Simpliciter: A Response to Jason Thibodeau

January 30, 2017 by Randal

In his two-part article “If it’s okay for God to allow horrors, then we don’t know much about God” (Part 1; Part 2) Jason Thibodeau presents an articulate and concise skeptical argument against theism. There is a lot packed into his article, and I’m not going to attempt to address it all here. But in this […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, Jason Thibodeau, problem of evil, skeptical theism, skepticism

If it’s okay for God to allow horrors, then we don’t know much about God (Part 2)

January 24, 2017 by Randal

This article is part 2 of a guest post by Dr. Jason Thibodeau. For part 1 click here. Jason teaches at Cypress College and blogs at The Secular OutPost. You can also visit him online at “Not Not a Philosopher.”  III: Reply #1: We Know Enough In his recent book, An Atheist and A Christian Walk […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: ethics, God, Jason Thibodeau, problem of evil, skeptical theism, skepticism

If it’s okay for God to allow horrors, then we don’t know much about God (Part 1)

January 22, 2017 by Randal

This article is part 1 of a guest post by Dr. Jason Thibodeau. Jason teaches at Cypress College and blogs at The Secular OutPost. You can also visit him online at “Not Not a Philosopher.” I: The Problem of Evil Every year in the United States an average of 37 children die after being left in […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: ethics, God, Jason Thibodeau, problem of evil, skepticism

I feel love. It’s about love: Still Alice as Theodicy

January 9, 2017 by Randal

Lisa Genova’s 2007 novel Still Alice tells the story of Harvard professor and scholar Alice Howland and her journey living with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Howland is a few months into her fiftieth birthday when she receives the terrible diagnosis. From there the book follows her on her slow and painful decline into dementia. At first […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, God, natural evil, problem of evil, Still Alice, theodicy

Gleason: A Review

December 27, 2016 by Randal

Over the last couple weeks I’ve heard a lot of people exclaim what a horrible year it has been. I admit that I’ve grumbled a bit myself. However, I won’t do so anymore. Gleason has a way of putting things into perspective. This extraordinary documentary debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. In a perfect […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: ALS, documentary, movie review, problem of evil, Steve Gleason

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

Calvinism and the Problem of Evil: A Review

October 12, 2016 by Randal

David E. Alexander and Daniel M. Johnson, eds. Calvinism and the Problem of Evil. (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2016). Calvinism represents one of the richest and most formidable intellectual traditions in Christianity, one that has enjoyed a popular renaissance in North America in the last several years. Given these facts, you might expect that Calvinism would attract significant […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: arminianism, Calvinism, problem of evil, providence, review, theodicy

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