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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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providence

If You Call a Natural Event a Miracle is that “God of the Gaps”?

February 19, 2022 by Randal

Some people think any description of a natural event as miraculous should automatically be censured as “God of the gaps”. That’s just wrong. Here’s an example. The land is locked in a devastating drought and forecasts all say there will be no rain in the next two weeks. But if Farmer Brown doesn’t get rain […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God of the gaps, miracle, providence

A Miracle isn’t a Violation of the Laws of Nature, so What is It?

September 2, 2020 by Randal

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: miracle, providence

Can You Preach it at the Gates of Auschwitz?

July 7, 2020 by Randal

Many people think the adequacy of a theology of providence or a theodicy is dependent on whether it can be “preached at the gates of Auschwitz”. But is that a reasonable criterion? In this video, I suggest otherwise.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine providence, meticulous providence, pastoral theology, preaching, providence, theodicy

COVID-19 and God’s Providence: An interview with my pastor

May 26, 2020 by Randal

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: COVID-19, interview, natural evil, problem of evil, providence

Actually, God Can: A Response to Thomas Jay Oord (Part 1)

April 24, 2020 by Randal

Last week, I posted a review of Thomas Jay Oord’s book God Can’t. While the book was well written with admirable pastoral sensitivity and compassion for those who suffer, I wasn’t particularly taken with the main argument. Not surprisingly, Dr. Oord was not particularly taken with my review and he posted a response here. Since I […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: problem of evil, providence, theodicy, Thomas Jay Oord

Should we hope that God has a reason for allowing evil?

April 18, 2020 by Randal

Many people find the idea that God has a reason for allowing great evils to be implausible, even offensive. But does that make sense? Should we really prefer that evil occur for no reason at all? Or should we hope there is a reason, even if we can’t understand it? In this video, I take […]

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

The Questionable Comfort of Impotent Love: A Review of God Can’t

April 17, 2020 by Randal

Thomas Jay Oord. God Can’t: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils. SacraSage Press, 2020. “Why God?” It is a question that has been asked by countless people. “Why did you allow me to get cancer?” “Why do you allow children to starve?” “Why do you allow a pandemic like […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: problem of evil, providence, review, Thomas Jay Oord

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

Is Preachability at the Gates of Auschwitz a Proper Measure for Good Theology?

February 8, 2019 by Randal

On several occasions, I have seen Arminians make the following objection to Calvinism: if you can’t preach this to those who suffer, you shouldn’t believe it. Here’s an example from Roger Olson: “Someone has said that no theology is worth believing that cannot be preached standing in front of the gates of Auschwitz. I, for one, […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: arminianism, Auschwitz, Calvinism, open theism, pastoral theology, providence

Why doesn’t God give everyone a miracle?

August 7, 2018 by Randal

Some years ago, a friend of mine told me how, after losing his wife to cancer, he encouraged his embittered young adult children to return to church. On their first visit to a small group, several people shared their recent answers to prayer — miracles, they said — while the two young visitors sat quietly. When they […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, problem of evil, providence, suffering, What's So Confusing About Grace?

Calvinism and God’s Love: A conversation with Guillaume Bignon

April 13, 2018 by Randal

In this article I have a conversation with Guillaume Bignon about Calvinism and the concept of God’s love. Bignon is a French analytical philosopher (yes, there are such things!) and an executive committee member of Association Axiome, a society of French-speaking Christian scholars. He also works in New York in the financial industry. Perhaps most importantly for this […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Calvinism, divine love, election, Guillaume Bignon, omnibenevolence, providence, theology

God, deliver us from skepticism! (Then again, maybe not.)

April 3, 2018 by Randal

The other day somebody on Twitter asked me how I manage to write so many articles. My response included noting the many sources of inspiration … like Twitter. As a case in point, consider this tweet that Michael Brown posted yesterday: When a reliable, trusted friend shares with you how God has worked a miracle […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Michael Brown, miracle, providence, skepticism

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

God and the Weather Revisited

September 8, 2017 by Randal

Ten days ago I posted an article titled “‘I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth…’ Could God be punishing Texas?” Since then I rewrote and expanded the article and this morning it was posted at Strange Notions as “Does God Punish People Through Natural Weather Events?“

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God, hermeneutics, natural evil, providence, weather

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