Randal Rauser

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

rationality

Before You Make Fun of the Church Sign, Try Interpreting it Charitably

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A friend of mine just sent me this picture of a church sign. While this seems like an easy target for fundamentalist irrationalism, there is a very plausible charitable interpretation. (By the way, given the number of fake church signs out there, I did a quick google search and confirmed that Paoli Wesleyan is, at […]

Are there sufficient reasons to believe in God? My Opening Statement

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In May, 2020, I participated in a debate on this question: Are there sufficient reasons to believe in God? My debate partner Sam and I divvied up the labor as follows: I argued that there are sufficient ‘reasons’ (i.e. properly basic grounds) to believe in God. Meanwhile, Sam argued that there are sufficient non-basic reasons […]

Who is Irrational? Some Quick Observations on the Rauser-Smalley Debate

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I’m not going to comment on the entire debate. Instead, I will limit my comments to the historical resurrection of Jesus and related issues. In my debate on the rationality of Christian belief, David C. Smalley asked for historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. I provided evidence. I noted that there is no […]

Is Rationality Over-Rated?

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The other day, I watched the 2019 Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell about the security guard who discovered a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was subsequently accused of being the bomber. Jewell’s mother (played in the film by the always-excellent Kathy Bates) stood by her son, never doubting him for a minute. It […]

Does Being a Christian Mean Giving Up on Evidence?

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This is a sermon I recorded for a local church in our time of coronavirus home-church. In the sermon, I argue that Jesus was centrally concerned with evidence to support his claims and this bequeathed to the church a strong emphasis on faith that is grounded on evidence as exemplified in the Apostle Paul and […]

Are Christians Inconsistent for Rejecting Non-Christian Miracle Claims?

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In my article, “Responding to a Stale Atheist Talking Point on Miracle Claims,” I … respond to a stale atheist talking point on miracle claims. But since the article is a relatively brief amalgam of some tweets, it lacks in clarity what it makes up in brevity. However, I thought a second article that surrendered […]

The extraordinary claim that Christianity is irrational

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This happens a lot: atheists online tell me that my beliefs are “absurd” or (only slightly more charitably) that I’m “irrational”. Here is an example of an exchange with a gentleman named Steven Tiger. He begins by taking the view that Christianity is ridiculous. Then he modifies it to the view that it is irrational […]

Would you get on the plane?

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Yesterday, I posed the following question on Twitter: You wake up the morning of a scheduled flight from a vivid nightmare that the flight on which you’re booked crashes. You’ve never had a dream that vivid and it is terrifying, but you put it aside and drive to the airport. Once you arrive, you’re walking […]

Reasonable Belief, Reasonable Doubt, and the Resurrection of Jesus

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Two days ago, I posted two Twitter surveys directed at two different groups and asking a similar question about an event which is purported to have occurred two thousand years ago. One would think it is possible for people reasonably to disagree about a topic this far removed in time and based on documentary evidence […]