• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Randal Rauser

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

  • About
  • Books
  • Articles
    • Articles (single)
    • Articles (in series)
  • Audio/Video
    • Audio Interviews, Lectures, and Debates
    • Video Interviews and Lectures
    • Powerpoint Slides
  • Blog
    • Current Posts
    • Blog Archives
  • Podcasts
    • The Tentative Apologist Podcast
    • Archived Podcasts
    • Reviews

rationality

Would you get on the plane?

January 10, 2020 by Randal

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 […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: decision theory, rationality, worldview

Reasonable Belief, Reasonable Doubt, and the Resurrection of Jesus

July 7, 2019 by Randal

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 […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: historiography, history, rationality, resurrection

Is Christianity falsifiable? Does it matter if it isn’t?

July 6, 2019 by Randal

There is this all-too-common assumption among skeptics of religion that Christianity must somehow be “falsifiable” in order to be a legitimate interpretive framework for reality. The quick (and tempting) response is to say that Christianity is falsifiable: if there is no resurrected Jesus then there is no Christianity. However, many nominal Christians have continued in the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, falsification, rationality, worldview

“There is insufficient evidence to warrant belief.” Eh?

July 2, 2019 by Randal

This morning, I noticed an exchange between Angry Grasshopper and Ron H. on my blog regarding the nature of evidence for theism. I have excerpted the relevant bits below, but you can read the fuller exchange starting here. After that, I’ll offer my own comments. Angry Grasshopper: “I don’t reject ‘mere’ theism because it doesn’t […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: belief, epistemology, evidence, justification, rationality, warrant

The Problem of Religious Skeptics Singling out Religious Beliefs for Criticism

January 19, 2019 by Randal

I regularly encounter religious skeptics who single out religious beliefs as presenting some particular epistemological problem. The catalyst for this article is one of those opinions which I read just this morning on Twitter. The skeptic writes: “Why do folks ”struggle” with religious beliefs? We happily let our other beliefs evolve as we go thru […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: epistemology, rationality, religious epistemology

The Meaning and Rationality of Faith: A Christian and Atheist Conversation

January 12, 2019 by Randal

Christians and atheists often engage in heated debate over the rationality of faith. Unfortunately, those conversations tend to generate more heat than light, not least because the parties to the discussion often end up talking past one another. If we want to make real progress on debating the rationality of faith, we should begin by […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar, epistemology, faith, Justin Schieber, rationality

Does the success of Christianity provide a prima facie reason to believe it is true?

October 6, 2018 by Randal

Christianity is the largest religion on earth with approximately 2.2 billion adherents. Do you think the undeniable success of Christianity provides a prima facie reason to believe it is true? — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) October 4, 2018 In this article, I’d like to offer a response to the 40 percent of respondents to my survey […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, argumentum ad populum, consensus, epistemology, rationality, social epistemology

Encountering Mystery at the Summer Waterslide

August 15, 2018 by Randal

This article is equal parts summer nostalgia and rumination on mystery. But let’s start with the summer nostalgia. Summer Nostalgia I grew up in the 1980s when land prices were sufficiently low that it made sense to devote a large tract of land to a summertime waterslide. (Sadly, those days are long gone and that […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: epistemic humility, epistemology, mystery, rationality, theology

When is an apologetic dialogue no longer worth pursuing?

July 12, 2018 by Randal

Yesterday, I came across this tweet by Christian apologist Max Andrews courtesy of a retweet by Chad at Truthbomb Apologetics: https://twitter.com/iAmMax_A/status/1017170408464900098 The goal, presumably, is to focus on conversations that are likely to be “productive”. In this article, I’d like to state briefly why I disagree with Andrews. Apologetics and Evangelism Before I get to […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, debate, dialogue, open mind, rationality

If James Clapper lied in the past, can we trust that he is telling the truth about Trump and Russia?

May 24, 2018 by Randal

Yesterday I posted a tweet about James Clapper and Donald Trump. Here is the tweet with Dave GhostBear’s response: James Clapper committed perjury before Congress with regards to domestic spying. He is not a trustworthy source, and you should be wary of him also — David Schoen (@JediGhostBear) May 24, 2018 The Disagreement This response […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: credibility, Donald Trump, James Clapper, lying, rationality, witness

Feel free to sit on the fence, but don’t get caught in the lava flow

February 28, 2018 by Randal

Some years ago the Jewish philosopher David Shatz wrote an essay titled “The Overexamined Life is not Worth Living.” That title could apply equally to chapter 31 of my 2012 apologetics book The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails. The book features an extended Socratic-styled dialogue between an atheist named Sheridan and […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: decision theory, rationality, reason, The Swedish Atheist the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails

Have aliens visited earth? Is the idea worth taking seriously? A response to Sean Carroll

December 23, 2017 by Randal

Today I came across this tweet courtesy of Counter Apologist: Okay there are far too many people here in the 21st century giving nontrivial credence to the idea that there are alien spacecraft flying around in our skies. — Sean Carroll (@seanmcarroll) December 23, 2017 I assume by “giving nontrivial credence to x” Carroll is meaning […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: rationality, Sean Carroll, skepticism, UFOs

Is it technically morally wrong to proselytize for something other than the true religion?

August 25, 2017 by Randal

I encountered the question this morning in a tweet from Counter Apologist: Question for Theists: Is it technically morally wrong to proselytize for something other than the true religion? — Counter Apologist (@CounterApologis) August 25, 2017 Point One In response, the first point I made is that proselytization is simply the act of attempting to […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: belief, epistemology, rationality

Atheists who celebrate intellectual regression

July 15, 2017 by Randal

Intellectual development involves, among other things, the increased ability to analyze the views of others with critical nuance and charity. At its most sophisticated level, that trend includes the skill of rigorous devil’s advocacy, i.e. the ability to defend the views of others with as much sophistication and putative conviction as genuine advocates for the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Dan Barker, fundamentalism, indoctrination, rationality, reason

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 9
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Against Malaria Foundation

Against Malaria Foundation

Support Kiva

Support Kiva

Search this website

Archives



Copyright © 2022 • Randal Rauser • A Steady Site