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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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Stephen Law

Atheist Philosopher Stephen Law on the Problem of Evil and Evil God

August 17, 2022 by Randal

Does the problem of evil provide an insurmountable objection to belief in God? Speaking of God, what if the nature of the divine being that exists is supremely evil rather than good? If it were, would we know? I discuss these and other issues with the esteemed public philosopher Stephen Law. ?

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: evil god, interview, philosophy of religion, problem of evil, Stephen Law

The Laws of Thought: Critical Thinking with Stephen Law

February 4, 2021 by Randal

Stephen Law is a leading English philosopher, author, and editor for the journal Think. In his spare time, he beats the skins and climbs mountains. What I appreciate most about Stephen is his commitment to public philosophy, and that commitment is perfectly demonstrated in his new online course on critical thinking. You can check out the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: critical thinking, Stephen Law

Atheists who poison the well by calling things magic

June 1, 2019 by Randal

Have you noticed how atheists often like to refer to theistic accounts of various aspects of reality as “magic”? It’s an irritating practice, a juvenile case of poisoning the well. And it’s even more irritating when a professional philosopher like Stephen Law engages in the practice. Here’s the summary of my recent twitter exchange on […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: magic, poisoning the well, rhetoric, Stephen Law

Does religion impose oppressive dress codes?

February 4, 2019 by Randal

One of countless examples of a child being forced to wear something they don't want to wear due to social expectations. Unfortunately, for "Atheist Republic" that common social reality is framed as theism vs. atheism. As if atheist kids never have to wear stuff they don't like????? https://t.co/D9NSjneXw0 — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) February 4, 2019 […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, dress code, freedom, religion, secularism, Stephen Law

Philosophy and Magic: What’s the difference?

January 9, 2019 by Randal

It all started with my Wittgenstein tweet. That prompted a reply from philosopher and atheist, Stephen Law and in a moment we were off discussing philosophy vs. magic. I divided our flurry of tweets into two tracks dealing with the two issues I raised. Blessedly, we ended on some point of agreement. Score one for […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: magic, philosophy, Stephen Law

How to help Stephen Law enjoy horror movies again

October 26, 2018 by Randal

The esteemed philosopher (and atheist) Stephen Law just posted an article titled “Why I Can’t Enjoy Demonic Horror Films” and he tagged me on Twitter. I offered some comments in reply on Twitter, but I’m going to offer a more fulsome (and rather different) response here. The article begins with Law recalling his pleasure at […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: horror film, meticulous providence, Stephen Law

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

Stephen Law’s Evil God Challenge. In Under Four Minutes. With Animation. And my response.

October 14, 2016 by Randal

Respected atheist philosopher Stephen Law may be best known for his Evil God Challenge. I would explain it to you but Stephen just produced this excellent animated video (starring a reasonable facsimile of the man himself) which unpacks the argument in under four minutes: While the evil God argument is one of the most intriguing recent developments […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, evil god, humanism, Stephen Law

Belief in God as Properly Basic? The Debate Continues

August 22, 2016 by Randal

I just finished listening to this week’s episode of “Unbelievable”, titled “Is belief in God ‘properly basic’? Tyler McNabb vs Stephen Law.” Incredibly, Justin mentioned that this is the first time they’ve devoted a show to the epistemological question of whether belief in God can be properly basic. Given that it is a topic which […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: epistemology, God, properly basic, Stephen Law, Tyler McNabb, Unbelievable

Stephen Law accuses me of writing a shoddy review … and then responds in kind

July 18, 2013 by Randal

Two years ago I reviewed Stephen Law’s book Believing Bullshit: How not to get sucked into an intellectual black hole. Professor Law provided a response this past Sunday. (Better late than never, right?) Before I engage the review let me stress that I think Stephen Law is a very intelligent philosopher and an amiable chap to boot. I […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Believing Bullshit, review, Stephen Law

A link back to my review of Stephen Law, “Believing Bullshit”

June 24, 2013 by Randal

In the discussion of the last few days I have heard some positive references to Stephen Law’s book Believing Bullshit. I was not as sanguine about the book when I reviewed it two years ago for the reasons outlined in my original review here.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Believing Bullshit, Stephen Law

Morriston on the evil god hypothesis

October 29, 2011 by Randal

Earlier this week Walter forwarded the link to a 2004 article by Wes Morriston which nicely summarizes the problem with Stephen Law’s evil god argument. Before we get to that however, let’s recap the argument.  Law argued against the existence of God (or what we can call “good god”) by pointing out that the believer in a […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: defeater, evil demon, evil god, problem of evil, skeptical theism, Stephen Law, theodicy, Wes Morriston

Evil God at Chez Alice

October 25, 2011 by Randal

Spencer offered the following summary of Stephen Law’s Evil God argument: 1) Either EG can be rationally rejected on the basis of observational evidence or not. 2) If EG can be rationally rejected on the basis of observational evidence, then GG can also be rejected on the basis of observational evidence (and hence the POE […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Chez Alice, Descartes' evil demon, epistemology, evil god, problem of evil, Stephen Law

Stephen Law vs. William Lane Craig: Round 2! (Law’s first rebuttal)

October 24, 2011 by Randal

Before Stephen Law delivered his first rebuttal Justin Brierley had to remind the audience (or a few in the audience) not to call out or applaud during the debate. There’s always at least one or two boneheads who seem unable to suppress the need to cheer or clap when “their guy” makes a point. Arrghh. Back […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, debate, God, Stephen Law, theism, William Lane Craig

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