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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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suffering

Theology, Worldview, and the Death of My Father

June 20, 2020 by Randal

In this video, I reflect on the death of my father to Alzheimer’s in theological perspective while interacting with the eulogy I delivered at his memorial service in April 2019. The lesson: A Christian worldview should equip you to view life, suffering, and death in the light of hope, grace, and the cross. Unfortunately, the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Alzheimer's Disease, death, problem of evil, suffering, theology, worldview

Hell and the Image of God: A Response to Scott Clifton

November 14, 2019 by Randal

Scott Clifton (aka Theoretical BS) offered a response to my YouTube video “If an atheist says they don’t think hell will be so bad, what do you say in reply?”. I’ve included his video below followed by a quick response: Scott’s main argument in the last half of his video appears to be that I’ve […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: alienation, hell, Scott Clifton, suffering, Theoretical BS

Adjust Your Expectations

July 19, 2019 by Randal

Christian discipleship is made more difficult when people imbibe the notion that God wants us happy, healthy, and wealthy. As a result, when things go awry, as they inevitably do, people often experience a crisis of faith for which they could have been far better prepared if their expectations had been set properly from the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Christian discipleship, discipleship, hope, suffering

Coming to Terms with the Problem of Evil

May 19, 2019 by Randal

If you want a simple and effective way to identify a Christian apologist worth listening to, ask them to share their thoughts on the problem of evil. If they keep their discussion of the problem in the abstract and if they suggest that it is a problem easily solved, you should keep looking. But if […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, evil, problem of evil, steelman, suffering

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?

C.A.N.C.E.R.

March 6, 2017 by Randal

I love discovering new bands: some are new new; others are just new-to-me. This weekend I discovered Architects, a new-to-me UK metalcore band that remind me a lot of Underoath (an American metalcore band which is one of my favorites). Now before I go further with this whole metalcore thing, let me point out that I also […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Architects, cancer, suffering

God and the Problem of Suffering: An Interview with Paul Buller

May 26, 2016 by Randal

In this interview I discuss that most difficult of problems, God and suffering, with Christian apologist Paul Buller. Paul is a co-founder of the Network of Christian Apologists in Calgary, AB and the author of the book Suffering: The Heart of the Matter. But while Paul loves to pursue the intellectual side of Christian faith, his perspective on suffering […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, evil, interview, Paul Buller, problem of evil, suffering, theodicy, theology

The omniscient God as the jilted lover

March 23, 2016 by Randal

In “God in the terrifying image of a jilted lover” I provided some reasons why readers of the Bible should not interpret descriptions of God’s tumultuous emotional life literally. The focus of my analysis in that article was to point out how this yields a picture of God as unpredictable, emotionally needy, and threatening. In […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: God, hermeneutics, omniscience, passibility, suffering, theology

88. Euthanasia, Death, and the Good Life: A Conversation with Heidi Janz

March 15, 2016 by Randal

“Euthanasia.” The word derives from the Greek prefix “eu” or good, and “thanatos” or death. Hence, euthanasia promises a good death. But what is a good death? And what right do medical practitioners have to bring it about? These questions press themselves upon us with increasing urgency as various jurisdictions consider the adoption of new […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: bioethics, ethics, euthanasia, Heidi Janz, problem of evil, problem of suffering, suffering, theology

85. No Easy Answers: Kelly Kapic on God, theology, and suffering

February 17, 2016 by Randal

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” So go the words of the Celebrant in the Ash Wednesday service that initiates the season of Lent. Dust we may be, but we are dust that thinks, dust that knows, dust that feels. We are dust that suffers as it is forced to grapple with […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: ethics, interview, Kelly Kapic, pastoral theology, problem of evil, problem of suffering, providence, suffering

Joe Biden talking about loss with Stephen Colbert

September 11, 2015 by Randal

I was among an apparent minority disappointed by the debut of Colbert’s The Late Show. Apparently I’m still grieving the loss of the right wing pundit of The Colbert Report. But seeing the real Colbert does have its upsides, and chief among them is his deeply moving interaction with Joe Biden on suffering and faith.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: faith, Joe Biden, problem of evil, Stephen Colbert, suffering

Stephen Colbert on providence and the problem of suffering

August 24, 2015 by Randal

Stephen Colbert is one of the funniest and smartest comics/entertainers around. He was always engaging, thought-provoking, and hilarious playing his satirical conservative pundit on The Colbert Report. And he promises to carry that same brilliance into his new role in network late night in a couple weeks. Last week GQ published a fascinating profile on […]

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

The Man I am Today: One soldier’s testimony and the problem of evil

March 12, 2015 by Randal

This past Sunday 60 Minutes broadcast a story titled “Coming home” which chronicles the physical and emotional difficulties of soldiers returning from war (Iraq and Afghanistan) and attempting to integrate back into society. As I watched I was reminded of two documentaries I reviewed which deal with similar themes, Hell and Back Again and Body of […]

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

61. The Chaplains: Notes from the Frontlines

February 11, 2015 by Randal

Given that C. S. Lewis wrote one of the most influential theodicies of the twentieth century, The Problem of Pain, you might have thought he would’ve been uniquely prepared for the shock and grief of losing his beloved wife Joy to cancer. But you’d be wrong. Whatever the value of theodicies may be in the intellectual […]

Filed Under: Podcast-The Tentative Apologist, The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: chaplaincy, evil, interview, ministry, problem of evil, suffering

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