Randal Rauser

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

The Christian Delusion

The Bible Babinski thinks God should have written: On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 9)

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This is the nine and final installment of my 2010 review of The Christian Delusion which was originally published at “The Christian Post”. I may return to review some more of the essays in the weeks to come. * * * Edward T. Babinski, “The Cosmology of the Bible,” 109-47. Yes, we are now into Part […]

Faith or skepticism? On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 8)

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This is a repost of the eighth installment of my extended review of The Christian Delusion (ed. John Loftus) which I published originally in 2010 at “The Christian Post”. * * * John Loftus, “The Outsider Test of Faith Revisited,” 81-106. John Loftus is well known for his “outsider test for faith” which is featured […]

“The Unanimous Consensus of Rational People”: On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 7)

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This is the seventh installment in my review of The Christian Delusion which was originally published in 2010 at “The Christian Post.” In this installment I review Jason Long’s essay, “The Malleability of the Human Mind,” 65-80. * * * All right my clear thinking little skeptics, gather close now. Today we are going to […]

Everyone’s irrational; therefore Christians are irrational (On “The Christian Delusion” Part 6)

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 This is the sixth installment in my extended review of The Christian Delusion which was originally published at “The Christian Post” in 2010. * * * We now turn to the second chapter of The Christian Delusion, Valerie Tarico’s “Christian Belief through the lens of cognitive science,” 47-64. The first thing to note is that […]

Those Cunning Christians: On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 5)

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This is the fifth installment in my review of The Christian Delusion which was originally published at “The Christian Post” in 2010. * * * The first section of The Christian Delusion is ominously titled “Why Faith Fails.” One might expect then to find in the first essay of this section an argument illustrating to […]

Christian flip-flopping? On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 4)

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This is the fourth installment of my extended review of John Loftus (ed.) The Christian Delusion. This series was originally published in “The Christian Post” in 2010. * * * Reading John Loftus’s introduction to The Christian Delusion I felt a bit like a democrat hiding out at the Republican National Convention. There I sit, […]

Chameleon Christianity? On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 3)

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This is the third reposting in my series of reviews of Loftus The Christian Delusion (originally published at “The Christian Post” in 2010). * * * Back in 84′ Boy George and “Culture Club” were a guilty pleasure. If nobody was around, you could crank their number 1 hit “Karma Chameleon”. But if you saw your friends […]

“This book completely destroys Christianity”: On “The Christian Delusion” (Part 1)

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Three years ago I undertook a multi-part review of John Loftus’ edited volume The Christian Delusion at “The Christian Post” website. Today Loftus published a link to a Youtube video which he titled “‘The Christian Delusion’ is Arming This Generation’s Atheists.” That lofty proclamation is all I need to start reposting the installments of that CP […]

T-Rex dung as a problem for Christians

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Pearson International Airport in Toronto has decent FREE wi-fi so here y’are. A mid-day post free of charge. This is prefatory to John Loftus’ essay in The Christian Delusion on natural evil. (I will present an actual review when I get back to Edmonton next week and have the book in front of me.) I […]

Hector Avalos puts Yahweh in the dock (or tries to)

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Hector Avalos, “Yahweh is a Moral Monster,” The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, ed. John Loftus (Amherst: Prometheus, 2010), 209-236. At long last we continue our ongoing, meandering, waxing and wandering review of The Christian Delusion with a quick review of Hector Avalos’ essay “Yahweh is a Moral Monster.” I don’t have too much to say about […]

What John Loftus has is a failure to communicate

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Chapter 7 of Loftus’ edited volume The Christian Delusion is by Loftus himself and is titled “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” In the essay Loftus intends to provide the reader with “a brief romp through the Bible with an eye on the failure of a perfectly good omniscient God to communicate […]