Randal Rauser's Blog, page 4
October 28, 2023
Owning the Unknown: A Review
Robert Charles Wilson, Owning the Unknown: A Science Fiction Writer Explores Atheism, Agnosticism, and the Idea of God. Pitchstone, 2023. Accomplished science fiction writer Robert Charles Wilson’s new book Owning the Unknown is equal parts memoir and philosophical meditation as Wilson recounts his own brushes with the mystery of the universe through vignettes from his life interwoven […]
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September 24, 2023
Atheists Who Love God
On September 22, 2023, I presented a lecture at Eastern University titled “Atheists Who Love God.” One of the audience members, David Gray, recorded the lecture from his seat and kindly sent me the file. As you can imagine, the sound quality isn’t ideal (not that I’m complaining!), but if you’re interested in what I […]
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August 23, 2023
Satanism and Christianity: How Wide the Divide? (Not as Wide as You Might Think!)
My interview with Stephen Bradford Long, a minister for The Satanic Temple. My apologies, the beginning of the video cut out and I had some problems with the audio/video but c’est la vie. You can visit Stephen Long online here: https://stephenbradfordlong.com/ And here are the 7 Tenets of The Satanic Temple: https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/th... ?
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August 21, 2023
Christian Hospitality and the Problem of Selfish Motivation
Hebrews 13:2 offers a plea for hospitality that is very well-known among Christians, one that is meant to motivate to action with a reminder that you may, in fact, be entertaining angels: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Thus, […]
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Christians and Satanists in Dialogue
I recently joined a dialogue hosted by MultiFaith Matters with Stephen Bradford Long, a minister in The Satanic Temple. You’ll be surprised with how much we agree! Here is the description from the YouTube page: “On July 25 The Satanic Temple (TST) celebrated one of their holidays, Unveiling Day. Their website describes this as a […]
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August 17, 2023
Evangelical Apologists Still Need to Come to Terms with Ravi Zacharias
I always knew that Ravi Zacharias was a bullshit artist. By “bullshit artist” I mean a person who manipulates language irrespective of its truth, falsity, or even coherence, to serve their personal interest rather than to serve truth. This definition is based on the concept of bullshit helpfully articulated by Harry Frankfurt in his aptly […]
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August 15, 2023
Defanging Aslan? The Problem of Carnivores in the Kingdom
I was raised with a view of the afterlife which consisted of equal parts platonic dualism and fanciful folk theology replete with halos, clouds, harps, and interminable hymn singing. So it was a matter of considerable relief when I discovered that an orthodox Christian understanding of the afterlife was a far more holistic and this-worldly […]
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July 14, 2023
Matthew 18 as a Recipe for Abuse (The Unhealthy Church Part 2)
In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus teaches his followers how to deal with conflict within the church. In a cruel irony, this valuable teaching is often twisted by well-meaning Christians in a manner that perpetuates abuse. In this article, we will take a look at the teaching, consider how it is abused, and outline guidelines for its […]
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July 9, 2023
The Unhealthy Church Part 1: Taking Up Your Cross Does Not Mean Subjecting Yourself to Abuse
In this series, I am identifying various ways that particular Christian beliefs can be distorted within Christian communities, often in subtle yet devastating ways that increase the likelihood of abuse and exploitation. We begin in this first article with what is arguably the central doctrine that defines the Christian life: the call to take up […]
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