Randal Rauser's Blog, page 56

Is Progressive Christianity Worse Than Atheism? My Response to Alisa Childers

In this video, I offer a response to Christian apologist Alisa Childers’ article “5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity.”

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Heaven, Hell, and Much In-Between: An Interview

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Some Quick Book Updates

Update One: A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay for a book collection titled Surviving Corona: Believers and nonbelievers examine their worldview during this time of crisis. It’s only three bucks and proceeds go to the Red Cross. On the downside, Amazon.com initially rejected the book. We assumed, at the time, that the rejection was due to an attempt to prevent publication of quack Coronavirus cures. Well, this morning the editor David Johnson received word that Amazon is now publishing the book. If you want to support a good cause, you can purchase it here.

Update Two: I got an idea for a book on May 3 and I started writing. I completed the manuscript two weeks later. The book is 50,000 words and 25 short chapters surveying a range of topics pertaining to theology and apologetics. Details to follow in the coming weeks.

Supplementary Update: I will be on SJ Thomason’s YouTube channel today at 2 pm Mountain time talking about eschatology (hell, heaven, intermediate state, etc.).

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Hell, Annihilationism, and Eternal Conscious Torment: An Interview

Here is an interview I recorded today with Zac of the Adherent Apologetics YouTube channel.

 

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Arminians, Calvinists, Orthodoxy, and Mere Christianity

Arminians and Calvinists are often mistrustful of each other despite the fact that each tradition protects a shared deposit of mere Christianity.

Or do they? Some folks in each theological camp appear to think that representatives from the other side have abdicated their core theological convictions.

But one thing I’ve observed over time is that Calvinists, for the most part, tend to be more tribal and doubtful of the Christian credentials of their Arminian brothers and sisters than vice versa. So I thought I’d post two polls to test my impression.

The results may be unscientific, but at least my intuitions were confirmed, so there is that.

A survey for my Calvinist friends:

Would you have a problem with the primary preaching pastor in your church being an Arminian?

— Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) May 16, 2020

A survey for my Arminian friends:

Would you have a problem with the primary preaching pastor in your church being an Calvinist?

— Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) May 16, 2020

 

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On the Fallacies of the Theological Conservative

In this video, I critique Baptist theologian Russell Moore’s treatment of universalism. Unfortunately, the sound level is low but I’m not inclined to re-record it so it is what it is.

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Quick Thought on Canaanite Genocide and the Brutalizing Effects of Violence

You can’t hire a guy to work 9-5 in a slaughterhouse and not expect that to affect how he interacts with animals outside the workplace. The same principle applies in war. People can only sustain the cognitive dissonance introduced by combat situations for so long before it affects their character generally. The history of war is littered with seemingly good people with no prior history of unethical conduct who engage in heinous actions on the battlefield like rape and cannibalism. They didn’t start out as monsters. The battlefield did that.

If the Israelites actually slaughtered entire civilian populations of Canaanites, Amalekites, and Midianites, what impact would those actions have had on the individuals committing the atrocities as well as the national psyche? And all this to protect Israel’s moral purity?

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Christians, Atheists, and Coronavirus

Hey all,

I’m an essayist/contributor to this new collection of essays by Christians and atheists fundraising for the Red Cross to fight Coronavirus. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy for a mere 3 bucks or any other donation, please do so. We’re hoping to raise $5000 US.

Also, if you’d like to spread the word via your own social media channels, I’d be grateful.

Thanks! And stay safe.

https://skepticsandseekers.squarespace.com/surviving-corona

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Methodological Naturalism is BAD Historical Method

Methodological naturalism — the idea that all causes to which one appeals must be “natural” — is bad historical method. It’s pure dogmatism, that’s all.

Here is a simple illustration: in his famous book Chariots of the Gods, Erich Von Daniken visited ancient human civilizations. It’s a bad theory but note that it is, nonetheless, a theory of history, an attempt to reconstruct past events based upon presently available evidence. Von Daniken could possibly have found evidence to win over historians.

It also follows that he could have discovered evidence that these aliens came from the Vega star system. He also could’ve discovered that long ago they created a Dyson sphere, harnessing the power of a star.

He could’ve discovered that they actually came from another universe altogether through some multiverse hopping technology that we cannot fathom. He could’ve discovered that they even created this universe.

In principle, such evidence could be discovered by a historian.

So here’s the conclusion: If the historian, in principle, can discover evidence that aliens who created this universe raised a man from the dead, the historian can, in principle, discover evidence that God raised a man from the dead.

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Is it ethical for a Christian to insult Donald Trump?

Recently, I’ve heard that Donald Trump refuses to wear a mask because he cares about the way he looks.

Funny, I would’ve thought that if he cared about the way he looks, he’d be more inclined to wear a mask.

That, of course, sounds like an insult, that is, a disrespectful or scornful remark about another person. And for that reason, many Christians will insist that it is wrong to have said it.

Maybe, but maybe not. Jesus regularly made cutting and incisive comments about powerful people who were abusing and victimizing others. For example, he called them white-washed tombs, a reference to the fact that their visible presentation looked respectable but their moral core was dead and corrupt.

Fair enough, you might think, this kind of language may be permissible if the target is a powerful person who is harming others and the language itself is intended as a specific indictment of that individual and his/her behavior.

But that’s not the case with my opening Trump joke, right?

Actually, no. That’s not correct. In fact, that opening quip is intended as an indictment very similar to Jesus’ language about white-washed tombs. The point isn’t that Trump is ugly. The point is that (1) Trump is completely lacking in self-awareness and awareness of how he is perceived by others and (2) Trump’s priorities are completely corrupt as evidenced, for example, in the fact that he cares more for his physical presentation than modelling responsible socially distancing and appropriate PPE.

So if Jesus could make incisive critical comments about corrupt leaders being white-washed tombs, is it permissible to make a similarly incisive, critical comment about this corrupt leader being vain and inept?

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