The Tentative Apologist Archive

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Keeping an open mind about what exists

March 30th, 201012:05 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

My previous post, a scattering of seeds on rocky, sun-baked soil, has produced a crop of thirty fold (comments-wise). Since comment threads that take five minutes to scroll through tend to become rather unwieldy, I have decided to respond to some of the comments in new posts for a special Easter Week treat.Here I'll respond on two fronts. What is ...
Truthmakers that keep naturalists up at night

March 26th, 201001:51 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Christians are supernaturalists. That is, they believe that there are things that exist which are neither material (where material is understood to encompass both matter and energy) nor supervenient upon the material. (Definitional aside on supervenience: if x is supervenient upon y then x is irreducible to y (it is a new kind of thing) but is non...
Ms. B and the First Cave Man Sinner

March 24th, 201004:08 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from "Ms. B hammers the fall of Adam": Mr. A: Ms. B, your questions disturb me. It seems like whatever the fall is, it must be reconciled with the presence of a whole lot of prior suffering in the world. It seems like creation was groaning long before there was any Adam and Eve. Ms....
How to be spiritual in five minutes (or less): A Lenten Reflection

March 22nd, 201002:38 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

We live in a Dr. Phil world. It is a world in which deeply scarred, dysfunctional people can receive five minutes of counsel delivered with a Texas drawl, and supposedly be well on the road to recovery: "Y'all need to learn to forgive." Yes, turning around deeply entrenched patterns of thought and behavior is just that easy. Or so the producers w...
Ms. B hammers the fall of Adam

March 18th, 201001:59 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from "Ms. B points out that physical death came before Adam's fall" Ms. B: So Mr. A, how do you explain the fact that Genesis 1 claims that God created a world of vegetarians? Mr. A: Well Ms. B, I have this friend, MGT2... Ms. B: That's a strange name. Mr. A: Yes, well he suggest...
Ms. B points out that physical death came before Adam's fall

March 16th, 201011:24 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from Why Ms. B doesn't think we need a historical Adam (Part 1) Mr. A: So Ms. B, let me get this straight. You are suggesting that in Genesis 1-3 God may have accommodated to Ancient Near Eastern cosmology which assumed a first human person - an "Adam" - in the same way that God acco...
Jesus was right-wing, wasn't he?

March 14th, 201011:43 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

The comment in the thread to the last discussion hit me like a thunderbolt! "RDs comebacks are typical left-wing thinking." Kaboom! Am I really (gulp) left wing? Let me try to convey the shock to you. Compare: "Careful! He's evincing signs that he's been bitten by a zombie! He could become a frothing soldier in the army of the walking dead any...
Does God only care about abortion and homosexuality?

March 11th, 201001:48 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

You might be asking this question if you listened to many evangelicals who still seem to trundle out these two issues as the single matters of ethical concern. Of course, on a good day some will venture out a bit further and expand the moral sphere to include other matters of sexual ethics. But even so, great swathes of the moral life (e.g. climate...
Why Ms. B doesn’t think we need a historical Adam (Part 1)

March 08th, 201001:48 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from "Why Mr. A believes we need a historical Adam" Ms. B: Here's your rooibos tea Mr. A. Mr. A: Thank you, Ms. B. You're very kind. Now, you were going to explain why you think the Christian doesn't need a historical Adam. Ms. B: Yes, down to business. Are you familiar with the co...
How to Make Sure You’re Never Proven Wrong Again: Part 1

March 05th, 201011:51 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Nobody likes being proven wrong. So I am always thankful to my readers whenever they point out new ways to protect yourself from ever having to eat a slice of humble pie. With that in mind I will say a few words about two criteria recently demonstrated by two of my readers. I'll focus in this post on the first criterion with the second yet to come....
Why Mr. A believes we need a historical Adam

March 04th, 201002:27 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Ms. B: Mr. A, you look pensive. Is something wrong? Mr. A: Well before I consider further your attempt to read the Genesis creation and fall narratives as mythical, I need to get something off my chest. Ms. B: Go ahead Mr. A. There are no secrets here. Mr. A: Okay, how can you suggest that Adam might not be a historical figure when he is treated...
Why do people get dumb when they read the Bible?

March 02nd, 201009:27 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

We all know how to read a newspaper. We critically digest the editorial, laugh at the comics, and take note of the movie times. Nor is such interpretive sophistication limited to adults. When it comes to putting the kiddies to bed, we pull a copy of McGillicuddy's Omnibus of Facts and Fun off the shelf. First we read a silly limerick, and little Jo...
The Fall of "Adam": A Brief Intermezzo

March 01st, 201012:44 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from "Genesis Creation as Myth and a Scientific Worldview". Mr. A: So it may be that in some way the creation narrative of Adam and Eve is a myth. Still, this leaves me with many questions. For instance, are Adam and Eve real people? Ms. B: The word "Adam" means "man", the word "Eve...

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An exploration of faith, knowledge, reason and doubt (with the occasional trite pop culture reference thrown in for good measure).