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TechnoratiPOST PUBLISHED INJune, 2011
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Atheists who want atheism to be true
June 29th, 201110:00 AM ETLast time I blogged I got some protests from atheists over my description of protest atheism. Unfortunately none of the objections responded to the central illustration of the concept that I provided at the end of the article. Protest atheism is the belief that there is no God combined with the refusal to recognize or submit to or honor or worship ... -
Can an atheist hate God?
June 28th, 201109:36 AM ETOne of my readers, the irrepressible Beetle, thinks not. Beetle writes: "The fundy stereotype of the atheist has the latter hating God. But that is absurd of course, because one would not waste so much emotion on something which one did not believe in." But is it really absurd? Not according to protest atheism. This is a type of atheism which affi... -
What is the Greatest Enemy of Faith?
June 27th, 201112:56 PM ETThe other day I came across the following passage in a Peter Kreeft book: "Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith, just as indifference, not hate, is the strongest enemy of love." (Everything you ever wanted to know about Heaven, 20) That gets my vote for thought provoking quote of the day, and it rings true to my own experience. As... -
Why did God create carnivores?
June 24th, 201101:03 PM ETGod saw what he had made and declared it good. But if that is the case then where did all the predation, death, and carnivory in the natural world come from? Why do cheetahs hunt gazelles and why do sharks eat tuna? If the world is so good, why does it seem meticulously designed for suffering and death? In the article "Why Did God create carn... -
Who cares about truth when you have urban legends?
June 23rd, 201111:41 AM ETA few years ago I was at a church watching their Christmas pageant when the narrator shared with the audience the uplifting origins of the candy cane. According to the narrator, back in the 19th century a candy maker in Indiana, desiring to share his faith in Christ, developed a special new candy to share the gospel at Christmas. He began with a ha... -
Purgatory for Protestants
June 22nd, 201107:50 AM ETIn the comments on my discussion of ghosts CC asked: "Dr. Rauser, could you explain the purgatorial possibilities open to Protestants? I've never heard of this. It would certainly be fascinating in its interpretive potential as it applies to the paranormal." Glad to oblige CC. Purgatory, boiled down to essentials, is constituted by the following ... -
Should Christians believe in ghosts?
June 21st, 201104:25 PM ETThe question was recently posed to me by one of my readers. Stuart did not share my assumption that the world may contain ghosts who, among other things, might engage in hauntings: "I think you'll need to provide some more scritural backing to convince me that people can die (or be killed) and then their spirit can continue to inhabit/haunt a hous... -
Religion briefly defined
June 15th, 201102:03 PM ETA few weeks ago I blogged on the myth of religious violence. In the article I complained about those who define religion in an arbitrary fashion so as to marginalize a certain segment of the population. But how then does one define religion? I wasn't really interested in offering a clear definition at the time. Rather, I was more interested in iden... -
Consumerism as Religion
June 14th, 201107:09 PM ETTomorrow I fly to Rio de Janeiro to deliver an address on the topic of happpiness. As I have written the talk I have chosen to focus on two different, rival accounts of happiness: consumerism and Christian personalism. In preparing for my address I have been struck both by the overlap between consumerism and Christianity on key points as well as th... -
Why are atheists so obsessed with Zeus?
June 11th, 201104:11 PM ETIt's true. Spend some time as a theist talking to an atheist and pretty soon they'll introduce Zeus to the conversation. For example, Chris asked The Atheist Missionary to explain his atheistic view of morality. This was the end of TAM's reply: I don't propose to have all the answers on this. All I am fairly certain of is that my sense of right an... -
Must Hitler burn forever?
June 08th, 201109:43 PM ETIn case you've been thinking about hell a lot lately, or even if you haven't, have I got a rather sobering treat for you. Today I am making available for you free of charge a thirty-three page chapter I wrote on the doctrine of hell for a book manuscript called The Crazy Things We Believe. Thus far I've written three of an anticipated seven chapter... -
Does God ‘rape the will’ to save people from hell?
June 07th, 201111:27 AM ET"Irresistible force used by God on his free creatures would be a violation of both the charity of God and the dignity of humans. God is love. True love never forces itself on anyone. Forced love is rape, and God is not a divine rapist!" (Norman Geisler, "God knows all Things," Predestination and Free Will, (ed.) David Basinger and Randall Basinger ... -
Free will, hell, and reasonable appeals to emotion
June 06th, 201109:57 AM ETMany good conversations were had over my four days at Notre Dame University. One of the more interesting conversations occurred with one particular philosopher and concerned the topic of hell. (The philosopher will remain nameless since it is awkward to begin contacting people and asking for their permission to use their name in a blog post based o... -
James and his resurrected brother
June 03rd, 201107:36 AM ETPaul begins 1 Corinthians 15 by recounting a teaching he had given the Corinthians (c. AD 50/51) which he had himself received from others: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance...." This is technical rabbinical phrasing. One does not innovate on the teachings of the tradition. One faithfully passes it on without innovation... -
On slurring Cretans and Indians
June 01st, 201105:28 PM ETHappily ensconced within my hotel in South Bend, Indiana and with a couple hours until this evening's reception, I have decided to avail myself of a bit of blogging. I'll focus on responding to a key excerpt from davidstarlingm's defense of Paul's comments on the Cretans in Titus 1:12-13: Paul was telling Titus to rebuke those people, who were "ac...
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An exploration of faith, knowledge, reason and doubt (with the occasional trite pop culture reference thrown in for good measure).
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