Post tagged with naturalism

  • The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 4)

    August 11th, 201109:12 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    In this installment of our ongoing review of Loftus, ed., The End of Christianity we turn to an evaluation of chapter 3 which is an essay by John W. Loftus titled "Christianity is wildly improbable". The essay begins with John's characteristic Braveheart-styled bravado: "When it comes to Christianity, two thousand years are enough. It's time this...

  • The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 2)

    August 09th, 201111:38 AM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    My last exchange with David Eller over his essay in The Christian Delusion was not pretty. Simply because I pointed out that he forgot to include an argument in his chapter he responded that I was "clearly unfamiliar with the abundant literature". That's a great line. In fact it is so good that I've appropriated it for my arsenal. So if ever anyone...

  • Goddidit and The Chatty Skeptic Doll

    May 27th, 201101:51 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    Is it possible that a historian could invoke divine agency as the best explanation of past events such as the reports of an empty tomb and post resurrection appearances that we find in a number of the documents collected into the New Testament? Robert thinks not. In the thread on "Heathenism, Naturalism, and other unstated premises" he writes: "Wh...

  • Does extraordinary uncleanliness require extraordinary soap?

    March 30th, 201103:28 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    Once again the claim has surfaced: "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." And once again I have had to shoot it down. Now what could be the problem with a principle so symmetrically reasonable? Grey days produce grey moods. Cold weather requires a cold weather jacket. Why wouldn't extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence?...

  • On the general skepticism about ancient miracle reports

    March 02nd, 201103:17 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    Many highly educated ancient historians (by which I mean historians that study ancient history, not historians that are really old) believe that the historical evidence supports the conclusion that Jesus was resurrected. For example, they point to the strong evidence for the empty tomb, post resurrection appearances, and the beliefs of the earliest...

  • Does the distribution of religious belief suggest a natural source?

    August 27th, 201004:49 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    Friends, Romans, Countrypersons, You will realize by looking at the calendar that September is almost upon us. For people like myself who make our nickel in the classroom, this means a crunch time getting ready for a new semester. But even so, you will still see me struggling mightily to keep the storefront at the Tentative Apologist Department St...

  • Objective aesthetic judgments and naturalism

    June 04th, 201001:54 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    I am in the midst of reviewing John Loftus's book The Christian Delusion but I am also permitted the occasional excursus. After all, it's my blog and who are you to tell me what to do? (Sorry, that's a bit too aggressive. It's been a busy morning and I'm a bit on edge.) Anyway, I digress. In the last thread the question of aesthetics has aris...

  • Chameleon Christianity? On "The Christian Delusion" (Part 3)

    June 02nd, 201011:42 AM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    Back in 84' George Michael 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 coming you only had seconds to swap the cassette with Van Halen or face the ignominy of being caught listening to the androgynous ambassador of British New Wave. Fast-for...

  • "This book completely destroys Christianity": On "The Christian Delusion" (Part 1)

    May 31st, 201011:45 AM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    John W. Loftus, ed. The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails. Prometheus Books, 2010. 419 pp. ISBN: 978-1616141684. Just a few years ago you'd have to cruise the streets of Portland, Oregon for at least half an hour before spotting a Darwin fish bumper sticker. But these days you just need to drive around the parking lot of the Tulsa Walmart to fin...

  • A close look at one atheist's reasons for rejecting supernaturalism

    May 11th, 201007:28 PM ET
    By Randal Rauser
    I was just notified that the this post was sabatoged by someone who is threatened by reasoned discourse. Here it is again as a repost. I find that very sad. Anyway I have reposted it:    Obviously it is important for all of us to think through our beliefs: why do we believe the things we do? It is that much more important to do so when...
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An exploration of faith, knowledge, reason and doubt (with the occasional trite pop culture reference thrown in for good measure).