Randal Rauser | |
---|---|
Born | Randal D. Rauser |
Nationality | Canadian |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Doctoral advisor | Colin Gunton |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Theology |
Sub-discipline | Historical theology |
School or tradition | Baptist |
Institutions | Taylor Seminary |
Website | randalrauser |
Randal D. Rauser is a Canadian Baptist theologian [1] who serves as an associate professor of historical theology at Taylor Seminary. [2] [3] [4]
Randal Rauser graduated with distinction from Trinity Western University in 1996 with a double major in English and Intercultural Religious Studies. [5] In 2003,he earned his PhD from King’s College,London;his dissertation being “Trinity,Mind and World:A Theological Epistemology of Mediation.” [5]
Rauser wrote a guide to The Shack in his companion volume Finding God in the Shack (Paternoster,2009). In the book Rauser responds to many of the objections raised by critics like Chuck Colson and Albert Mohler. [6] [7] Rauser has written a book with the ex-Christian minister and atheist polemicist John W. Loftus and debated him on radio. [8] Rauser has attempted to persuade people to practise analytic philosophy. [9]
Eugene H. Peterson praised Rauser as a "skilled and accessible theologian." [10] Dean Zimmerman praised Rauser as having the "intellectual honesty to face up to the genuine difficulties confronting his faith." Rauser and Peter Enns have discussed their views on biblical inerrancy. [11] [12]
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective,with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline,typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the supernatural,but also deals with religious epistemology,asks and seeks to answer the question of revelation. Revelation pertains to the acceptance of God,gods,or deities,as not only transcendent or above the natural world,but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and to reveal themselves to humankind.
Nicholas Paul Wolterstorff is an American philosopher and theologian. He is currently Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. A prolific writer with wide-ranging philosophical and theological interests,he has written books on aesthetics,epistemology,political philosophy,philosophy of religion,metaphysics,and philosophy of education. In Faith and Rationality, Wolterstorff,Alvin Plantinga,and William Alston developed and expanded upon a view of religious epistemology that has come to be known as Reformed epistemology. He also helped to establish the journal Faith and Philosophy and the Society of Christian Philosophers.
Richard John Mouw is an American theologian and philosopher. He held the position of President at Fuller Theological Seminary for 20 years (1993–2013),and continues to hold the post of Professor of Faith and Public Life.
Marilyn McCord Adams was an American philosopher and Episcopal priest. She specialized in the philosophy of religion,philosophical theology,and medieval philosophy. She was Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at Yale Divinity School from 1998 to 2003 and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 2004 to 2009.
John Zizioulas was a Greek Orthodox bishop who served as the Metropolitan of Pergamon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople from 1986 until his death in 2023. He was one of the most influential Orthodox Christian theologians of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Alan Torrance is professor of systematic theology at St Mary's College of the University of St Andrews. Previously he lectured at King's College London from 1993 to 1998,where he was also Director of the Research Institute in Systematic Theology. During this time he served as Senior Research Fellow at the Erasmus Institute,University of Notre Dame. He previously lectured at Knox Theological Hall and the University of Otago,Dunedin,New Zealand.
Christian hedonism is a Christian doctrine believed by some evangelicals. The term was coined by John Piper in his 1986 book Desiring God based on Vernard Eller's earlier use of the term hedonism to describe the same concept. Piper summarizes this philosophy of the Christian life as "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
Max Lynn Stackhouse was the Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the United Church of Christ and was the president of the Berkshire Institute for Theology and the Arts.
Vern Sheridan Poythress is an American philosopher,theologian,New Testament scholar and mathematician,who is currently the New Testament chair of the ESV Oversight Committee. He is also the Distinguished Professor of New Testament,Biblical Interpretation,and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary and editor of Westminster Theological Journal.
Theopoetics in its modern context is an interdisciplinary field of study that combines elements of poetic analysis,process theology,narrative theology,and postmodern philosophy. Originally developed by Stanley Hopper and David Leroy Miller in the 1960s and furthered significantly by Amos Wilder with his 1976 text,Theopoetic:Theology and the Religious Imagination.
Peter Eric Enns is an American Biblical scholar and theologian. He has written widely on hermeneutics,Christianity and science,historicity of the Bible,and Old Testament interpretation. Outside of his academic work Enns is a contributor to HuffPost and Patheos. He has also worked with Francis Collins' The BioLogos Foundation. His book Inspiration and Incarnation challenged conservative/mainstream Evangelical methods of biblical interpretation. His book The Evolution of Adam questions the belief that Adam was a historical figure. He also wrote The Bible Tells Me So:Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It and The Sin of Certainty:Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our 'Correct' Beliefs.
The Shack is a novel by Canadian author William P. Young that was published in 2007.
Brian Edward Daley,S.J. is an American Catholic priest,Jesuit,and theologian. He is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology (Emeritus) at the University of Notre Dame and was the recipient of a Ratzinger Prize for Theology in 2012.
Michael Cannon Rea is an American analytic philosopher and,since 2017,John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He delivered the 2017 Gifford Lecture on divine hiddenness.
Cornelius Van Til was a Dutch-American Reformed theologian,who is credited as being the originator of modern presuppositional apologetics.
John S. Dunne,C.S.C. was an American priest and theologian of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He held the John A. O'Brien Professorship of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
John Wayne Loftus is an American atheist author. He has written five books,and edited seven others.
Analytic Theology (AT) is a growing body of primarily Christian theological literature resulting from the application of the methods and concepts of late-twentieth-century analytic philosophy.
Bruce D. Marshall is a Catholic theologian and Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University. His work focuses primarily on Trinitarian theology,Christology,the relation of philosophy and theology,and the links shared between Judaism and Christianity.
Randal Rauser's highly readable and robust essay on "Theology as a Bull Session" makes an interesting case for analytic theology. Elaborating on the central thought of Harry Frankfurt's (now) famous essay "On Bullshit", Rauser argues that the emphasis on clarity typical of analytic philosophy will provide some protection against the tide of bullshit that is licensed (no doubt unintentionally) by theology in the style of Sally McFague and Jurgen Moltmann. I am readily persuaded by this contention, but it seems to me that the counters to bullshit -- clarity of expression, rigor of argument and honesty of intellectual purpose -- are merits in ALL intellectual inquiry and not the preserve of a distinctive theological method. Further, by quoting Maes and Schaubroek on this point Rauser effectively agrees, since their reference is to 'academic discourse' in general (p. 73).