Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

randal rauser

For God So Loved the Whole World: Confessions of a green, liberal, Christian tree hugger 

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

About a year ago I was invited to speak at a church conference on the topic of my 2013 book What On Earth Do We Know About Heaven? However, the two gentlemen who had extended the invitation did have one concern before proceeding. When they’d heard me talk previously about the church’s mission in the world, I had included a concern for the environment and animals alongside the traditional evangelical concern for evangelism. And this left them suspicious. “That sounds like the ‘Green’ movement!” one of them said accusingly, as if “Green” were a four letter word.

In my defense, I noted that God called human beings to be good stewards of the earth (Genesis 1:28). And I pointed out that just as the fall had affected all creation, so Paul promised the redeeming work of Christ would be good news for all creation (Romans 8:19-21). I concluded my brief homily for environmental stewardship with a triumphant flourish: If Christ was working to save the entire world, shouldn’t that be our mandate as well?

The two men stared back at me, clearly unconvinced. Then one replied: “Look, if I have to choose between worrying about the environment and telling people about Jesus, I’ll tell people about Jesus!”

And that was it. These two men had concluded that I was some kind of green, liberal Christian tree hugger who had more concern for spotted owls than lost souls. With that, the invitation to speak was quickly withdrawn.

In retrospect, it’s just as well. I could hardly speak at a… [Read more…] about For God So Loved the Whole World: Confessions of a green, liberal, Christian tree hugger 

Dear Christian, the world isn't getting worse. In fact, it's probably getting better.

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Not all Christians believe the world is getting worse. But those who hold to what is called “premillennialism” do, and they tend to dominate the evangelical conversation in North America. (In premillennialism, the expectation is that the world will get worse and worse overall until Christ enters history and establishes his peaceable milllennial kingdom.)

Premillennial evangelicals tend to be rather selective in identifying putative evidence that the world is getting worse. For example, they focus on issues like gay marriage and transgender washrooms. My concern here is not to debate the morality of gay marriage or transgender washrooms. Rather, my point is that even if you do believe that these things are morally errant, it would be absurd to think isolated examples like those are sufficient to establish an overall trajectory of societal decay.

As a seminary professor for the last fifteen years, I regularly encounter this pessimistic perspective in my students. I continue to be dismayed at how many Christians blithely assume things are getting worse. But I’ve found one simple way to shake up their perspective: I borrow a famous thought experiment from philosopher John Rawls in which Rawls proposes a way to envision the just society.

Here’s how my version goes: imagine that you are about to be born, but you do not know what gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status you will have when born. Nor do you know whether you will have a physical or mental disability. With that in… [Read more…] about Dear Christian, the world isn't getting worse. In fact, it's probably getting better.

What’s splitting your church? Worship music or genocide?

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Image derived from “Parish Church, Rwamagana, Rwanda” by SteveRwanda licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”—John 13:35

Suburban North American Church

As everybody rose to sing Al stayed seated in the pew, arms crossed defiantly. He never stood during the choruses. Driving drums, distorted guitar and vacuous lyrics. “They make it sound like Jesus is my boyfriend,” he muttered. “Everything sounds like it came straight off secular radio.”

Al scanned the sanctuary. Granted there were a number of new young families. But that seemed to be all this fool young “worship” pastor cared about: “New, young families.” Al made eye contact with Fred across the aisle. Fred was standing but he had a scowl on his face that could make paint peel. “I’ll have to speak with Fred after church,” Al thought. “It’s time to take action. It’s time to get rid of that twit up there and his ‘choruses’.”

Suburban Rwandan Church

Emmanuel always felt the pain, especially at Easter. It had been twenty years since his wife and children had been massacred in the genocide. People had said that the pain would lessen over time. Emmanuel had believed them for a while. But he didn’t any longer. Every day he thought about his precious daughters. Today they would be young women, but instead they were cut down as young children…

Emmanuel looked around the congregation at the Hutu… [Read more…] about What’s splitting your church? Worship music or genocide?

Homosexuality and the Bible: Beyond the Dichotomy between Biblical Prophets and Cultural Compromisers

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Over the last several years few social issues have caught the attention of the Christian community like homosexuality. Critics often complain that the attention and emotional energy that Christians have directed toward this particular issue are disproportionate to its relative importance (see, for example, my article “Ten things that are more disturbing than gay marriage”).

Regardless, the topic has assumed for many conservatives (“the prophets”) the status of a sort of litmus test that distinguishes those who accept “what the Bible teaches” over-against those “compromisers” who allow their opinions to be shaped by the contemporary culture. On this construal, the prophet recognizes and submits to the infallibility of the moral and prudential witness of the biblical authors, and they faithfully proclaim it even when it diverges from the culture. By contrast, the compromiser subverts the moral and prudential witness of the biblical authors to the culture, and thereby they subvert the authority of scripture itself.

In this article, I’m going to challenge this dichotomy between “prophets” and “compromisers.” In particular, I’m going to argue that Christians who uphold the authority of scripture can — and often do — disagree with biblical authors. Once we recognize this fact, we can begin to have more open and irenic discussions about topics like homosexuality.

To make my case I will argue that some biblical authors express views about corporal punishment — in… [Read more…] about Homosexuality and the Bible: Beyond the Dichotomy between Biblical Prophets and Cultural Compromisers

How the Traditional Doctrine of Hell Undermines Christian Character

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

Last year I interviewed Robin Parry, author of the book The Evangelical Universalist (which he wrote under the pseudonym “Gregory MacDonald”). During the interview, Robin observed that Christians should want universalism to be true. Indeed, he put the point rather provocatively when he declared,
“You’d have to be a psychopath not to want [universalism] to be true.”
Psychopath?! That’s mighty strong language, isn’t it? But as provocative as that statement might sound, Parry pointed out that Calvinist philosopher Paul Helm agrees on the main point: Christians should want universalism to be true.

If you want to see folk damned, there is something wrong with you

Nor is Helm the only defender of eternal conscious torment to make this point. With the publication of Knowing God in 1973, J.I. Packer quickly established himself as one of the foremost conservative Calvinist theologians and a staunch defender of doctrines like penal substitution and eternal conscious torment. As conservative as he is, even Packer makes the following declaration: “If you want to see folk damned, there is something wrong with you!” (Revelations of the Cross (Hendrickson, 1998), 163).

If, as Packer suggests, you shouldn’t want to see anybody damned, then it logically follows that you should want to see them all saved. And wanting to see all people saved entails wanting universalism to be true.

This leaves us with an interesting… [Read more…] about How the Traditional Doctrine of Hell Undermines Christian Character