Peter (host):
What would it take for an atheist to believe that God exists? When it comes to Richard Dawkins - a professor at Oxford University - he can’t seem to answer this question.
Interviewer:
So what would persuade you?
Richard Dawkins:
Well, I'm starting to think nothing would. which is which in a way goes against the grain because I've always paid lip service to the view that a scientist should change his mind when evidence is forthcoming, probably is I can't think what that evidence will look like.
Peter (host):
Many people have claimed that Christianity is objectively false.
George Carlin:
That's because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None. Not one. No God never was.
Peter (host):
But there are plenty of other people who have studied the evidence and decided that it was objectively true.
Video clips:
Prove it.
Yeah, let’s see you prove that Christianity is true.
Peter (host):
Well, as we discussed in the last episode, the word “prove” is a slippery term. What one person considers to have been “proven” has not been “proven” to someone else.
Video clips:
Look, Bob, proof that aliens do exist.
Is this proof enough for ya?
That’s enough for me.
Nope. Nope. Absolutely not.
It’s just not enough.
Not good enough.
Peter (host):
So I think it’s best not to talk about proving Christianity. Instead, it’s better to talk about providing a compelling case or showing that Christianity is more than 50% likely to be true.
Video clips:
Only 50% likely to be true?!
That’s it?
That’s lame.
Pathetic.
Peter (host):
Hey, I didn’t say it was only 50%. I said that it was more than 50% which is just another way of saying it’s more rational to believe than to deny. That’s my point. The truth is, it could be much more than 50%. It could be 70%, or 90%, or 100%. I’m just saying that a good case will require it to be at least 51%. How much more is a different matter.
Video clips:
Why do you have to be so logical?
Pathetic.
Oh, get a life.
Peter (host):
Hey! It’s important to be precise. And it’s important to think carefully, critically, and logically. If you’re going to do apologetics well, that’s what you have to do.
Video clip:
So boring.
Peter (host):
Well, if you’re not willing to be precise, and logical, and careful in your thinking you’re going to end up doing apologetics in the way that many academics think of the word. Do you remember how lots of university professors and scholars think of it?
Video clip:
They don’t respect it.
Peter (host):
Right. These academics think of apologetics, and apologists, as people who have sloppy, bad arguments. That’s a big part of how they view apologists. And the only way to avoid biased, bad arguments is to be careful and precise in your thinking.
Video clips:
Ok, fine.
Well, if we have to.
Do we have to?
Peter (host):
Ah… yes.., ok, you have to.
Video clips:
Oohhh
Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.
Peter (host):
In this episode, we’re going to do two main things. First, we’re going to understand what the core message of Christianity is. Second, we’re going to take a brief look at some of the apologetics used to support this core message. So first let’s understand what the core message is.
Video clip:
It’s about ethics and morals and Jesus.
Peter (host):
Well, kind of. It is about Jesus. You can distill the message, also called the gospel, into four main points. The first is that God loves us and he created us to worship and glorify him. The second point is that we have failed to worship and obey God. In other words, all of us have sinned and deserve to be punished as a result. That’s the bad news.
Video clip:
Well, what about Jesus?
Peter (host):
Well, that’s the good news. The third point is that God made it possible for us to be forgiven through Jesus’ death on a cross. In his death and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and therefore we can be forgiven by God. And just as he came back to life, we can also enjoy eternal life.
Video clip:
Sounds great.
Peter (host):
Well, it is great. And the more you come to understand it the more you realize how great it is. The fourth point is that each of us needs to accept what Jesus has done for us. We each need to make Jesus the Saviour and Lord of our lives. That is, we need to accept the free gift of salvation and then change our lives so that it is focused on God and his will for our lives.
Video clip:
That’s not easy
Peter (host):
Well receiving a free gift isn’t hard; that’s really easy. But repenting of the sin in your life can be difficult. However, repentance is something that will transform your life in a good way. Of course, how difficult it is all depends on how much you love your sin. People often enjoy doing what is wrong and they don’t like giving it up. But the good news is that God works in you to bring about that change. It’s not something you do on your own. It’s not even something you can do on your own if you wanted to. Only God can really change you if you let him. If you want that change, you should ask God to start changing you.
Peter (host):
So those four points summarize the whole of the core Christian message.
Video clip:
Is that the truth?
Peter (host):
Yes, that’s the truth and because it’s the objective truth, there’s good evidence for it.
Video clip:
Well, let’s hear it.
Peter (host):
Alright but keep in mind that this is just a short summary of how some apologists make the case for the gospel that I just explained. If you want a much more fully developed case then you’ll need to listen to other LIT series or check out the suggested resources on the Worldview Summit website.
Peter (host):
Now, there are two really core aspects to the gospel message. The first one is the existence of God and the second is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. If those two things are true we can say the absolute core of Christianity is true. There are other things that are also important but they aren’t as foundational as those two things.
George Carlin:
That's because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None. Not one. No God never was.
Peter (host):
Many atheists think there is no evidence for God but there are a number of very well-respected philosophers who disagree. For example, William Lane Craig has a Ph.D. in philosophy and has engaged in dozens of debates over the course of his life. Over and over again, he wins these debates against some of the top atheists and skeptics in the world.
Video clip:
What does he say?
Peter (host):
He usually presents a few key arguments for God which includes first, the kalam cosmological argument which argues for a cause that explains the beginning of the universe. Second, he’ll probably present the fine tuning argument which argues that certain constants found in the laws of physics are very finely tuned. And third, he’ll also present the moral argument for the existence of God which says that because objective morality exists therefore God exists.
Video clips:
That went right over my head.
Right
Over
Yeah, me too.
So anyway
What else does he say?
Peter (host):
Craig also presents historical arguments for Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. These are based on a few key historical facts which the majority of scholars agree upon, including scholars who aren’t Christians. These facts include Jesus' death and burial; the discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb by a group of his female followers; his disciples’ claims that they saw Jesus alive after his death; and the origin of the belief that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Video clips:
That was a lot of information.
Let’s unpack that, shall we?
Peter (host):
Well, to be honest, I’d rather not. The whole case for the resurrection deserves an entire LIT series itself; in fact, it could actually use several series. And each of the arguments for the existence of God could use at least one LIT series. There’s just too much to try and cover here. Remember that this series is just supposed to be an introduction to apologetics.
Video clips:
You’re just scared.
Afraid. You’re afraid.
Go ahead. Don’t be shy.
Peter (host):
Nooo, I’m not afraid or shy. I’m happy to explain more; this just isn’t the right time or place. There are other LIT series that will do that and you’re encouraged to check them out. But if you really want to get deep into it right now, and you want to hear someone like Dr. Craig in his own words, then I encourage you to go to YouTube and type “William Lane Craig” and the word “debate.” There are plenty of debates you can watch online right now.
Video clips:
Great debates
I love them!
I love them!
Love a good fight!
Let’s get ready to rumble!
Peter (host):
They’re certainly interesting and exciting debates but I wouldn’t think of them as “fights” or “rumbles.” Craig is a professional philosopher and a true scholar. These debates are usually formal debates that deal with complex issues. So you need to be prepared to think carefully and deeply. By the time you’re watching this, if I’ve already made some LIT series on the topics, you could benefit from watching some of those series first. If not, you can look elsewhere for info. But just be ready to go deep.
Video clips:
Deep.
I’m going deep, deep, deep
Peter (host):
Deep! Good! Yeah, glad to hear it.
Peter (host):
Before we finish off today, I want to share a quote with you from Dr. Thomas Nagel. This quote is specifically for those of who might be really skeptical that any good argument for God exists. Nagel is an emeritus professor of philosophy at New York University. He’s very well respected and he’s an atheist. During the course of his career, he’s spent time reading the best and brightest philosophers. These philosophers haven’t convinced him that God exists but they have led him to say this.
Dr. Thomas Nagel:
I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers.
Peter (host):
If the brilliant Thomas Nagel is made uneasy by the level of intelligence he finds amongst the theists he interacts with, that suggests that perhaps there might just be some half-decent reasons for believing that God exists.
Peter (host):
In this episode, we laid out what it means to be a Christian in four main points. These points are all built on two core pillars. The first is that God exists and the second is that Jesus died and rose again. A lot of Christian apologetics is done to defend these two key pillars and there are different types of apologists who take different approaches. One well-respected apologist, Dr. William Lane Craig, defends these points by presenting a few arguments for the existence of God and then giving historical arguments for Jesus’ death and resurrection. We didn’t try to explain these very much because this whole series is just supposed to be an introduction to apologetics.
Video clip:
Afraid. You’re afraid.
Peter (host):
No, I assure you, I’m not afraid. We just don’t have the time here and it wouldn’t fit with this being an introductory series. In our next episode we’re going to return to a point we brought up briefly in a previous episode. We’re going to think some more about those people who want to just be neutral with respect to Christianity and all the religions of the world. These people often see themselves as undecided. And on surveys, they will often identify as having no religious affiliation. The thing is, someone certainly can be non-religious but they cannot be neutral. Everyone has to decide what’s true and what’s false.
Female Narrator:
You’re listening to LIT by Worldview Summit with Peter Kupisz.