William Lane Craig on Philosophy, Adam & Eve, Jesus, Suffering, and Bad Arguments for God 

So the same god that allows billions of children to suffer and die personally told your 88 year old great-grandmother that it wasn't her time?

It is not uncommon for personalities to change after vivid hallucinations. There is no good evidence that NDEs point to an afterlife. People are not dead during NDEs.

But NDEs are so different, I dont know which ones to believe.

@@iamwtl What does it mean to "believe an NDE"? I believe that maybe up to15% of people in medical crises have these unusual experiences later called NDEs. But I don't believe most of their interpretations of these experiences. The most common interpretation, which I don't believe is true or rational, is that during the experience the person is gaining a glimpse of some afterlife. The experience may be some kind of built-in comfort or defense mechanism for people who believe that they are dying. However, the weight of the evidence points to the conclusion that when the brain dies, then personal existence, subjective experience, memory, and identity come to an end. We wish it were otherwise, but wishing doesn't make it so.

Agree, although Habermas wouldn't be the guy to go to. He should look at the NDE research itself -- people like Dr. Jeff Long, Dr. Pim von Lommel, Dr. Kenneth Ring, Dr. Raymond Moody, Dr. Bruce Greyson, etc. 200+ peer-reviewed articles in the literature. Many of them were skeptics prior to investigation, and all of them were convinced by their own research that consciousness survives death of the body. You will often hear skeptics toss out lame "explanations" (e.g., hypoxia, 'hallucinations of a dying brain,' wishful thinking, etc.) that have long been refuted in the literature, but these skeptics are never actually familiar with the literature, they just hand-wave the area away based on their own ignorance (see Dunning-Kruger effect). The data is there for anyone who is not one of these "dismiss before investigation" skeptics. I put Craig in the latter camp. I think some of this (on Craig's part) is because some NDE reports contradict evangelical Christian doctrine (e.g., people in NDEs often report that no one religion is privileged, or that there is no hell in the traditional sense). I think that contributes to some evangelical Christians' skepticism toward NDEs. They feel like the information might contradict their fundamental beliefs, and so they dismiss it.

In the begining was the word.There could be primates that did not use words to define reality.Original sin can be when humans became self conscious.Thus they separated themselves from there surrounding when they ate the fruit

Thinking you know reality from a limited 3d perspective is the brain washing

God isn't real.

@@alexnorth3393Really I never would have thought? Do you have any arguments or just that insultingly timed pointless sentence. They are talking about their daughter who suffered trauma and all you care about is a 3 word sentence to “prove” god isn’t real.

I pray that she will find the joy that comes from having a relationship with Jesus. This is the only way to make sense of suffering.

I will pray your daughter's salvation.

evolution is a lie sold to children and pseudo-scientists. Craig is a heretic.

As a Christian, thank you for this comment. I get so tired of seeing people who don’t actually engage seriously with the content and just mock, this is a very refreshing attitude to see. Whether you believe in Him, I hope that God will be with you and bless you, friend.

I’m definitely in the same camp, he’s a really beautiful human, musta watched some 20+ hours of him by now w/ zero religious affiliation but he’s just so loving and kind to everyone I can’t help but to watch.

@@BrodieTV couldn't agree more.

Although I am not a theist, I have to applaud you. The mainstream Christianity is fundamentally incoherent.

I agree. The burden of proof is now on the theist to actually tell us what would God's morally sufficient reason would be for allowing the Holocaust and other horrible harms, if he did exist. They haven't been able to come up with any rational response.

I'm not a philosopher, but as Christians we're often expected to take certain things at face value, merely because "God said it", and so that would be my guess as to why the standard applies to Christians and not atheists.

@@christianthames2302 thank you for the reply, Christian Thames. So there’s a couples worries to consider about your suggestion. First, there’s a fallacy called “begging the question” that could be relevant here. It’s a kind of circular reasoning where someone attempts to use their conclusion in defense of their conclusion. So in the context of discussing whether God is necessary for objective moral truth, if Craig were to say “but God says I’m right,” this would seem to be obviously question-begging. Craig needs to give theory-independent reason to think he is correct (i.e., reasons that even non-theists could accept). But second, even if your reply isn’t fallacious reasoning, notice that it is available to those opposing Craig too! There are Christians that disagree with Craig on both issues (and atheists that agree with Craig too, for that matter). Neither dispute requires atheists and Christians to oppose each other, so it’s unclear who exactly this “God says so” move helps. Christians who oppose Craig on both issues could simply claim that God is on their side!

@@stevewatersofficial thank you for your reply. So I’m afraid I don’t have time to give you alternative metaethical groundings for moral prescriptions-but no, objective moral obligations need not be grounded in anyone’s intentionality, God or man (in fact, I doubt this is even possible, since it’s strictly a form of subjectivity about ethics, either the human subject or the God subject). Please go to either the internet encyclopedia of philosophy or the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy and search “metaethics.” As for your point about the logical consistency of Craig’s favored views-that’s a non sequitur. As far as I know, all positions on the table for both disputes can be made to be logically consistent with biblical texts! What Craig owes us is a principled reason for playing the “deeper explanation” card in one area of metaphysics, but rebuffing its use in another area of metaphysics, despite BOTH concerning alleged metaphysical primitives. Until he does, I see no good reason to think those who take some moral truths to be unexplained facts are making any more dubious of a move than Craig taking the counterfactuals of freedom to be unexplained facts.

I agree with you. Craig should know that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. He is sometimes inconsistent.

@@christianthames2302 But those things we take at face value we find in Scripture. we don't find middle knowledge in Scripture & it is also something that God is subject to, which raises the question, "is middle knowledge the real god?".

I believe we share the suffering of Christ because we are united to him. Christ said to Saul: why are you persecuting me (Saul was persecuting Christians). Paul said he was making up in his own body what is still to be undergone by Christ.

We suffer the terrible consequences of sin done against us it says in bible we don't have to suffer cause jesus did but that isn't true we also suffer the deep pain of Consequences of sin done against us

Yes, something more profound is here: God doesn't exist!

Can you furnish us with an actual example of your suffering to validate your argument? 🤔

@@davidlenett8808 What are you talking about? My argument, specifically my Holocaust argument, is not about my suffering.

You fail to realize that if God did exist, humans would not experience horrible harms, such as the Holocaust or the Turkish-Syrian earthquakes. He would prevent these things. Thus, he does not exist.

@@whittfamily1 If you bothered to read the Bible you would see that your view is erroneous. The reason for suffering is Man's rebellion against his maker, the inevitable result of our failure to do what He commands.

@@martinploughboy988 I've bothered to read the entire Bible twice and parts of it many more times. My view is correct. If you think otherwise, then find and present an error in it. There is no good evidence that man had a maker. In fact, we now know that God does not exist. This has been proven.

@@whittfamily1 Since you know God exists, your last last two sentences are simply the denial of what you know to be true. A very silly position. The previous sentence is also silly, since there is no means by which life could exist except by means of a supernatural Creator. I gave you the error in my previous post, suffering exists because of the evil rebellion of Man. God did not originally make a world with suffering, mankind is responsible for that.

I put myself in a "Spiritual" mindset. Has your "Spirit" existed for a very long time? Yes. Is what happens in this Physical realm just a blink of an eye in eternity? Yes. Do you dwell on the worst pain you ever had daily? No, eventually you forgive, move on.

Well the idea is more god was guiding the evolution towards our level of intelligence and bipedalism. God waited and guided the evolution because talking to early would have been pointless since they didn’t have the brain power to understand. You can’t teach a great ape about religion, their level of intelligence doesn’t understand that other creatures can know things they don’t know. You’ll never see a animal ask a question about something, they will only ask for food and toys, ect because they don’t understand the words they just understand “when I make this sound or symbol I get this”

By using even the slightest bit of critical thinking..

@@Jewonastick oh, I hadn’t considered that. Thank you for showing me the light… what a joke

@@thetannernation Dr Graig; "So my attitude is that... far from raising the bar, the epistemic bar for Christianity to be believed, I lower it. I think this is a message so fantastic that if there is any evidence that it's true then it's worth believing in." What a fantastic argument! Believing something cause you like what it says..... Or; " I thought if there is just one chance in a million this is true, it's worth believing"... Fuqing hilarious! "

I do not love him because he purveys what is false, probably false, unproven, useless, and/or sometimes harmful.

1. Because he claims to believe in sola scriptura but make Scripture subject to science. 2. Because he places too much emphasis on broken human reason.

The body died Jesus did not

It’s even better when Billy tries to make an argument for Monotheism and presents all those fancy arguments for why it must be one God instead of a pantheon of Gods… only to turn around and declare that it’s a triune God with 3 distinct personalities… and one of them is 100% divine and 100% human.😂

“Einschtein” - William Lane Craig

So will every Christian depiction of Adam now have to be altered to give him thick brow ridges, a rear projected skull and no chin? :)

In atheist circles his known as low bar Bill. He said if there's any chance of god existing, we should lower our standard of evidence. 😂

That doesn’t say much for the defense of the Bible’s truthfulness. Watch his debate with Bible historian Dr. Bart Ehrman on the historicity of the Bible for example.

If he's the best in his field I genuinely feel sorry for Christians....

Embarrassing 😂

Total nonsense. The rocks are not crying out.

@@whittfamily1 Uniformitarianism was debunked by the Mt Saint Helens eruption showing just how quickly stratification takes place when you add lots of various sized particles with seismic activity. When you add lots of water and tidal forces Liquefaction naturally separates particles by density, size and shape. Also, we have soft tissues, Osteocytes, collagen, blood cells, Hemoglobin proteins and even segments of blood vessels from Dinosaur fossils. Lastly the fossil record doesn't show gradual evolution, it shows fully formed creatures perfectly suited for their environment being trapped and encased by silt and mud caused by advancing waters covering shallow seas, beaches, low lying areas with the exception of the creatures smart enough, strong enough and fast enough to escape by moving up to higher elevations. There are fossil graveyard beds containing thousands of individuals broken and obliterated by water, giant fossilized sea shells on top of Mt Everest. These are just a few of things off the top of my head, but yeah the rocks are crying out.

Actually, the god of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is the same, just by different names. Commonly, he is known as "God." Even though we know he does not exist.

@@whittfamily1 On the contrary, Judaism has rejected the God of the Bible & created a god for itself & Islam has ignored the Bible, creating a god in Man's image.

Jesus has never solved anything.

Jesus never gave me grief.

@@daviddeida If you're a Christian you're leading a life of grief, guilt, unworthiness, paranoia and misery.

Great question. I wonder how Craig views Jesus. Does he view Him as God who knows the hearts of men, or as a mere man of His time?

@@martinploughboy988 Of course Craig views Jesus as God, I'm pretty sure he has defended the trinity on a video called Trinitarianism vs Unitarianism.

@@nzesway538 I'm more concerned whether he accepts Jesus statements relating to the Creation. I have no doubt he accepts the Trinity.

Lake of fire is a real place where sinners and satan will end up

If God, heaven, and hell did exist (they don't), then stays in heaven and hell would be temporary or limited. Finite acts do not warrant infinite rewards or punishments.

You fail to realize that if God did exist, all this disagreement and conflict over doctrine would not exist. Why? Because God would not only reveal himself, he would also reveal his rules for living the the consequences of compliance and noncompliance. There would be no doubt about the correct position. Thus, God does not exist.

@@whittfamily1 He did reveal all that, and we have the freedom to reject his revelation, hence Protestantism and Atheism.

@@hglundahl False. There is no good evidence that God communicated with any humans ever! If you disagree, present your evidence. Besides, God does not exist, and this has been proven.

We read the Bible, compare Scripture with Scripture, then examine what men have said & compare it with all Scripture. It is a lifetime's study.

@@whittfamily1 God has revealed Himself & His rules, but mankind is in rebellion, refusing to acknowledge its Creator. Romans lays this out very clearly.

Who do You have to talk about this stuff? Or is it for yourself in your mind mostly?

There are plenty of other writers on Reformed topics, try to find one that writes simply. For a start, have a look at James White, listening to his podcast might help, although he sometimes goes very deep.

Awesome response

@@Jewonastick Thank you.

Because He can use the evil that others do for good

Because that entity does not exist.

@@martinploughboy988 Are you suggesting he couldn’t get the same results without the evil?

@@kimmyswan No, I'm saying He can use that which opposes Him to achieve His end.

@@martinploughboy988 so, God uses our evil deeds to accomplish his goals? But, he COULD achieve these same goals without us? Then, why didn’t he? If, however God cannot achieve these same goals without us and our evil deeds, then how is he omnipotent?

Since everyone knows God exists, it isn't needed.

@@martinploughboy988 THANKS for crapping on Billy Lane Craigs life work. Poor dude spent his entire life just shouting The Kalam. LOL

@@sanjeevgig8918 He should have read the Bible more carefully.

@@martinploughboy988 The bible is the CLAIM. You have no evidence of what Jesus ever said or did. You only read a book - which is a copy of a copy of a copy of translations of fragments from the 1st century written decades after the fact by anonymous authors of stories passed around like a telephone game. LOL

@@martinploughboy988 One of the easiest ways to prove that the Bible is false.

Because it obviously is true

Obviously!

@@grantbartley483 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@@shivtaan5072 Dude, my subtext is: 'Obviously' doesn't really apply, if you're being intellectual honest - which you are not being, obviously..

People believe in free will,its more entertaining than realizing you are just a meat puppet

I’ve always wondered this myself. Clearly he deserves the recognition so maybe it’s just a matter of properly placed worship.

If you are willing to believe that you might as say that it's flat......

I guess you should because it'll sooner or later lead to scientific breakthroughs. That's how I view it. When we say God exists, we're saying that a being far more complex and advanced than a human being exists. Another metaphysical truth.

Good point. I dealt a bit with that above. He’s great with a lot of Subjects but when he strays too much from Biblical and God Inspired words, he falters, especially in early Genesis. Grand guy though, with many extraordinary efforts in his life, with mostly Logical Arguments.

If the members listed are representative of clans rather than a linear genealogy that would eliminate the problem.

@@axderka there are many more points wrong than this he has for Genesis. But their literal ages in years are given, just as we know Cain was the Firstborn and then Abel. Two individual sons. One of them commits murder and only him as an individual was marked for safety and sent away. Then Seth another individual came to satisfy Eve’s loss of both single sons, one dead, one sent away. Then also Seth was also treated as an individual with an individual genealogical age. Problems only happen in Genesis when people want to bend it so severely to fit their individual theory or agenda.

The answer is actually quite simple. Adam in the Hebrew creation myth wasn’t the first human. Cheers!

@@ezzaezza-ux1sb there is obviously more going on in Genesis than your understanding from a 21st century viewpoint. Dr.Michael S.Heiser videos on RU-vid can help you see what you R missing.

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

Maybe it should tell you something that all Christian intellectuals agree that Evolution is a scientific fact.😂

If God did exist and did forgive sins (neither is true), then he would not delegate the forgiving role to anyone. He would retain that for himself.

No matter what you did Jesus loved and in that respect you are forgiven

@@whittfamily1 So as a primate have the faculty to know nothing exists outside of 3D and if it did you know how it would behave.😂😂

@@daviddeida False. If God did exist (we know he doesn't), then he would not forgive anyone for doing wrong. He would implement perfect justice in every instance. Besides even in the story, Jesus was not God.

@@daviddeida Your comment is incomprehensible. Try to restate it.

I agree. It is false, ridiculous, fatuous, and bizarre. Craig and the Christians have no clear, coherent, or consistent concept of God.

Our sins are against an infinite God & therefore infinite. Our nature, inherited from Adam, gives us a bias to sin, bu the choice is ours.

@@martinploughboy988 If God did exist, then he would not be infinite in all ways. For example, he would not be infinitely evil or infinitely tall. However, you are begging the question of God's existence. It has never been proven that God exists. On the other hand, it has now been proven that God does not exist. Haven't you read and studied my Holocaust argument? The story of Adam and Eve is just a fabrication of an ancient man who knew nothing about science. Even the free will hypothesis has not been confirmed. So, you post here is full of flaws.

It was sealed with a large stone and guards, secondly Joseph the owner allowed Jesus to be put in the tomb

@@rubenlopez1518 Matthew made up those stories--they only exist in Matthew. There is no sealed tomb, no guards, and no indication that Joseph owned the tomb in Mark, Luke, and John. Mathew was lying to cover up what really happened.

Option 1: God knew they would play the blame game. Therefore, God plotted the whole “Fall”, gaslighting Adam and Eve, and made suffering an essential part of life. Therefore God is not all loving. Option 2: God did not know they would play the blame game. This God is no longer all knowing and therefore not all powerful. Also, assuming the “Fall” does not happen. Jesus, an essential part of God will no longer be essential. Making God the trinity imperfect. Take your pick.

@@KeanuReevesIsMyJesus You forgot about free will regarding Adam and Eve.If you think you are a meat puppet with no free will then there is suffering.

@@daviddeida the fact that multiple scenarios are given, depicting different actions Adam and Eve could have taken already implies free will. But nonetheless, I’ll spell it out for you… Option 1: God knew free will led them to play the blame game. Using this foreknowledge…(continue as before)… Option 2: open theist approach, where free will still applies, but God does not have the foreknowledge of the outcome…(continue as before)…

@@daviddeida You can not have free will if an omnipotent being created you and everything around you specifically to freely make a specific choice. God already knew the choice that Adam and Eve would make before he created anything… and he could have created a world where they freely choose to obey him. But he didn’t want that world.😉 Those excuses for God only work if he doesn’t know the future or if he is very limited in his abilities and knowledge.

Wonderful, then you agree with Paul’s premise in 1 Corinthians 1:18ff.

@@fbcpraise Which of these bible verses is your favourite? 1. Deuteronomy 23:1 ESV No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 2. Deuteronomy 25:11-12 NASB If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity. 3. Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT) 4. As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you. 5. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT) If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. 6. The ark of God was placed on a new cart and taken away from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab guided the cart, with Ahio walking before it, while David and all the Israelites made merry before the Lord with all their strength, with singing and with citharas, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nodan, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God to steady it, for the oxen were making it tip. But the Lord was angry with Uzzah; God struck him on that spot, and he died there before God. (2 Samuel 6:3-7 NAB) 7. Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB) 8. Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword. Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18 NLT) 9. However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT) 10. When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB) 11. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT) 12. Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT) One more for the road: Midianite Massacre - Kill everyone except for the virgins, ‘keep alive for yourselves’ Numbers 31 31:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 31:2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.God said to Moses,Take revenge on the Midianites. Then you will die. 31:3 And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. 31:4 Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. Moses said to the people, Go to war against the Midianites. This will be God's revenge on the them. One thousand men from each tribe will go to war. 31:5 So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 31:6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. 12,000 soldiers were armed for war, 1000 from each tribe. Phinehas had the trumpets and holy instruments. 31:7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.The Israelites attacked the Midianites, as God commanded, and killed all the males. 31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 31:9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. 31:10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 31:11 And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. They killed Balaam and the Midianite kings, took the women and children as captives, burned their cities, and took all their possessions, animals, and slaves. 31:12 And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. 31:13 And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. They brought all the captives, prey, and spoil to Moses and Eleazar. 31:14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. 31:15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? And Moses was angry with the officers, and said to them, Have your saved all the women alive? 31:16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. These are the women that caused the Israelites, through the counsel of Balaam [4], to trespass against God in the matter of Peor [5], and there was a plague on the congregation. 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. Now go and kill all the young males and every non-virgin woman. 31:18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. --------- I’ll leave it to your imagination of what your god is meaning by ‘keep alive for yourselves’. Maybe they just mean to play Jenga with the virgins? ---------------------- The bible has also been edited many times just quietly. If you take your morals from the same book that these texts come from, I’m not sure your moral compass can be trusted. Or perhaps the way you gather information to form your opinions and beliefs on, can be questioned. Do you teach your children to believe things without evidence, or from a text like this? Would you read your children these bible stories? What’s your favourite verse from the ones I shared? Why don’t you think preachers avoid these verses also? I’ll leave to to get back to your cherry picking 🍒

You believed everything you just said and didn’t “shut up about it.” A bit hypocritical, wouldn’t you think?🤔

@@JasonVlogs85265 No, I wouldn't. Great argument, btw.

No he will not understand he is hypocrate. Because he is idiot.​@@JasonVlogs85265

Jesus, obviously

But most of all, Craig is wrong about God existing.

@@whittfamily1 Yes? How do you know? Or is that just your late modern western prejudice with a history going back to the Enlightenment? 😎

@@bayreuth79 I know because there are many correct proofs that God does not exist! Haven't you seen any?

@@whittfamily1 I have an MA in the philosophy of religion and I know that there are no “proofs” of the non-existence of God. The best atheist argument is the problem of evil but even that doesn’t succeed. Even Dawkins, who is a poor philosopher, agrees that it’s impossible to disprove the existence of God.

@@bayreuth79ML1: I have an MA in the philosophy of religion and I know that there are no “proofs” of the non-existence of God. GW1: You are just mistaken, regardless of your degree. There are several such proofs. ML1: The best atheist argument is the problem of evil but even that doesn’t succeed. GW1: Most of the ones that do succeed have a basis in that problem. ML1: Even Dawkins, who is a poor philosopher, agrees that it’s impossible to disprove the existence of God. GW1: Like you, Dawkins, is just mistaken on this point. He is an excellent evolutionary biologist and he is a moderately good or fair, not poor, philosopher.

Your so convincing! LOL 😆

I’ve often wondered about this too. Would love to hear his explanation

Sometimes Jesus talked in parables so evade the hard questions he was asked. Confound the people. Bedazzle the people.

Jesus spoke in parables to relate the things in Heaven to the things on Earth. Since no one on Earth has seen Heaven or how God looks at things, we have no basis for comparison, so we have no way to relate. Jesus, being both God and man, has a basis for comparison. He told stories in a way that we could relate to. They seem confusing at first glance because they are made that way. The first and greatest commandment is Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Those that love God want to know about him, and actively seek him. Those that actively seek him will learn what those parables mean. The apostle Paul said to study to show thyself approved. In Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The kingdom of God is the relationship with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. By accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and that he is the Son of God, his blood covered your sins, and the Father raised him up on the 3rd day, you get credit for Jesus's performance. Which means we get Jesus's righteousness. It's added to us so that when the God judges us, we are sinless. That's why the Father's gift of Jesus's atoning work on the cross is a gift of Grace. Grace means = the Unmerited Love and Favor of God. It's unmerited, we did not earn it, it's given freely for those who have Faith in who Jesus was, what he did, and what the Father did. That's John 3:16-17. Once you have Faith in those promises, you get the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter. When we pray to the Father, by way of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to speak to God where as before, you were cut off from God. It's because of our Faith, which is trust/confidence, we now have a title deed for our hopes, which are unseen future events or things. You, I and everyone else who has Faith in these known promises and are in this relationship with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is different than when Jesus comes back to get his Church and the Saints, reigns for 1000 years and then takes us to Heaven

@@TheSaiyanRace ME1: Jesus spoke in parables to relate the things in Heaven to the things on Earth. GW1: He was often a poor communicator. ME1: Since no one on Earth has seen Heaven or how God looks at things, we have no basis for comparison, so we have no way to relate. GW1: Parables were not necessary. There is no good evidence for an afterlife, heaven, or hell, but the situation is far worse. We now know that God does not exist. This has been proven. ME1: Jesus, being both God and man, has a basis for comparison. GW1: False. Jesus was a separate person from God. He even says so in the Gospels. Jesus actually existed, but God has never existed. ME1: He told stories in a way that we could relate to. They seem confusing at first glance because they are made that way. GW1: Yes, Jesus wanted to confuse some people. He was a poor communicator in some ways. ME1: The first and greatest commandment is Love the Lord thy God with all your souls, strength and mind. Those that love God want to know about him, and actively seek him. Those that actively seek him will learn what those parables mean. The apostle Paul said to study to show thyself approved. GW1: The problem is that God does not exist. We now know this. It has been proven. ME1: In Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The kingdom of God is the relationship with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. GW1: Jesus was a real person who is dead. God was a hypothetical person who never existed. It has been proven that God does not exist. There is no good evidence for the existence of the Holy Spirit, or for any kind of spirit. ME1: By accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and that he is the Son of God, his blood covered your sins, and the Father raised him up on the 3rd day, you get credit for Jesus's performance. Which means we get Jesus's righteousness. It's added to us so that when the God judges us, we are sinless. That's why the Father's gift of Jesus's atoning work on the cross is a gift of Grace. Grace means = the Unmerited Love and Favor of God. GW1: If God did exist (he doesn’t), he would never implement a system of atonement. That would be immoral and God would never commit any immoral act. ME1: It's unmerited, we did not earn it, it's given freely for those who have Faith in who Jesus was, what he did, and what the Father did. GW1: Yes, it would be unmerited! And that is why God would never give it, if he did exist. He would only give people what was merited, what was just and fair. ME1: That's John 3:16-17. Once you have Faith in those promises, you get the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter. GW1: Nonsense. Faith is a vice, not a virtue. There is no good evidence for the existence of the Holy Spirit, as I mentioned before.

@@whittfamily1 On the contrary, He spoke in parables because salvation is ony for those whom God has chosen.