Posted on 08/23/2024 5:24:01 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Here's a Summary of the video:
The video features various celebrities and public figures, including Richard Dawkins, Elon Musk, Jordan Peterson, Douglas Murray, Niall Ferguson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Tom Holland, discussing their perspectives on Christianity. Many of them identify as "cultural Christians," appreciating Christian ethics and traditions without necessarily believing in the faith's core tenets. They express a desire for the moral and cultural benefits of Christianity but often stop short of committing to its religious beliefs.
The video explores how these individuals, though not traditionally religious, recognize the value of Christian principles in society, particularly in contrast to other worldviews like atheism or Islam. Despite their admiration for Christianity, the video questions whether their appreciation of its ethical framework equates to genuine Christian faith.
The video also highlights the importance of true Christian belief, emphasizing that Christianity is more than just moral principles—it's about faith in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. The speaker encourages viewers to embrace the full gospel and not just the cultural aspects of Christianity. The video concludes with a call to spread biblical truth and live out Christian faith authentically.
Here's the complete video transcript per ChatGPT:
Speaker 1: Watch very carefully what these famous celebrities say about Christianity.
[Clips of Various Celebrities Speaking]
Celebrity 1: We are culturally a Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian. I'm not a believer, but I'm actually a big believer in the principles of Christianity. I think they're very good.
Interviewer: So in what sense, then, are you not religious?
Celebrity 1: I choose to accept the teachings of Jesus Christ, the story of Jesus Christ. I choose to accept that.
[Names Flash on Screen: Richard Dawkins, Neil Ferguson, Russell Brand, Joe Rogan, Douglas Murray]
Speaker 2: What are you doing with Joe?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Joe’s already got it. He began to realize that actually, in almost every way, I am a Christian. I don't really understand people who don't wish it to be true.
Speaker 1: Both these atheists have arrived at a consensus that we should go to church on Sunday. The culture is shifting from a sort of new atheism—where Christianity is seen as evil, terrible, and wrong—to, "Yeah, I might be wrong, but we'll sort of brush that bit under the carpet and try to display the virtuous ethics of Christianity."
Speaker 1: Christianity is becoming surprisingly popular in our culture. But just what kind of Christianity is becoming popular, and is it real Christianity? Let's look at some of the most popular proponents of Christianity and see what they really believe, progressing to the most shocking one at the end.
[Clip of Richard Dawkins Speaking]
Richard Dawkins: The phrase "cultural Christianity" started to be used a lot more after one of the most influential atheists in history shocked the world by calling himself a cultural Christian.
Richard Dawkins: I say I was slightly horrified to hear that Ramadan is being promoted instead. I do think that we are culturally a Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian. I'm not a believer, but there's a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian.
Speaker 1: Is it possible to be described as a Christian when you don't believe in Christianity? What does Richard mean by calling himself a cultural Christian?
Richard Dawkins: You know, I love hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos. I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense. It's true that statistically, the number of people who believe in Christianity is going down, and I'm happy with that. But I would not be happy if, for example, we lost all our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches. So, I count myself a cultural Christian. I think it would matter if we substituted any alternative religion—that would be truly dreadful.
Speaker 1: So, for Richard Dawkins, being culturally Christian means that you like the fruits of a Christian culture and want people to hold to basic Christian ethical principles, while the actual belief in Christianity is completely irrelevant.
[Clip of Alex O'Connor Speaking]
Alex O'Connor: Another well-known atheist, Alex O'Connor, has picked up on this and described this trend as liking the fruit of a tree without believing the tree actually exists.
Alex O'Connor: We've been seeing this strange reverse phenomenon emerging, where you've got people who like the fruits but don't even believe in the existence of the tree. Usually, the criticism is like, "Look, you love the tree, but you're not producing the right fruits." But in this case, you've got an emerging class of thinkers who are unwilling to say that they believe in the actual truth of Christianity and yet are at least Christian-adjacent or sympathetic to Christianity, or kind of a bit depressed about the fact that everyone isn't Christian anymore.
Speaker 1: Part of the reason that this is happening is the realization that when you remove Christianity as the foundation for your society, it has to be replaced by something. In many places in Europe, it is being replaced by Islam, and this is problematic for Richard.
[Clip of Richard Dawkins Speaking]
Richard Dawkins: Church attendance is plummeting, but the building and erection of mosques across Europe... I think 6,000 are under construction, and there are many more being planned. So, do you regard that as a problem? Do you think that matters?
Interviewer: Yes, I do, really. I mean, I choose my words carefully. If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I’d choose Christianity every single time.
Speaker 1: Richard is seeing the fruit of his own work. It's ironic to have spent so much of your life publicly convincing people that Christianity is false, and then be upset when the result of that is that people stop believing in Christianity.
[Clip of Elon Musk Speaking]
Elon Musk: Another public figure who says that they believe in the principles of Christianity without believing in the faith itself is Elon Musk.
Elon Musk: I'm a big believer in the principles of Christianity. I think they're very good.
Interviewer: So in what sense, then, are you not religious?
Elon Musk: Well, Dawkins just came out three weeks ago, or thereabouts, and announced that he was a cultural Christian, right? So the question is... I would say I'm probably a cultural Christian. I was brought up as an Anglican, and I was baptized.
Speaker 1: Like Richard Dawkins, Elon hesitates to commit to any sort of statement of faith while praising the fruit of the faith itself. Is this really Christian at all?
[Clip of Jordan Peterson Speaking]
Jordan Peterson: Dawkins' proclamation, or admission, that if you compare different societies and their axiomatic suppositions, he would prefer the ones predicated on Christian axiomatic assumptions.
Elon Musk: I do think those are good ones.
Interviewer: Okay, so that's why I asked you the question about why you would consider yourself not a religious person, because it seems to me that the essence of it isn't the statement that you abide by a particular Protestant creed, let’s say. It seems to me much more akin to the notion that you believe that this set of axiomatic presuppositions is like the pronatalist presumption. It's correct, like it's not correct, but it’s going to lead to a better society.
Speaker 1: This is close to a utilitarian view. He says that whatever is going to result in a happier society, that is what we should pursue.
[Subscription Prompt]
Speaker 1: Really quickly, if you want to support this channel and help spread biblical truth to more people, I would be so grateful if you would click that subscribe button.
Speaker 1: So the commitment is to the results, not the thing that produces the results. One could call it a religion. I wouldn’t be upset about that, but that is my religion. For lack of a better way to describe it, it’s the religion of curiosity, the religion of greater enlightenment. If you follow that, say, that’s the goal. Then what falls out of that goal is to have consciousness expand in scale and scope.
Speaker 1: It’s good that these people see the value in Christian principles, but the truth is that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t deny Christianity as a foundational truth and yet try to have a culture that is truly Christian.
[Clip of Douglas Murray Speaking]
Speaker 2: Douglas Murray is a popular political commentator and atheist who is often on the conservative side of social issues. He says in this next clip that he wishes Christianity itself is true, even if he isn’t one himself.
Douglas Murray: Do you wish for it to be true? Do you wish that, as Lewis said, this is the true myth? Is that something that you could see making sense of the world, if there was really a true story that everything sort of came from?
Interviewer: Of course. I don't really understand people who don't wish it to be true. I don't really understand those people. I have known some—we mentioned one earlier—who don't wish it to be true. It’s strange to think so highly of the beliefs of Christianity while denying its fundamental premises.
Douglas Murray: I happened to stop one day, and there was a church being built. It's quite unusual to need a new church in that part of the woods, but one was being built for various reasons. I asked the person who was in charge that day, "By the way, what’s the name of the church?" And he said, "It’s the Church of the Transfiguration." And I said, "Beautiful, how did you decide to do that?" He said, "Well, here we name churches after the nearest site, and the Transfiguration happened there." And he pointed to the mountain beside us.
Speaker 1: When Douglas saw the actual place where the Transfiguration happened, it had a deep impact on him in regards to the truth of Christianity. But there’s still something that keeps him from calling himself a Christian.
Douglas Murray: Wherever in the world you’re brought up as a Christian, it makes an enormous impact on you when you see the physical sites. I’ve traveled around there a lot, and I don't think anything for me quite equals that in terms of making an impact on me. But I think, you know, we aren’t transparent to ourselves, and I’m not transparent to myself. I have no idea how to answer that question.
Speaker 1: This honesty is refreshing. He doesn’t know the answers to a lot of these questions, but he wishes Christianity were true and seems to have a lot of respect for what it teaches and its history.
[Clip of Niall Ferguson Speaking]
Speaker 2: Niall Ferguson is a political commentator and historian who is probably the most blunt about admiring Christianity without calling himself a Christian. In fact, he would even call himself an atheist.
Niall Ferguson: When I left Scotland and studied history, I became less and less convinced of atheism as a way of life or indeed as a way to organize a society. So these days, you’ll find me a regular attender at church, and someone who believes in observance, if not true belief.
Speaker 1: So he doesn’t believe in atheism as a way of life, but he believes in it as a fundamental truth. It’s good that he sees how an atheistic way of life is not tenable, but he teaches his children that Christianity is not true while saying they should follow it anyway. Isn’t that a conflicting message?
Niall Ferguson: Well, I think, and I’ve felt this for all of my five children, that one should at least educate children about religion. As we are a society that came out of Christianity, it’s extremely important that they understand what that is. So there’s that part, but there’s also a sense in which a life without spirituality is, at some level, a life with a missing piece.
Speaker 1: So for Niall, as with many others, he has become completely convinced that life must include spirituality in some aspect, but he is unwilling to say what that truth actually is.
Niall Ferguson: I’ve kind of come to the view that even if I don't have a strong spiritual impulse and struggle a bit to have belief in God, I do think it’s important to have a part of your life that is devoted to spiritual reflection. I think going to church is good for you. It is good to think about Christ’s teaching. It’s good to be part of that tradition. Apart from anything else, Christ does some very radical things to teach us about how to be good, how to treat our fellow human beings, and I think that’s something I want my children to know.
Speaker 1: It really is worth thanking God that so many people are seeing the value in Christian principles and the way of life. It’s an amazing testament to the biblical doctrine of common grace. But it’s also true that we should desire that these people come to an understanding of the true gospel so that they can have salvation.
[Clip of Tom Holland Speaking]
Speaker 2: Tom Holland, a popular historian and author, has defined himself as a Christian—not based on what he believes, but based on how he lives.
Tom Holland: I began to realize that actually, in almost every way, I am Christian. And I began to realize that actually, Paul, although in many ways he seems a much less familiar figure than Cicero, the kind of, you know, "obeying man with his property problems"—you know, never had any property, just made tents.
Speaker 1: Tom finds Christianity to be the most familiar and relatable to his lifestyle, and when he looks at the history of Christianity, he sees that the culture around him is primarily influenced by the values and truths of the New Testament.
Tom Holland: In almost every... the Seven Letters—that is, the seven letters that are conventionally accepted—you know, as Tom Wright was saying, this is not a very lengthy amount of writing, but compacted into this very, very small amount of writing is almost everything that explains the modern world.
Speaker 1: It’s certainly true that the New Testament is the most influential writing in the history of the world, not even just in the West. But true Christianity is about more than recognizing the importance of the Christian faith—it’s about repenting of sin and putting faith in Jesus Christ.
[Clip of Ayaan Hirsi Ali Speaking]
Speaker 2: One of the most shocking moments in the last few months was Ayaan Hirsi Ali coming out as a Christian—not only that she believes in the principles, but that she herself believes in Jesus and wants to follow his teachings.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: I choose to accept Jesus Christ—the teachings of Jesus Christ, the story of Jesus Christ. I choose to accept that.
Speaker 1: Many people have rejoiced in this and really believe that Ayaan is saved. However, she has said some things since then that are somewhat concerning.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: I’m not saying it’s Christianity or any other faith or organized faith—it’s just, for some people, it’s Buddhism, for some people, it’s mindfulness.
Speaker 1: Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." He also said, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Salvation is by grace and through faith alone—you can't get there through any other way.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: And I really do want to separate these two things where I’m still, at heart, a classical liberal in the sense that I really do want to respect people's conscience and perceptions, and the way people live. And so I’m in no way imposing anything, saying, "Oh, you know, I've gone through this terrible experience and I’ve come out of it, and now, heavens, everybody has to come to Christianity." That is not—that’s not what I’m saying.
Speaker 1: It’s a wonderful thing that Ayaan was able to come out of her difficult experiences healthier and happier, but is a powerful religious experience enough to make someone a Christian?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: I’m saying, in my work in the realm of ideas, and in this quest to understand subversion—who is subverting us and all of this—Christianity is probably the most important idea for us to grasp. Even if I were an atheist, I would say that the most important idea is to grasp Christianity because it takes us to the roots of our civilization. And if you want to reject parts of it, that’s okay, but I think the wholesale rejection of Christianity and its legacy is precisely what brought us to where we are—that’s why we’re in the kind of trouble we are in.
Speaker 1: So ultimately, her belief is rooted in the reality that atheism is not livable for individuals or for cultures, and so she made the decision that was best for her mental health—not necessarily because she really believed that Jesus died for her sins.
[Clip of Jordan Peterson Speaking]
Speaker 2: One of the people who has put the most thought into this topic is Jordan Peterson. Many people have questioned his definition of Christianity. Let’s watch as he tries to explain why he says Joe Rogan is a Christian.
Jordan Peterson: Neil Ferguson, Russell Brand, Joe Rogan, Douglas Murray...
Interviewer: What are you doing with Joe?
Jordan Peterson: Yeah, well, Joe’s already... he’s got it. He’s a lot less disparaging of Christianity than he once was, which we all really appreciate you, Joe. Joe figured it out. Joe figured it out.
Interviewer: Why?
Jordan Peterson: Here’s why—sacrifice is the basis of the community. Yeah, well, that’s what it is.
Interviewer: Of course it is.
Jordan Peterson: Well, it’s all about you, right?
Interviewer: No.
Jordan Peterson: Well, then you're not in a community, right?
Interviewer: Right.
Jordan Peterson: Then you're a grizzly bear.
Speaker 1: Jordan is saying that Joe Rogan is a Christian because he participates in self-sacrifice in order to achieve a higher goal and lift up his community. Jordan is correct that sacrifice is the basis for a community, but if you don’t have a true belief in Jesus Christ as the one who sacrificed everything for you, will that principle of self-sacrifice be genuine?
Jordan Peterson: Yeah, right. It’s all about you. You don’t have a community. So, what do you do to join a community? You sacrifice—obviously. How about everything? Well, that’s the Christian offer.
Interviewer: Is that the basis of community?
Jordan Peterson: Well, why do we put the crucifix at the center of our communities? Because we know that voluntary self-sacrifice is the basis of the stable psyche and state. We know that, even though we don’t know we know it. That’s why we worship it. What did Christ do? He took the sins of the world upon himself and offered everything. Well, is that the basis of community? Yeah. It’s your responsibility, buddy.
Speaker 1: Jordan’s point is that not only does the principle of self-sacrifice result in a better society, but that it is a fundamental tenet of reality itself. It really is true in the deepest sense, regardless of the outcomes.
[Clip of Alex O'Connor Speaking]
Speaker 2: So is the idea that as people understand this and begin to live this way, they become a lot more open to the Christian message and find it more persuasive? Is that what’s happening?
Jordan Peterson: Well, I also see... I think they are increasingly apprehensive about the weakness of the alternative. This is true. Dawkins called himself a cultural Christian like two weeks ago. Well, why? Well, how about because he's terrified of the Islamic fundamentalists? How about that?
Speaker 1: People see that there is no viable alternative to Christian principles of ethics, and so they adopt Christianity as a worldview and try to conform themselves to its principles. They may even say that the principles are true, but the reality of the events that brought these principles about are seemingly not as important.
Jordan Peterson: Judeo-Christian doctrine is not a scientific hypothesis. The people who came up with the stories weren’t scientists 3,000 years ago. It’s not a scientific theory. What is it? It’s a story. We see the world through a story. We inhabit a story. What’s the story? The principle of voluntary self-sacrifice reflects the fundamental spirit of being itself.
Speaker 2: Some people who aren’t even Christians have become concerned with this language. Watch again as Alex O’Connor outlines the problems with this view.
Alex O'Connor: Most believing Christians will say that if you do not believe historically that a man called Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead, then your faith is futile and you’re still in your sins, as St. Paul put it to the Corinthians, famously. So these people can’t be counted among a Christian revival. But I think Christians have a lot to celebrate that at least now the culture is shifting from a sort of new atheism—Christianity as evil, terrible, and wrong—to, "Yeah, I might be wrong, but we’ll sort of brush that bit under the carpet and try to display the virtuous ethics of Christianity." Although, in my case, they’re not actually advocating for a Christian ethic—they’re advocating for a sort of right-wing traditional conservatism, which is not the same thing.
Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15:14 says, “If Christ is not raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” There is no Christianity without a true gospel, and the popular approval of Christian principles doesn’t necessarily equate to true Christianity.
Alex O'Connor: I think what’s happening is a bunch of right-wing thinkers are seeing what is filling the vacuum that new atheism created—wokeism, Islamism, and a few other things. And they’re saying, "I don’t like this." And they’re realizing that the kind of secular humanism that was promised by the new atheists just kind of isn’t cutting the mustard seed, as I like to say. It’s not doing it.
Speaker 1: Alex is a very well-studied atheist, as he studied religion in college. Because of his in-depth study of the core doctrines of historic Christianity, he sees how this phenomenon may be problematic for many Christians. Alex had the chance to ask Jordan about these exact problems, and the conversation was very interesting.
Alex O'Connor: The Gnostic tradition says that the thing that’s being gotten wrong is the idea that there was this literal resurrection, right? No, no—the kingdom of God is here and now. The resurrection is inside of you, and you attain it through gnosis. I mean, the Gospel of Thomas, which is probably the most famous non-canonical gospel and could have been written at the same time as the Gospel of John—this is an early text—doesn’t even mention the resurrection, doesn’t mention the crucifixion.
Speaker 1: It’s worth mentioning that the Book of John was either written in the 70s or in the 90s, while the Gospel of Thomas was written in the mid-2nd or mid-3rd centuries. But what he’s saying is still worth noting.
Alex O'Connor: It’s a list of sayings, yeah. And the very form of that book, as one scholar whose name I’ve forgotten unfortunately has pointed out, shows that these people believed that the thing that’s important is not what Jesus did, but what he said. The thing that’s important is the knowledge. The thing that’s important... and so this resurrection stuff sort of doesn’t matter. Now, the thing is, in that early church community, somebody who said, "Well, this question of the resurrection as a physical, you know, historical event—you’re kind of missing the point. The thing that matters is the resurrection that takes place inside of every person." It sort of sounds a little bit like the kind of approach that you would take now.
Alex O'Connor: If that’s true, that would mean that in the early church, you would have been condemned as a heretic.
Speaker 1: This is truly shocking because Alex raises the objection to Jordan’s views that many Christians today want to raise. But Alex is an atheist. Jordan seems to understand this objection and validates Alex’s point.
Jordan Peterson: Yeah, so when a modern Catholic says to you, "You know, Jordan Peterson, are you Christian? What do you think about Catholicism?" I think the reason that they’re interested is because if it’s true, what I’m saying, then they would have to say, "Oh, I suppose at least according to my understanding of Catholicism, that’s a form of... I can’t count you among my number, you know?" So I think that’s probably why people are interested. And I wonder if...
Alex O'Connor: Well, that’s a genuine form of inquiry.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, they don’t address the topic any further, but the point has been made. We should thank God that people are starting to realize that without Christianity, our society is falling into chaos. But we should also pray that those same people come to a true understanding of the gospel, repent of their sins, and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.
[Clip of Speaker Preaching]
Speaker 3: Totally harmless, undefiled, hanging on the cross. He was a spotless lamb. He was never, for a split second, a sinner. He is holy God on the cross, but God is treating him—I’ll put it more practically—as if he lived my life. God punished Jesus for my sin, and then turns right around and treats me as if I lived his life. That’s the great doctrine of substitution, and on that doctrine turned the whole Reformation of the church. That is the heart of the gospel. And what you get is complete forgiveness, covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When he looks at the cross, he sees you. When he looks at you, he sees Christ. If I died right now, I would go to heaven—not because I’m a preacher or because I work with missions. No, if I died right now, I would go to heaven because 2,000 years ago, the Son of God died in my place, and in him, I trust.
Speaker 3: Lastly, one thing that’s very important is if a person makes a profession of faith in Christ, we ought to show them the promises. We ought to encourage them, but we also ought to give them warnings that if someone is truly converted, they will begin to walk in newness of life and bear the fruit of a Christian. When the reformers spoke of the meritorious cause of our salvation, they spoke of the merit of Jesus Christ alone—solus Christus. Justification, the means, is the instrument by which we’re linked to Jesus, and his righteousness is given to us by faith. That’s what Paul was saying in Romans 1. That’s what Luther was repeating in the Reformation—the just shall live by faith, the alone instrument by which we are justified. Amen.
[Final Speaker Closing the Video]
Speaker 4: Hi, my name is Mike. I’m a deacon, a husband, a father, a software engineer, and an amateur maker of videos. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you want to help me in my mission to spread biblical truth, just subscribe and watch these videos until the end, which will help the YouTube algorithm recommend these videos to more people. I’m committed to using the skills and gifts God has given me to glorify him and communicate biblical truth, and I would be so grateful if you would come be a part of what I’m building. You can visit my website at joyfulexile.com to learn more about me and what I’m working on. I hope you’re having a blessed day. I will see you in the next video, and remember: this world is not our home.
It’s the only religion that’s not a Cult ?
The question arises, is this a first step in their journey or just a knee-jerk reaction to the invasion of Islam into various cultures?
I don’t think Zen Buddhism is a cult, is it?
Scripture tells us about the end times when people have a form of godliness but at denying its power (Jesus).
Still, I’d rather live in a culture that operates by Christian values than not.
We can only pray that as these people come to realize WHY Christian values work, they surrender their lives to Jesus.
Judaism isn’t a cult.
I think this trend, if it is one, reflects a realization that as Thomas Jefferson put it, “the philosophy of Jesus is the most divine in history.” Following the principles of Jesus’ teachings just works better than any alternative, and these guys are seeing that. Will it lead them to an awakened faith, who knows. But it is far better than the phase of adolescent antagonism these atheists foisted on the community for years.
True-—because the “cultural Christianity” that they like, is due to a transformed heart by Christ....walking in obedience with him.
This “cultural Christianity” can not exist without Christ, it only happens WITH Christ at the center.
Having an appreciation for Jesus as an ethical guide is not being a Christian. He requires complete belief in his person and work.
When you've got a bunch of formerly committed and proselytizing atheists standing outside a church and encouraging their followers to go in and listen to the sermons, you have a sea change of sorts...a shift in public perception.
Do these people get their doctrine from the book of 2nd Opinions?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ngiHsvbv5S8
Which is commendable - if allowed - in contrast to the norm of just posting a video of teaching or interviews. However, many vids have no transcripts.
Richard Dawkins: It's true that statistically, the number of people who believe in Christianity is going down, and I'm happy with that. But I would not be happy if, for example, we lost all our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches. So, I count myself a cultural Christian. I think it would matter if we substituted any alternative religion—that would be truly dreadful.
So he wants a Christianity as a museum, and Christian manners, but not the God of it without which it would not exist, neither would the universe.
Concerning which, Dawkins basically opined that even profound evidence for a Creator would not suffice for belief in one.
Boghossian: What would it take for you to believe in God?
Dawkins: I used to say it would be very simple. It would be the Second Coming of Jesus or a great, big, deep, booming, bass voice saying “I am God.” But I was persuaded, mostly by Steve Zara, who is a regular contributor to my website. He more or less persuaded me that even if there was this booming voice in the Second Coming with clouds of glory, the probable explanation is that it is a hallucination or a conjuring trick by David Copperfield. He made the point that a supernatural explanation for anything is incoherent. It doesn’t add up to an explanation for anything. A non-supernatural Second Coming could be aliens from outer space.
Peter Boghossian begins to speak and is in full agreement with Dawkins, arguing, for example, that if the stars spelled out a message from God, we would first have to rule out alternative explanations, like an alien trickster culture.]
Dawkins then agrees with Boghossian.
Boghossian then asks him: So that [stars aligned into a message] couldn’t be enough. So what would persuade you?
Dawkins: Well, I’m starting to think nothing would, 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.- https://shadowtolight.wordpress.com/2020/02/24/dawkins-admits-nothing-can-persuade-him-god-exists/
May I add the following?
We must repent of our sins against God’s laws and be forgiven of our sins by the work Christ. And be granted a future of eternal life in heaven. These facts will be the basis for the socially desired good working out of our faith on earth.
If Christianity is just a better way to live, but doesn’t have heaven, it is of moderate value, but only in this life.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
It's been a very long time since I have seen a video on youtube without a transcript.
Being a cultural Christian does not translate to anything meaningful. They will still vote for all the Christophobes out there. Meaningless video and very pollyanna-ish.
So what? I was responding to the comment about all other religions being cults. You know the definition of cult, don’t you?
I will trust Christians more than any other people.
I beg to differ.
When influential atheists tell their followers that Christianity is worth exploring, that means that some former atheists might open their hearts to Jesus.
I don't know about you, but I think the salvation of just one person is extraordinarily meaningful.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.