[15]. I think you are quite right in saying that this is not an issue about whether or not God exists; rather, this is a question about biblical inerrancy. It was a clean . That's why so many of the injunctions in the Old Testament are, as you quite rightly say, concerned with agricultureshall we put it delicately. n.p. Russell said, you cannot assess the truth of a worldview by seeing whether it's good for society or not. Dr. Craig: Not at all. The problem of infinite regress can be applied to various areas of inquiry, including cosmology, epistemology, metaphysics, and most particular in theology. Dr. Craig: Well, I am not a Calvinist, for example. Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative Research, Importance of Quantitative Research Across Fields, Types of Variables in Research and Their Uses. In relation to the cosmological argument, Humes critique of causation challenges the assumption that there must be a first cause or an unmoved mover. The canonization will require, as the Vatican demands, the attestation of a miracle performed by her posthumous intercession and the miracles already been announced. And how could the atheist possibly know that? N.T. What makes the Big Bang so startling is that it represents the origin of the universe from literally nothing; for all matter and energy, even physical space and time themselves, came into being at the Big Bang. So I think all of these arguments stand intact despite his refutation. And it is up to people like William Lane Craigprolific author, much beloved professorhere to enter into that conversation in a way thats both persuasive and winsome. Oh no, our career services on Biola: first rank! A kind of heavenly North Korea that will take our decisions away from us and commit us only to worship and praise and thank a great leader and his son, the dear leader, forever and ever and ever. Dr. Craig: Do I believe that is historical? The Existence of Evil. In recent decades, scientists have been stunned by the discovery that the initial conditions of the Big Bang were fine-tuned for the existence of intelligent life with a precision and delicacy that literally defy human comprehension. N. T. Wright, "The New Unimproved Jesus," Christianity Today, September 13, 1993, 26. So I would see us as beginning to question the assumptions of modernity and the bitter fruits of modernity that have been so evident in the twentieth century. It's an extraordinarily arrogant assumption. Well, one obstacle to libertyand that's why I mentioned it and gave so many examples of it in history and in the present dayis the poisonous role played by fellow primates of mine who think they can tell me what to do in the name of God because God's told them that they have this power. Hitchens Dr. Craig Mr. Hitchens Q&ACross Examination Second RebuttalDr. Well, at least I know at this point that Im being ironic. As I would say, mathematics is operating in a god-like fashion. Discordance between science and religion did not always exist. And he says the only thing he can think of that would explain this is the empty tomb and the postmortem appearances of Jesus, and thats why Wright concludes that these have a certainty that is comparable to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. He can't really follow the evidence where it leads. Or why not, for a change of pace and a change of taste, say, "Yes, but sometimes this same natural order, which is so miraculous in observation, no question about it, is so impressive in its favoring the conditions for life in some ways, but it is randomly suspended when miracles are required." N. T. Wrights argument is not that the success of Christianity means that its true, that would apply to Islam and Mormonism. . The argument highlights the apparent conflict between the existence of evil and the attributes traditionally ascribed to God, including being all-powerful, all-knowing, and morally perfect. He says, I simply don't have any positive reason to believe in God, but he doesn't really give an argument against God's existence. One major proponent of this recent skepticism in relation to natural theology is Paul K. Moser. In this article Page elaborates on the mathematical elegance of the universe and that its intricacies imply that these laws were designed in order to support life and maximize hospitability throughout our universe. I would rather say, I'd rather state it in reverse and say I find all the arguments in favor to be fallacious or unconvincing. Moderator: Dr. Craig, your assessment of that question and answer. It is important to note that Charles Darwin himself did not explicitly offer a direct critique of the existence of God in his works on evolution. Now, there are only two kinds of things that fit that description: either an abstract object, like numbers, or else a personal mind. Dr. Craig: Yes, I believe that as a Christian. This isn't retrospective evidentialism. Mr. Hitchens: And I know you believe in the resurrection, but, Dr. Craig: Yes, and that, I think, that we have good evidence. So the connection between religion and free will isnt as simpleas easy as some people like to think it is. The development of the scientific method in the 17th century in Europe and its modern further advances have had at least as great a set of world-transforming consequences. is very, very common among different kinds of animals. I hope thats clear to everyone. Good! Debate: Yes, here is my evidence. records their entire lively debate and includes questions from the audience, the debaters' answers, and the . But Mr. Hitchens, you stated thatsome of your most strongly stated arguments are that the results of religion: violence, death, destructionthe motivation being religiondiscredit those who would promote a belief in God. But many people say concerning the ban on homosexuality, for example, in the Old Testament, they'll say, "Well, homosexuality is against God's law, and it's against Nature's law." Maybe He has got good reasons for it. And to recognize Mr. Hitchens has a five o'clock flight in the morning. I'm very grateful for your kindness and hospitality. Everything islife expectancy for the first, I don't know, many, many tens of thousands of years would be lucky to be in the twentiesprobably dying agonizingly over their teeth, poorly evolved as the teeth are, and from other inheritances from being primates, such as the appendix that we don't need, such as the fact that our genitalia appear to be designed by a committeeother shortcomings of the species, exaggerated by scarcity, by war, by famine, by competition and so on. Without him, there would be screwing in the streets, there would be chaos, no one would know their bearings. Why do they want to legislate for things like abortion or sexuality or morality? And I expect you to actually vet them; that is, you may have learned in school that there is no such thing as a dumb question. According to Hume, when we see one event (the cause) consistently followed by another event (the effect), we develop an expectation that the cause will always produce the effect. Moderator: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. So if you could practice your polite golf clap [demonstrates a golf clap]. Again, there was no response to this. Do you think you do have it?" It's only in one verse in the Bible, I know, but it happens to be the verse the Church picked up on. Instead, he claimed that causation is a concept that we infer from our repeated observations of events occurring in a particular order. Each participant will answer every question. In terms of the intellectual problem of suffering, I think that there you need to ask yourself is the atheist claiming, as Epicurus did, that the existence of God is logically incompatible with the evil and suffering in the world? O.K. Darwin primarily focused on providing a scientific explanation for the origin and diversity of life through the mechanism of natural selection. Well, I think it's very evident that in tonight's debate, we've not heard any good reasons to think that what is normally called atheism is true; that is to say, the belief that God does not exist. By contrast, as Alvin Plantinga has said, for the naturalist, evolution is the only game in town. There's an argument among some of us as to whether that we need the word at all. In other words, for whom really it's only necessary to discover the workings of God's will in the cosmos and to assume that the truth of Christianity is already proven. Atheists will assert that the three aforementioned examples are the byproduct of evolution and natural selection. So that's one thing I'd like to be shot of right here in the here in now. So at best, you are left merely with agnosticism. Or where it has, it has been brought to them by people whom Dr. Craig doesn't think of as Christians, such as Mormons, for example. Kierkegaards 3 Stages of Life, Jean-Paul Sartres Freedom and Responsibility, Gabriel Marcels Concept of Being and Having, Gabriel Marcels Concept of Creative Fidelity, Marcels Concept of Primary and Secondary Reflections, Gabriel Marcels Concept of Participation, Gabriel Marcels Concept of Existential Self, Gabriel Marcels Concept of Existential Fulcrum, Gabriel Marcels Concept of the Meaning of Life, Karl Jasperss Concept of Boundary Situation, Karl Jasperss Concept of Authentic Existence, Martin Bubers Concept of Dialogical Existence, Kierkegaards Concept of the Leap of Faith, Kierkegaards Concept of the Authentic Life, Kierkegaards Concept of Authentic Existence, Kierkegaards Concept of Subjectivity and Becoming, Kierkegaards Concept of the Crowd as Untruth, Simone de Beauvoirs Existentialist Ethics, Simone de Beauvoirs Perspective on Violence, Simone de Beauvoirs Concept of a Meaningful Life, Nietzsches Contribution to Existentialism, Nietzsches Concept of Eternal Recurrence, Nietzsches Concept of Master-Slave Morality, Nietzsches Concept of Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsches Concept of the Revaluation of All Values, Rudolf Bultmanns Existentialist Theology, Fyodor Dostoyevskys Existentialist Philosophy, The Upanishads: Meaning, Types, and Key Concepts, The Bhagavad-Gita: Meaning and Key Concepts, The Laws of Manu: Meaning and Key Concepts, Philosophy in Ancient Mesopotamia: Key Concept, Brief History of Psychology as a Discipline, Jungs Theory of Personality: Key Concepts, Rollo Mays Existential Psychology: Key Concepts, Karen Horneys Psychoanalytic Social Theory: Key Concepts, Lowenfelds Stages of Artistic Development, Sullivans Interpersonal Relations Theory: Key Concepts, Banduras Social Learning Theory: Key Concepts, Pavlovs Theory of Behaviorism: Key Concepts, Ivan Pavlovs Theory of Classical Conditioning, Carl Rogerss Theory of Personality: Key Concepts, Edward Thorndikes Three Laws of Learning, Watsons Theory of Behaviorism: Key Concepts, Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Lev Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development, Jean Piagets Four Stages of Cognitive Development, Sigmund Freuds Five Stages of Psychosexual Development, Eriksons Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, Piaget versus Vygotskys Theory of Developmental Psychology, Phenomenological and Humanistic Theories in Education, Eysencks Three-dimension Personality Theory, Eysencks Big Five-factor Personality Theory. Its my pleasure to introduce our moderator of the debate tonight, and hell get this party started. Debate between Matt Slick and Dan Barker on "Does God Exist?" Mr. Hitchens: Yes, because I think agnosticism is evasive. It doesn't work me. As Darwin put it: any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts . Please, Professor. Or do you simply withhold belief in God in the way the agnostic does? As Penrose acknowledged, it was a complete puzzle to him how the three interacted with one another outside the ability of any scientific or other conventionally rational model. But, let me make it clear that I'm not arguing for the generic existence of any god, but only the God of the Bible. seem both too specific and too numerous to evaporate entirely." This includes our innate sense of morality. or No, here is my evidence. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. The probability that all the constants and quantities would fall by chance alone into the infinitesimal life-permitting range is vanishingly small. Therefore, as a professional philosopher, I'm going to approach tonight's question philosophically from the standpoint of reason and argument. When you say exorcism, do you mean that you believe in devils too? "Hypocrisy," said La Rochefoucauld, "is the compliment that vice pays to virtue." Number one: No good society prohibits debates such as this one. It was our first attempt at astronomy, our first attempt at cosmology; in some ways our first attempt at medicine, our first attempt at literature, our first attempt at philosophy. William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1994), 36. Get Dr. Craig's newsletter and keep up with RF news and events. . And all of these seem to be the outcome of a manmade cult. My question is for Mr. Hitchens. Six minutes of questions begin to Dr. Craig followed by six minutes of questions to Mr. Hitchens. So I wonder how you respond to that. It posits that the notions of right and wrong, moral obligations, and the sense of conscience point towards a transcendent source of morality. I would be more in the Wesleyan Camp myself. Now far from being a point of contention tonight, as far as I understood Mr. Hitchens' last speech, he would agree with that first statement that there is no good argument that atheism is true. Critics have pointed out potential flaws, logical fallacies, and alternative explanations for the phenomena invoked in these arguments. . Thus, the teleological argument gives us an intelligent designer of the cosmos. I'm saying that on atheism there is there is no objective purpose for human existence. We're talking about an authority that would give other humans beings the right to tell me what to do in the name of God. Massimo Pigliucci is a philosopher of biology. My name is Craig Hazen, and Im the Director of the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics here. It seems to me, to put it in a condensed form: extraordinary claimssuch as the existence of a Divine Power with a Son who cares enough to come and redeem usextraordinary claims require truly extraordinary evidence. Do peer review. I know it. . No matter how fantastic the odds, no matter how improbable, it's got to be true because there is no intelligent creator and designer. It would be blasphemy for you to do it. Mr. Hitchens: Right! Now, Mr. Hitchens responds, but we're headed toward nothingness. Debate Videos and Transcripts | Media | Reasonable Faith So rather than attack straw men at this point, I'll just wait to hear Mr. Hitchens present his arguments against God's existence, and then I will respond to them in my next speech. I find the attraction of the God hypothesis is that it is so powerful in making sense of the way the world is. with all your strength . But there is one other important sponsor, and that is the program that I direct: the Master of Arts program in Christian Apologetics. And the desire of pro-life persons to champion the lives of the unborn or the lives of the dying isn't a power grab, Mr. Hitchens. Natural selection has created a complex being capable of high cognitive thought and reasoning, and although humans are far from perfect, the complexities of our anatomies suggest that there may be more at play here than chance alone. Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. Evolution is a contentious subject in American public life. In the context of cosmology, the problem of infinite regress can be seen in arguments about the origin of the universe. And how do we know that that wouldn't require a world that is simply suffused with natural and moral suffering? So, get your book signed, he loves to do that, but please don't ask him about his third cousin that you once met in Melbourne. Are there anyI'm sorry. Imagine the vast spectrum of all the cultures in the world. Well, one is the idea of this fine-tuningabout which I've only left myself three and a half minutes. 1994. Number one, please turn off your cellphones; I repeat, please turn off your cellphones. So, with respect, ladies and gentlemen, I think both my challenges stand. But there's a good deal of evidence to suggest that that is what's going to happen. In what follows, I will discuss very briefly the critiques to these arguments. Mr. Hitchens: So religion is responsible for quite a lot of wickedness in the world right there? On the other hand, if I know Biola students, I suspect that a good many of you, when you came in tonight, said to yourself, "I'm going to check my own views at the door, and I'm going to assess the arguments as objectively as possible." In other words, we are here. well, I'll leave it there. So the problem is that, as an argument, the Problem of Evil makes probability judgments, which are very, very ambitious and which we are simply not in a position to make with any kind of confidence. So you have got to get the argument right if you are going to deal with it, and, in fact, I think the only explanation of these facts is the one that the disciples gave that God raised Jesus from the dead. Theres only one person who can do that even on your account. Now most people probably think that the resurrection of Jesus is something you just believe in, by faith or not, but there are actually three established facts recognized by the majority of New Testament historians today, which I believe are best explained by the resurrection of Jesus. If Mr. Hitchens wants us to believe instead that God does not exist, then he must first tear down all five of the arguments that I presented, and then in their place erect a case of his own to prove that God does not exist. John Barrow and Frank Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 442. Since we do not have such observations, that fact strongly disconfirms the multiverse hypothesis. Arguments from Human Dignity or Worth 6. PROGRAM. Usually arguments about morality are whether the morality is, so to say, absolute, or whether it's relative. I don't say of atheism that it's at all morally superior; that would be very risky. And the numerous constraints that have to be imposed on these numbers . Retrieved 12/11/2013, Save Citation (Works with EndNote, ProCite, & Reference Manager), Rhodes, J. H. (2014). In the end it makes no ultimate difference whether you existed or not. The point is that there is no foundation on a naturalistic worldview for the moral values and duties that we both want to affirm, and he agrees with that.

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