Putting Skeptics on the Hot Seat
“If God exists,why is there so much evil?”
“If God exists, why all the hypocrisy amongst Christians?”
“Why is there so little evidence of God’s existence?”
Usually, it is Christians and sometimes other religious believers who must justify their beliefs, but most don’t realize that atheists, agnostics, and skeptics also must answer tough questions and have their beliefs placed under the microscope!
While the lead questions above have great answers, don’t let the skeptic off the hook! Christian answers to ultimate questions shouldn’t be the only focus:
1) Why is there something rather than nothing?
The “big bang” has a wealth of scientific evidence confirming it. Belief in the “big bang” requires one to believe that the universe began a finite time ago. Not only is there scientific evidence confirming the big bang, but there are also a number of philosophical reasons for the beginning of the universe (as opposed to a universe that’s always existed). But this runs smack dab into atheism–out of nothing, nothing comes. Things don’t just pop into existence uncaused. Here we have a limited number of possibilities: either something outside the material universe caused it, or it all came from nothing. Which is more reasonable?
2) What do you mean by something being “good”?
Sometimes atheists say “you can be good without God,” but this goes much deeper than that. If all we have is the physical cosmos, then everyone, Christian included, *thinks* he is acting good, but it’s all a farce. I like cheese, you don’t. I like killing people, you don’t. How horrible would that be! In the absence of a universal moral good, the only thing left are preferences, pragmatics, and the herd morality. How can the atheist ground and justify a universal moral good? How can he say that racism or misogyny is not just wrong “for me,” but wrong, end of story? If someone from another culture says that beating homosexuals is ok, is he really wrong?
3) Inanimate matter stays that way no matter how complicated the arrangement. Without an immaterial mind, how can consciousness emerge from pure material?
Identifying a brain state and causally connecting it to a mental state is not enough. Mental states have properties that physical states don’t possess, so the former cannot be reduced to the latter. For example, physical states are third person whereas mental states are private.
4) If the physical world is all that exists, how can you explain free will?
5) This last one comes from The Wintery Knight: if Jesus appeared to you and told you everything about Him in the Bible is true, and witnesses confirm you weren’t hallucinating, what would you do?
The skeptic’s answer to this one will shine a light on his heart and motivation. Some will not follow God no matter what the evidence, and that renders their complaint about lack of evidence as a smoke screen. Their attitude, not the evidence, is the problem.
If you are a Christian, don’t feel bashful about asking tough questions to skeptics! Skeptics, don’t feel bashful about thinking about these questions–the answers might surprise you.
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