Another Thing to Add to the Response John Lennox Should Have Given
A couple months ago I blogged on the appearance of John Lennox before a packed hall at one of the Claremont colleges. In my own recent apologetics reading -- this one from Nancy Pearcey's Saving Leonardo -- I'd come across a point made by a follower of Christ about seasoned apologists appearing to speak at colleges...
They almost always pack the house.
People do want to know the truth. People are seekers of truth. But the truth to them is based on all the shit poured into their souls by brilliant Roman agents working through the universities, sworn and powerful humanism-smothered operatives who have no idea who God is.
Anyway, one of the questions asked of Mr. Lennox, was this one, and again I was somewhat surprised that he seemed to be a bit flummoxed about what to say when the question came up, one that I've seen asked a number of times by the radical skeptic. That question again:
"What would be a proof to you that God does not exist?"
As I pointed out this is a leading question from someone who foolishly has no interest in acknowledging the truth about God. I'd put in the post a response, which I think was a fine one, but I just thought of something else in peeking at a marvelous new book I saw called Mama Bear Apologetics. Awesome. It is a number of pieces written by mothers who are extraordinarily intelligent spiritually and know how much lives are destroyed by the ideas Rome foists upon those not well-versed in Truth and Grace.
One of those pieces has to do with skepticism, and the title of the chapter is all you need to know about part of the response Mr. Lennox should have offered.
"I'd Believe in God If There Were Any Shred of Evidence."
See, the entrenched skeptic really should have asked the question this way, to reveal his true intentions: "Why believe in any God when there could be that one thing that disproves Him? I'm convinced there are many things that disprove Him, so any believer's convictions are fantasies. What do you say about that?"
This is really what the seduced skeptic is thinking. Thus exposed, Mr. Lennox could have simply answered, "So tell me yourself, what are the precise things you think disprove God? Please, enlighten me, so I may find fulfillment in a dogmatic skepticism too."
And getting back to the response I shared in that post from November 2019, his answer will almost always be some form of empiricism, which may quite readily and robustly be addressed.
It is likely the skeptic may add that the mere possibility of a disproof means God doesn't exist, and that we cannot know for sure about that possibility makes God's existence very shaky. Now of course this is preposterous, but how many agnostics or atheists believe this, in their hearts? I'd say there are quite a few!
As I think further about this, it seems to me the whole multiverse theory may play a role. Many skeptics buy into the idea that there are multiple universes, even an infinite number of them. Their imaginations get carried away with the thought that could there be a universe where a disproof of God exists? If there are an infinite number of them, then there must be!
But again, this is too easily answered. On what basis is the multiverse idea founded? How can the skeptic know for sure about multiverses, much more about the disproof he cannot share with us? I thought he wanted to know for sure about something he could not know. Again, much of radical skepticism can be profoundly refuted.
Meanwhile, I have to add that my devotional from Daily Bread was one I just want to mention here. My ministry work is about sharing the contrast between the Kingdom and the World, and that the World is authoritatively administered, by God's own permission, to crack heads in many elaborately ruthless ways. The text of the devotional was in the first letter to Timothy, second chapter, verses one to eight. They are beautiful words, about how praying with everything we've got for anyone in authority is a very good thing, because it not only brings peace for us living godly lives, but it allows us to get out and share Christ with anyone and everyone, that they would, here's the thing...
Come to know the truth.
Wow. What a great encouragement as we move into the new year.
That we may intercede with the deepest love and richest grace for the worst skeptic on the planet.
How great is it that they pack out the halls to see outstanding apologists like John Lennox.
___
They almost always pack the house.
People do want to know the truth. People are seekers of truth. But the truth to them is based on all the shit poured into their souls by brilliant Roman agents working through the universities, sworn and powerful humanism-smothered operatives who have no idea who God is.
Anyway, one of the questions asked of Mr. Lennox, was this one, and again I was somewhat surprised that he seemed to be a bit flummoxed about what to say when the question came up, one that I've seen asked a number of times by the radical skeptic. That question again:
"What would be a proof to you that God does not exist?"
As I pointed out this is a leading question from someone who foolishly has no interest in acknowledging the truth about God. I'd put in the post a response, which I think was a fine one, but I just thought of something else in peeking at a marvelous new book I saw called Mama Bear Apologetics. Awesome. It is a number of pieces written by mothers who are extraordinarily intelligent spiritually and know how much lives are destroyed by the ideas Rome foists upon those not well-versed in Truth and Grace.
One of those pieces has to do with skepticism, and the title of the chapter is all you need to know about part of the response Mr. Lennox should have offered.
"I'd Believe in God If There Were Any Shred of Evidence."
See, the entrenched skeptic really should have asked the question this way, to reveal his true intentions: "Why believe in any God when there could be that one thing that disproves Him? I'm convinced there are many things that disprove Him, so any believer's convictions are fantasies. What do you say about that?"
This is really what the seduced skeptic is thinking. Thus exposed, Mr. Lennox could have simply answered, "So tell me yourself, what are the precise things you think disprove God? Please, enlighten me, so I may find fulfillment in a dogmatic skepticism too."
And getting back to the response I shared in that post from November 2019, his answer will almost always be some form of empiricism, which may quite readily and robustly be addressed.
It is likely the skeptic may add that the mere possibility of a disproof means God doesn't exist, and that we cannot know for sure about that possibility makes God's existence very shaky. Now of course this is preposterous, but how many agnostics or atheists believe this, in their hearts? I'd say there are quite a few!
As I think further about this, it seems to me the whole multiverse theory may play a role. Many skeptics buy into the idea that there are multiple universes, even an infinite number of them. Their imaginations get carried away with the thought that could there be a universe where a disproof of God exists? If there are an infinite number of them, then there must be!
But again, this is too easily answered. On what basis is the multiverse idea founded? How can the skeptic know for sure about multiverses, much more about the disproof he cannot share with us? I thought he wanted to know for sure about something he could not know. Again, much of radical skepticism can be profoundly refuted.
Meanwhile, I have to add that my devotional from Daily Bread was one I just want to mention here. My ministry work is about sharing the contrast between the Kingdom and the World, and that the World is authoritatively administered, by God's own permission, to crack heads in many elaborately ruthless ways. The text of the devotional was in the first letter to Timothy, second chapter, verses one to eight. They are beautiful words, about how praying with everything we've got for anyone in authority is a very good thing, because it not only brings peace for us living godly lives, but it allows us to get out and share Christ with anyone and everyone, that they would, here's the thing...
Come to know the truth.
Wow. What a great encouragement as we move into the new year.
That we may intercede with the deepest love and richest grace for the worst skeptic on the planet.
How great is it that they pack out the halls to see outstanding apologists like John Lennox.
___
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