Examining the Case for the Christian Faith (with Doug Groothuis)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 พ.ย. 2024
- How strong is the evidence for Christianity? How has the evidence, and issues, changed over the past few decades. Dr. Doug Groothuis is the author of the best-selling book, "Christian Apologetics," which he just updated. In this interview we discuss his conversion to faith and his perspective of how the evidence for Christianity has grown over the past few decades.
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I was listening to your argument of beauty. Imagine you are at a very beautiful place, there are mountains covered with snow, the water is majestic and blue, you see things that give you the sense that God is behind this creation and you are in awestruck wonder and in worship. But then, out of the blue, a polar bear chases a young seal and kills it and eats it alive and it screams for its life and the mother seal is watching from a distance and there you have the problem of evil and suffering. So the argument from beauty and the argument from evil are in the same picture! I don't know what feeling I would have now, certainly it won't be wonder and worship but of pain. May be I would ask God why do you allow this. Idk. I just wanted to share that thought because I had been thinking about it for quite long.
Doug has been put in a unique position in apologetics concerning human suffering as he watched is fairly young intelligent wife lose herself to dementia.
Life has so much suffering in it, particularly for people in very poor and tyrannical societies.
I can't wrap my head around how anyone gets through this life without the hope of eternal life.
Sean… I met your dad in 1982 about a year after I was saved… I had a chance to speak with him again at the Alive Festival in Ohio several years ago… Our meeting in 1982 started me on a recreational study of apologetics beginning of course with Evidence That Demands A Verdict… In the face of these domineant rise of secular humanism in the American culture, apologetics has become a very serious subject for me… I am thrilled to vicariously meet your guest… Extend my profound thanks to your dad & the for you faithful ministry… Shalom
Thanks for sharing, Jim. I LOVE hearing stories like this about my dad.
I always give your dad credit for what little I know… He said that if God is the greatest intellect anywhere then this Christianity has to be intellectually defensible and that struck me and motivated me… One of the things that troubles me is WL Craig wrote of & what I observe to be an anti-intellectualism, particularly in the evangelical church… 66% of young people in youth groups will abandon their faith within first 18 months of graduation… Andy Stanley in his forward of the latest edition of Evidence covers that pretty well… When I approached my church regarding apologetics I was gently but forcefully and thoroughly rebuked by the 2 lead pastors because they believe in just “telling your story”.… My struggle is to organize what I know and what I’m learning into something that is cogently presentable… can you offer guidance? BTW: I’m retired, love on East Tennessee, 72 years old… just finished Natasha Crain’s new book… I’m surrounded by transplanted blue staters who are liberal secularists and I want to minister to them…
@@jimfarnell5813 unfortunately what you describe in your church seems to be all too common these days. Reminds me of the subject matter of JP Moreland's book "love your God with all your mind", wonderful book to read if you haven't already.
@Jim Farnell. Its hard to believe any solid church would be that much against apologetics. Of course, they can never replace the gospel and the gospel in its multifaceted action. However, we still need them. They're not for every seeker but extremely important for many. And why not!!?
*"about a year after I was saved"* Saved from what?
*"domineant rise of secular humanism in the American culture"* If only that were true!
I never heard of this man before. Very impressed
James 1:5 states," If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him". Dr. Groothuis has much godly wisdom to share with the Body of Christ.
Well...no. DG has zero wisdom to impart. Nothing he said was useful. Not only that, but he's saying awful stuff, like condemning homosexuality. Bottom line, he subtracts value from the planet, does not add to it.
Well said and precisely correct.
He is not too old at 65. Who knows how many years God will give him?
Debate is a form of conversation. Every Christian should be prepared to debate, as well as drop the topic and go in for a hug at any moment. Be strong, friends.
The way he loved and honored his wife unconditionally through horrific suffering, disability, and loss is also an apologetic.
Amen, yes!
Can atheists "love and honor relatives and friends unconditionally through horrific suffering, disability, and loss"? If so, is that a counter-apologetic?
Amen! I think that suffering and even death (with, of course, the hope we have that gets us *through* things like suffering and the loss of loved ones) is something we should speak more about, as followers of Christ.
Edit: Plus the *unconditional* aspect you mentioned - when it happens, and it’s rare that Christians can stick together for the long haul, through any and everything now (just look at the divorce rates, sadly) - is really important, in my opinion.🪔
@@ubersheizer5398 Yes, of course they *can* .. Tho it’s not “a counter-apologetic” obviously. A big difference is the hope Christ followers have beyond death, we know we will see each other again, it helps in the suffering and in the grieving process. (Which begins even before actual death)
@@veronicaspencelocke2003 Yes, Hope, Meaning and Purpose. The hope to see dead loved ones is a major driver for many people to believe Christianity and all the Abrahamic religions as true. My wife knows next to nothing about the Bible but goes to church for the Hope of seeing her sister and dad again. I accept that this is the one life we get and try to value every moment of it. The point of my original comment was that you don't need to be a Christian to care about people.
Fireweed: the first plant that shows up after a forest fire. It is very beautiful. Apparently, the heat somehow activates the seed after laying dormant for long periods.
In my apologetics course at Liberty, we used Dr. Groothuis textbook. Was a blessing to me.
Yes, I took the same course at Liberty! Still have the digital copy of the book, love it!
Liberty University?? I go there. I am thinking about taking the apologetics course soon
@arjaramillo86 can you share it with me
A great conversation, thank you so much. I love Doug’s attitude about out-thinking the world for Christ. He who created the universe and sustains it by His powerful word never required us to kiss our brains goodbye when we follow Him.
Thanks for such powerful encouragement to rejoice in the Lord. Thanks for being strong Biblical models of faith 💝
Wonderful conversation, thank you, Sean and Doug. I love his input on the atonement. If Christ's work is not a finished perfected work then we are all in trouble. God is so Holy that He cannot accept any impurity period. Until you and I rest in the finality of the cross we will never move on to the resurrected life of Christ.
This is the first time I have related to an apologetics YT as he related it to the emotions of the illness of his first wife. Apologetics goes over my head most of the time. For the first time I could relate as he brought it down out of the clouds of academia and intellectualism into a relatable place for me. Do it like Jesus and Paul. Sometimes I think I am too dim to understand and use apologetics as usually discussed. I like pragmatic and concrete. Relatable.
Fantastic interview...Doug's testimony also touched me deeply as similar start with the Lord, sadly I fell away for nearly 40 years now back , thanks to the pandemic etc. But those wilderness years are hard to reconcile for me..and this discussion is very helpful thank you...
Wow what convinced you to go back?
Welcome back!
@@douglaswise6797 I was affected by the vaccine, and as a nurse I knew something was off with the whole pandemic as our govnt said they were the one source of truth.. this set me looking at what was actully going on... I saw pure and utter evil , think Yuval Noah Harari and Klaus Straub, Fuaci and Gates, this blew my mind and I started feeling overwhelming fear... psalm 23 started to repeat over in my mind, and then my daughter found the lord with a very clear holy spirit experience... as we progressed the lord put people in our path..and I went through a massive process of becoming aware of my sin, and spent the last 7mnths on my knees repenting, reading my new Bible large print these days haha.. and really seeking the lord.. and emerging myself in all things of him.. it's been a process and already lost friends... over the nearly 40 years I would check in with the holy spirit and test that I could still speak in tounges, I could always manage a few words, now I have a whole other language...it's been a transformative process as he works on me since Dec 21.
What convinced you Christianity is true?
@@truthseeker7867 Don't expect an answer. You'll either never get one, or it'll be preposterously unconvincing. It's what they do.
Great interview. So appreciate both your work and your faithfulness to serve the Lord.
th-cam.com/video/7c5uxWuPR9U/w-d-xo.html
You know what's beautiful? A man who takes care of his wife and loves her even though she doesn't remember who he is. I know a man who put his wife in a nursing home and started dating almost immediately. He married within a year and rarely visited his wife. Their daughters did all the visiting and making sure she was being taken care of by the staff. My heart was broken by his behavior 💔
Thank you Doug for being a consistent voice of faith. And reason. Particularly for the Eugene area and Willamette Valley of Oregon. May your voice have access to the wilderness.
Great talk here.
Sean i want to thank you and lift you up in peayer, for your show it realy makes a difference, stick to the truth Brother
Enjoyed this interview! My friends own a Christian bookstore, I'll ask them to order Dr. Groothuis' book for me. When you talked about his wife's dementia, that touched me. My mom had Alzheimer's when she passed away last year, thankfully it wasn't too advanced. But I remember feeling troubled, and realized that I looked at faith as being a 'brain thing' since it has so much to do with belief. I had to work through that and one thing I thought of was that when we die, our brains die too... so there is a mind that lives on with us that is not hindered by our physical brain, especially when it is 'sick'. That helped a lot :)
Yes we have body (our PHYSICAL body) soul (that is our mind, and our personality that is influenced by our physical brain) AND spirit.
Soul and spirit are two different things.
It is not the soul that survives death as people often think, it is the spirit, and that's where God lives inside you.
Your soul which is your personality your thinking ability ect that is controlled by your brain, although your spirit can help to influence your brain and change your personality somewhat while you're still on Earth.
The brain dies, the body dies, the spirit lives on with Jesus until the day of Resurrection when we get brand new bodies and brand new brains for our spirits to indwell.
Just received the book “Christian Apologetics” by Groothuis last night. WOW this is fantastic. 132 pages in and I don’t want to put it down! Thanks Sean for introducing me to Douglas and his work !!!
My pleasure!
If his book is as "good" as this interview, I'd say you're easily impressed. I can't see anything here that isn't easily rebutted.
@@chikkipop
Such as?
@@chikkipop you said in one of your comments that there will never be an answer.... what is your answer? How do you hide from the evidence and proof of God?
@@semperfi4ever507 *"you said in one of your comments that there will never be an answer."*
Why not quote what I said, so I know what it was about? Answer for what?
*"How do you hide from the evidence and proof of God?"* I have no idea why anyone would feel the need to hide from evidence of something. Very strange question! What "evidence and proof" is there?
This must be the best video yet! This man is such a treasure. I need to read this book!!!
It will be worth your time
Buying the book , and yes, please do the Prolife apologetic from non-Christian and Christian point of view.
This man is almost everything I hope to be
Relatable
@Christopher Chay
How about being like Christ instead?
@@luboshcamber1992 tis why I said almost 😉 Christ is the epitome human perfection, I'll never reach that. I will strive towards it, I could never reach it in this earthly form.
However, this is far more attainable
Another great conversation. The argument from beauty and the Pascal argument may be closest to my own inner apologetics so it felt good to hear these discussed. Nourishing. Thanks!
Thank you for all.
May you be well.
Wow, great chat. You guys actually have me seriously thinking about an MA in apologetics
YES, join us!
15:32 - 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Very important! A key point!
Asking questions is one of the few effective ways to change a mindset!
Let’s practice it more and more!
Absolutely amazing! Grabbed his book (most go on a private wish list on Amazon for me to remember to buy "eventually", but this one I got now!) and will most likely be rewatching this, too.
Thanks again Sean! You are soooo cool. What you do is so important and so helpful.
I’m glad it’s helpful!
When I first encountered Dr Groothuis through a series of lectures he gave on Christian Apologetics, I was somewhat turned off. I'm not sure why... I just think we had a personality clash. Since that time, I have come to love him and his work and continue to grow in my appreciation of his life and labour. Thank you, Dr Groothuis! We may never be friends, but we will ever be brothers!
Ooooooh.. *great* conversation. Plenty of brilliant points made - too many to list, and I'd love to get this book.
I have one reservation. When talking about people rejecting the faith because of the sacrifices it would require, I think it's unwise to describe that as being because of a person's "piddling ego" - particularly when struggles like same-sex attraction may be involved - many of which most of us have *no* concept or experience of. We need to remember that people have suicidal ideation on foot of these things. It can be a terribly traumatic position to be in, and I feel we shouldn't undermine that. 🙏🙏
Edit: *"Don't put knowledge above character .. " " .. I think the besetting sin of apologists is arrogance.."*
This is so good and true!!! 🔊 📢 🔊 👏👏👏
I just looked this guy up and saw he has a book called "The Soul in Cyberspace". I couldn't find much about it but it sounds like he might have similar views as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin? if he's going in that direction that's awesome!!! can't wait to listen to this!!! a lotta people don't know this but Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was actually the first person to predict cyberspace all the way back in 1925!!! He called it the "Noosphere". The idea of exponential growth in tech and computation is deeply linked to christian philosophers! If this guy is going in that direction its really good to see this idea gaining more attention from the christian side! The types of arguments for God that are based on emergent complexity are really BY FAR the most superior arguments for the existence of God there is imo!!! I actually prolly wouldn't even be christian if i hadn't started thinking about these arguments. I would love to see Dr Sean interview Frank Tipler who coauthored the book: "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle"", he's all about this type of stuff too. He's absolutely brilliant, probably wrong about some stuff (lol) but brilliant.
Yikes
@@HowBoutDemBoyzz why "yikes"?
It’s similar to the complexity of the basic elements which aren’t simple. These champion for the existence of God and the Deity (Godhead).
That’s really interesting.
@@Cate7451 it's quite the stretch
Don't laugh Sean ....but I also ordered "Evidence That Demands A Verdict" and it just came in today. I took "Evidence" with me to a doc visit an hour ago, and read your father's testimony (in the chapter "He Changed My Life"). I must say: Everyone should read this to get an idea of the miraculous transformation of God in raising someone rom spiritual death and giving them a heart of flesh! What a gift you and Josh are to those who have a heart for following Christ and obeying his command in making disciples of all nations......
Laugh? This is amazing. Thanks for sharing!
It's so silly. Who is convinced by such lightweight nonsense?!
This has been an enlightening time! Thank you so much for sharing with us.
You bet!
May the Lord use whom he will.
This was a great interview, thank you. Love what Doug said about church, beauty and Pascall. Hope to find his new book somewhere in South Africa in the near future 🙏.
Dr. Groothuis' book was just my text in an apologetics class. Very good book. Should be on anyone's shelf if this topic is interesting.
" It's right up there, with my book." Oh the confidence, oh the truth. :)
What a rich and comprehensive talk! Thank you!
Mr. Groothuis..I got the new book, fire in the streets..preordered and got it early
I’ve ordered the book ✝️✝️🙏
I started to read the Bible every day, study it and go to church during the week and twice on Sundays as much as I could. I tried to be better but after a year I felt more sinful and instead of better, worst. One night I could not sleep and I felt depressed I started to cry out to the Lord and said: “Lord God I deserve Hell but I cannot for eternity be separated from You.” I saw that one who dies without Christ will instantly be separated from our Creator. Even the atheist and Jews are held up by the God they do not believe in. That is why Christ at the Cross cried out: “My God My God Why have you forsaken me” That we would never be FORSAKEN from our Lord God. It was the deepest point of His suffering. Then these words came in my heart: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I saw that God The Father was well pleased with Jesus when He died at the cross and gave His Blood for many. I said Lord God If you are pleased with that scarifies at the Cross why Would I not be pleased with it. I saw that Christ was nailed to the Cross for my sins, and cried out: “My God My God why have You forsaken Me, so that I never will be forsaken by My Heavenly Father. Looking to Christ alone and not my righteousness. At that moment peace came into my heart. Peace With God that no one can understand except only through the Holy Spirit, I felt that the Blood of Christ had washed my sins away. I felt as if I was walking in Paradise without Sin. I was 17 at that time. I’m 82 now.
The Bible is the perfect Word of God, and is not only the world’s most widely sold but also most translated book in the world. Individual parts have been translated into 3,394 languages, and the complete Bible into 694 languages. No other book not to mention ancient books are coming even close. That is supernatural.
Those that read with faith have been given understanding of the Word of the Lord.
Those that want proof will get that in the after life, but then it is too late.
I loved the first edition of Groothuis' book but he mentioned that the print was smaller. I really don't appreciate that bigger books use smaller text. It makes study so much harder I would rather pay more to have a book that is easily approached. Honestly, I have some books that I avoid whenever possible just because the print is too small.
Wonderful wonderful chat. Sean you absolutely appear an earnest and sincere listener. So great to see.
Thanks. I try!
Yes well, well done brother.
The Father has gifted you in this area of your pursuits. It’s a pleasure to behold.
(Not flattery, glory to God)
Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to getting the book for myself and college student grandson who will love it!!
Purchased!!!!!
Absolutely love this conversation. Makes me want to read “Christian Apologetics” and “Evidence That Demands a Verdict”!
Do it! 😉
Wow having got to the end I feel excited about this topic.i didn't know it existed!!
I hear apologists quite often confuse epistemological skepticism with the idea that there is no truth. One can think that there are absolute truths in the universe but be skeptical of the ability of humans to correctly determine what those truths are.
Can anyone tell me what book he is talking about when he mentions the 7-8 new chapters in his book and around minute 48 discusses how to defend the atonement
Christian Apologetics book, new edition. It is an outstanding book!
Thanks y'all! Maranatha!
The biggest question of all is: Why does God need apologetics? The fact that a person's immortal afterlife depends on whether they a) come across Dr. Groothuis and b) believe his works or that of any other apologist, is basically all you need to identify that there is something deeply wrong with most organized religions. No one would devise a system that relies largely on random chance for you to be "saved". Not to mention people born in Islam...who face the death penalty for apostasy. There is almost no chance they will convert to Christianity if they live in a country with such a penalty. What happens to their "souls" then? Because under traditional catholic doctrine, don't they just go to hell?
Because its flawed ideology called religion. It has no evidence and old school blind faith defence doesnt work. People understood at some point its not obvious god was responsible for kids being born etc. Little by little we pushed gods deeds to "nobody knows if god was involved in evolution of humanity or big bang". It annoyed many thinkers why believe in something so stupid if blind faith is only evidence and proof for christ being of god, is god but not holy spirit.
Apologetics is to counter fallacies as you show here. You sound as if you have a better way for the truth of God to convey. As a matter of fact, you don't! By the choice of the Islam's ancestors, they rejected the truth (let's assume it truth for the sake of argument), do you have a better suggestion on how shall that be dealt with. You don't!
It's like a tornado is going to hit Florida, everyone will have to stick to a news channel to get to the news. You can't deal with those intendedly turn off all electronic devices to isolate himself from the truth under broadcasting!
In short, the gospel is conveyed in such a manner that humans don't have a better way for it to convey. It's already conveyed in the best way. God's job is to make a self-sacrifice, all left is for humans to try there best to convey the truth. Christians are all in full effort to convey such a truth under its deity's explicit command that, the gospel must be preached to all nations. The gospel has been preached to the Middle East with the same effort, it's rejected there by people's free will. Do any other religions have such an preaching effort in history? That's why all other religions remain 'local' in one way or another, they don't have mission along with an explicit command from their gods to do such a preaching in a human-facing manner.
I've been searching for God for over 20 years. As a teenager, I used to preach to youth groups and even people in retirement homes, read my Bible at least an hour a day and prepared myself for the mission field. At 16 years of age though, some atheist planted some seeds of doubt in my. Subtle seeds of doubt. A few weeks later I was an agnostic searching for the truth. Some say God will search for us, but that still hasn't happened after more than 20 years.
If you can think of a (really) good reason why the original witnesses to the resurrection would lie about seeing Jesus resurrected when they were faced with persecution and martyrdom for saying so, then you have a reason not to believe them. But there is no such reason. So God must exist, because only God can resurrect.
Also, whoever lives in love lives in God. Not just any love, but love that loves just because the lover wants to love.
I pray you continue to search and question the doubt you had planted.
@@grantbartley483 Utter nonsense. Why?
@@chrisazure1624 Why? He's on the right path, isn't he? No one should believe ancient myths.
@@chikkipop Except they are not myths. The life, death and resurrection is well attested.
Looking forward to this!
Don't forget A.I. I expect a huge rise in all forms. I mean, whenever I'm stumped, I just ask AI and confirm. I've actually started to learn a lot more. Then again I'm more of a visual learner
To my heartbreak, apologetics and ethics seem to be taking a back seat to ministry training and counselling subjects in Bible colleges in Australia (particularly the state of Victoria)
Aaahhh, so Seán McDowell IS josh McDowell's son! Sean, I read your Dad's book 'More than a Carpenter' in college, reluctantly initially, for a 'boring' religion assignment. Almost everyone else rephrased the blurb at the back of their chosen book. Not only did I read Josh's book, but it became the fuse to my 'powder', years of questions, now awaiting the real light. Only the truth could light that new fuse. Because of sceptusm and healthy questioning, it took quite a while to sepqrqte the fluff from the facts. I have always been grateful for that 1st book. 👍🙏🙏😍
amen, 41:00 got me, i can relate to that so much. God did apologetic non-apologetically all the time in the bible. and only his words comforts us because it is truth that will not fade.
Ok, shivers. He mentioned 2 of my top 5 favorite guitarists, right off the bat... Fantastic discussion, thank you both so much. Fascinated by apologetics and Christ.
Sean, have you had Steve Deace on yet?
Thanks Sean
There is a need for a resurgence in presuppositional apologetics. The work of Greg Bahnsen and Van Til needs to become more prominent in modern apologetics.
Presup is dead and buried as it should be
Please pray for my daughter and son-- they are so blind and just don't seem to want to give God a chance! Erin and Tyson.
Pray Ezekiel 11:19 -20 everyday for them. I do it for my daughter and son in law. Blessings!
@Kathleen Tucker
Check out Living Waters Ministires Ray Comfort here on TH-cam, or their website. You will see why they "don't want to give God a chance" and maybe it will help.
Yahweh never existed any more than Baal, Asherah, Chemosh, Marduk, Dagon or any of the other gods mentioned in the Bible. It's Hebrew mythology. No more true than the indoctrinated beliefs of 3 billion Muslims and Hindus on the planet today.
That is my worst nightmare as a dad. I am going to teach my kids everything I know about apologetics. I have saved many videos like these to help. Ultimately we have to teach them that no matter what they go through in life, just know God is there with them, he does the changing, not them.
Can you do time stamps? It’d really help with these longer videos
Honestly Dr. McDowell, I don't believe in most of what you do, but I enjoy the spirit you conduct your interviews with. And I also like the introspection you keep bringing up - it's really healthy and in itself is quite a statement in the current environment. In this interview, you ask about the future of apologetics. I think the answer is about mimesis. Dr. Dennis MacDonald is the leading expert in the world (as far as I can tell) on this. If you haven't read his books, I don't see how you can be prepared for what is coming.
Also, the issue of pro-life, that's an extraordinarily complicated one with a fundamentally political dimension to it. What has to be addressed is the related doctrines. Christian doctrines actually favour abortion in a practical sense because there is a common belief that a baby that dies will automatically go to heaven, whereas a baby that lives to adulthood is far more likely not to go to heaven. How does one defend a pro-life stance when heaven-guaranteed is the result?
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts, Jamie. I appreciate the suggestions too.
@@SeanMcDowell Thank you so much for taking time to reply! About Dr. MacDonald's work I recommend the following video as a teaser. I know you are busy so I suggest just watching the 3 and a half minutes from 18:20 to 21:52. I would LOVE to see Dr. MacDonald on your show. He now has a complete summary of all the mimesis in all four gospels and the Book of Acts. I am certain his work will start to gain significant attention in the next few years and well beyond.
th-cam.com/video/m2fTHvhHrm0/w-d-xo.html
The Christians first duty is to love God
To love God is to obey God
God commands men not to murder
The ProLife Christian believes abortion is murder
To be in accord with the position of loving God the Christian ought not commit or support abortion.
I am increasingly becoming convinced is the most effective apologetics is the Christian life well lived, both individually and in community. This will occur only through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. What can I do? First repent, then pray, pray, pray!
Amazing interview, got lots of insights.
I've heard that Carlos Santana has come to faith in Christ. I grew up in Greeley and knew some of the students in the Navigators at UNC, CSU, and CU.
Oh yeah, helped him a lot throughout his life, it's not a recent thing.
This was a really great interview
Fireweed is beautiful in the bright fuschia color, especially with blue mountains in the back drop.
Such a good video and coverage of topics
asking questions! great advice.
I totally guessed wrong how Dr. Doug's last name would be pronounced. Oh, and great interview.
I grew up in a Dutch enclave in Michigan. We would have pronounced it GROOT-hice. But of course, he's the authority on his own name.
I grew up in a heavily Dutch community, my neighbors had the same name and pronounced it “Groot” rhymes with ROOT and “-huis” rhymes with SLICE.” Other similar names in my town were Nienhuis and Bolthuis (the T separated from the H).
Many people use apologetics to evangelize, and may God grant them success. I see apologetics as extremely important for young Christians to "extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." In today's culture young people are constantly being barraged with attacks on their faith, and apologetics is important to being fitted with the full armor of God.
But there is no god, therefore no "armor of god". Can't we just stop with these ancient superstitions and make decisions based on what we've learned over the millennia?
@@hongotedesco8931 Who told you that?
@@Steve101747 Nobody really told me that, it's simply the obvious conclusion from doing a lot of reading: Science, History, Philosophy, Theology, etc, etc. Human beings have been inventing gods/religions for millennia, and the probability that any one of those thousands is actually true? Yeah, close to zero. Of course, I can't prove it's zero (that's why I say "close to zero"), but, because it is so close to zero, I just work with the zero (typical math thing).
@@hongotedesco8931 I see that you have made a reasoned decision based upon your study. There are many scientists of all disciplines and philosophers who also hold to your view. Conversely, there are also many scientists of all disciplines and philosophers who hold to the view that there is a creator God who is revealed in Scripture.
@@Steve101747 Oh I completely understand that many intelligent people, including modern people, hold not only to a creator god, but believe Christianity is true. The perfect example is Francis Collins. I think he's completely mistaken of course. Just witness the moment of his conversion "walking through the woods I see a frozen waterfall with 3 streams, it was so beautiful, it had to be a sign from god of the Trinity". Wow. That to me is super flimsy, it just boggles my mind how he buys that. Any belief in these inventions are clearly delusional. The super interesting question is why people that are scientists, and are intelligent, buy this stuff. A "religion instinct"? Some sort of genetic/physiological tweak? But on that note, if you look at the members of the NAS, while they're not 100% atheist, the % of atheism is much higher than in the general population.
I hope I have Doug's hair at his age. It's beautiful and makes me believe in God.
Dealing With Doubt by Gary Habermas has be an enormous help for me…
What's it about? I assume it's about dealing with doubt hence the title but what are some of the things Gary talks about?
@@Strongtower The book is no longer in print but it is made available on Gary’s website… He describes & defines 3 types of doubt- factual, emotional, volitional- Then how identify your type of doubt and how to deal with it… there’s a lot more to the book… he also has several TH-cam videos on the subject…
This was very good.
Could it be that the leaders of today's institutional church have gotten so caught up in other things that the power of God is not moving? God is not asking any leader to 'entertain' believers and make them happy, looking at the words of Jesus, Jesus wanted all of His people to GO and make disciples of all the nations, Jesus wanted His people to love Him with all their heart and soul, Jesus wanted all of His people to be ready for His return, Jesus wanted us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and through it all He said He would love us and not forsake us, He would give rest to the weary and show us His grace and mercy. God's word, which is the truth we should be staying with, said we are to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. It does not say 'plus what ever you want to add' or 'if you want to worship me in your own special way', believers if it is not in God's word, don't make it part of your worship and service to Him.
To us it seems that leaders are caught up in how to fix America and so many other things. Jesus called out certain believers to be leaders so that they would preach as He directed. Instead, we have leaders selling or buying books, devotionals, programs, trainings, conferences, merchandise, etc.; focusing on youth groups, Sunday school classes, VBS, singles groups, recovery groups, grief groups, men's groups, woman's groups, etc.; making sure they have board meetings and church votes, following the government standards, not paying taxes and calling it a blessing from God, even though the church of satan does not have to pay taxes either, sending out tax statements (yet pretending they don't know who gives the most money), making sure their building is beautiful, etc.; focusing months on holidays set up by the catholic church not by God, bringing in secular 'holidays' right into the worship of God, such as mother's day, father's day, thanksgiving, the fourth of July, etc.; setting up denominations that get hung up on one thing or another and believing they are the only group doing it right, AKA, I follow Cephas, I follow Paul, I follow Appolos. Absolutely none of this is in God's word yet leaders focus on these things anyway.
Why, why can't leaders and believers see how they have gotten off track? Every Christian believer seems to be thankful for what Jesus has done in their life, but not thankful enough to rid themselves of what is not in God's word. Why?
Remember Jesus said, when He returns will He find faith on the earth. Jesus did not speak frivolously, Jesus spoke many time about such things, being ready, following the narrow road which few would find because they are on the broadway, Jesus is warning His followers, that they will be led astray, yet even when you point out the most common ways they have gone astray, they will not listen and get back on the narrow way.
Is there anyone out there that will purify how they serve and worship the Lord? Do leaders and believers understand that when you add to God's word, you make your worship and service lukewarm? Do leaders and believers understand that for centuries God has put up with this lukewarmness and He has given us the message that the time of His vomiting this lukewarm church is approaching very, very quickly. These messages are warnings to His people that you need to heed the knocking on the door and come out from the church that 'does it their own way'. Do not fall for those that say Revelation 3:14-22 is about 'fake' Christians that were never really saved, God sent an angel to each of His churches because they are His people.
We have been preaching the messages from God as a warning to His people. Time is running very short and you will be without excuse. He who has ears to hear, please hear before it is too late!
th-cam.com/video/Bv9LffsMM98/w-d-xo.html
Every kid needs to be shown proof of the Bible when I was in 3rd grade I used to pray and try to read my Bible I couldn't read good yet but kids got to me because they showed me proof that my parents thought I was too young for
The kids proof turned out to be false but still alot of them don't know that
Great interview never heard of him before and glad I watched definitely going to get this book.
Awesome, enjoy!
“Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:6-9 NLT
God has His arms open to all of us to receive salvation. Let us turn to Him and receive His amazing grace and love. Also let us turn away from our sinful ways and live in obedience to God. There is no wiser thing we can do than to obey God because He knows everything and wants what is best for us. He wants to help us and show us mercy, but we need to turn to Him to receive it. Remember that God’s ways are far beyond what we could ever imagine. He can work, and is working through all things for our good and His glory. Hopefully this helped you and brought you hope today. God bless you!
Another relevant, informative, and important interview. Great author and guest. I love Sean McDowell in the long form interview, he has a gift. He asks Great questions and let's people answer in length.
Thanks Darren! Appreciate you weighing in so often.
Sean I've been following your videos for some time now and I so appreciate how you ask good questions to people of all faiths. I have been struggling in my marriage since my husband had started a journey of deconversion 13 years ago. We were always best friends and have been married for 33 years now. We have raised three boys and by the grace of God they all Believe in Christ. But now we find ourselves lonely in our marriage oftentimes because my husband is an atheist and I am a Christian. I have tried to keep hoping and praying that God will open his eyes to truth again. But I find my joy is often stolen and My Hope often gone. I know that the God we serve is big enough to take care of this yet feel despair too often. Do you have any suggestions on how to restart the spiritual conversation? He wants me to listen to his side again. I just don't know how to keep myself from getting defensive and just affirming him and his beliefs, if that's even possible because at the end of the day probably no matter what he says I'm going to think that he interpreted the information wrongly. I have been studying everything I can to be a better apologist which I am not good. At the end of the day I still feel it takes a matter of faith for the things that we are not or cannot be certain of.
You are correct that at the end of the day "it's a matter of faith", because frankly, there is zero evidence for any of this "christianity" stuff, so you're choosing to believe it because it makes you feel good, which is completely understandable. But for some of us, truth is important, and it tears us up to believe in made up things, so we don't.
Eg, from a Babylonian tablet currently housed at the Morgan library in NYC:
The god Enki(Ea) tells Atrahasis of the impending flood and instructs him to build an ark.
The flood story is just.a recycled myth from religions that predate the old testament, and by a lot, like 1000 years.
Gracias!!!!
De nada!!!
How do you learn if you are over 50 extremely interested in knowing how to share with family and friends without any degree's or formal education under me? I'm a retired 30 year flight attendant. Any advice? I'm on my third time reading the entire Bible. The Bible is my passion but I can't explain everything I know at all. I really want to be more articulate. Any one have advise for me or direction? Thank You!
Hi Kelly.
This suggestion is not mainly about content ie the what of conversations, it's mainly about the how.
1) Greg Koukl's book Tactics is helpful.
2) If you have two or more Christian friends you can trust try this exercise:
Write down on slips of paper objections you've heard or are afraid you'll come up against. ' How can a good God allow suffering?' ' Christians are bigots' etc etc. Put the paper slips in a hat, draw them at random, and take turns playing the Christian, the skeptic and an observer. Don't worry if you get stuck. The point is to learn from each other and learn which are topics needing further study. I know most people hate role play but your years as a flight attendant will stand you in excellent stead and people I've done this with find it very helpful.
3) On the 'what' to say I strongly recommend Mike Winger's Bible Thinker TH-cam channel. He's a great Bible teacher and apologist who has messages covering many objections to Christianity. His website also now has a search engine to look up specific topics of interest.
Hope that helps.
Greetings from Scotland.
God bless you and your family.
@@derekmchardy8730 Thank you for replying! Your advise is great! I have listened to a lot of Mike Winger's videos!
Thank you again! God Bless! PS. I've been to Scotland! Lovely people!
@Kelly Cross
Check out Ray Comfort,.Living waters ministries, he has tons if videos on TH-cam. Do what he does.
@ Kelly Cross - I remember a pastor talking about attending a Billy Graham crusade to see what Billy Graham was saying that was so eloquent as to draw so many people to his events. To the pastor’s surprise, Billy Graham was just preaching from the Bible. Sometimes we try to put God’s word into our own words instead of just letting God speak for Himself. It sounds like you know the Bible well, so you are well-equipped to share. Romans 1:16 ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God into salvation for everyone who believes’. God bless.
Hi Sean,
I just watched your conversation with Dr Doug Groothuis. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Do you know how I can get in touch with him?
Email me through seanmcdowell.org and I will forward it to him.
Are any of Dr. Groothuis books available in audiobooks form? I have looked and couldn't find them.
Christian Apologetics is in audio books.
Fantastic content!
Much needed these times
Brother Sean, haven’t been able to log in on the live interviews I have been super crazy busy but thank you once again for your dedication and great interviews!
I wanted to ask you, what children books would you recommend? Ages 5-15
Good video but Sean needs to tweak the equalization on his mic. It needs a lot more from the bass end.
Doug has experience of the word and scriptures coming alive to him through illumination that includes a light or photon phenomena. He had it reading F Scheaffer, and in one of our email exchanges I asked him if he had experienced the illumination of the scriptures, and his reply was "yes". I copy and pasted it to notepad. LOL
How can I enroll in your apologetic school?
Socratic method is great method for teaching.
“No turning back” is the flip side to hard core atheism. I’m not sure if there is honest thoughts in either extreme.
I am seeking evidence for Christianity.
@Justin Gary I have. What am I lying about, Justin?
@Justin Gary Not going to answer?
Now everyone can see who is actually lying.
Ignore weird trolls. I watched "The Case for Christ" yesterday. While it's not documented scientific articles, it is quite informative and entertaining.
@@theoskeptomai2535 Assuming your comment implies you've already came to the conclusion that there is a God since the focus is on Christianity itself, I'm basically in the same boat. IMO, the truth is there is no direct solid evidence that proves anything in the universe 100%. All we have are strings of data points which either compliment or conflict with each other (This applies to all religions and atheism alike). From there, all we have is our own rationality, logic, and reason. So we can still conclude some things are more "probable" than others.
When it comes to Christianity specifically, Christianity itself claims that "faith without evidence" is an "attribute". So at face value, I don't really see how lack of evidence is a problem for christianity. The problem for Christianity is why "faith without evidence" would be seen as an "attribute" in the first place. So the question becomes, "what is the point of faith?" and IMO there ARE actually rational approaches to this.
There are many many different interpretations of Christianity and what it means to be a Christian, but all the different interpretations of Christianity can be placed into two different categories in regards to where you place the core of your faith.
Category (1) Christian Materialism: you place the core of your faith in biblical claims made about the physical material world regarding history, science, and the supernatural. Christian belief that falls into this category can be supported by Paul's letters in Corinthians.
Category (2) Christian Spirituality: you place the core of your faith in the message of Jesus as a defining factor of God. Christian belief that falls into this category can be supported by the Gospel of John.
Altho these two categories aren't in conflict with each other there definitely seems to be pros and cons as to where your place the CORE of your faith.
The pros to having "Christian Materialism at the core of faith" is it provides an extra layer of security because it doesn't ask questions, all it requires is confidence. Its also easily definable which allows groups of people to gather under one very specific simple belief which creates cultures where people's spirituality and behavior can be kept in check by social norms. The cons are that Christian Materialism on its own says nothing about the message of Jesus on its own and is only beneficial when paired with the message of Jesus itself. Another problem is that Christian Materialism is rationally very weak. So if you are not a naturally confident person, or if you ever get to a point where you start to question things, Christian materialism becomes ENTIRELY about history and science, and the message of Jesus is over shadowed by historical and scientific debate.
The pros of "Christian Spirituality at the core of faith" is its more stable because it doesn't require any confidence in earthly knowledge about history or science. It frees up time and energy to focus on the actual message of Jesus instead of having to become a physicist, historian or having confidence for the sake of confidence alone. The cons are that since its ill defined about how science and history DO fit into it, it has less group cohesion functioning as behavioral social norms that keep people focused being motivated.
I would say that if you're someone who definitely needs rational answers to things and also believes in God and the message of Jesus, just start there. Thats where i'm at with Christianity personally anyway. I believe in Jesus and God. I don't believe OR not believe the bible is an infallible history and science book. I just don't know either way, but my point is its not important to my faith because the core of my faith is based in the message of Jesus.
AND ALSO, LET ME BE CLEAR, I'M JUST SAYING ALL THIS AS MY OWN OPINION. I COULD VERY WELL BE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING! I'm not tryna lead anyone down the wrong path or anything! This is just my own thoughts on it. I'm not tryna say anyone who believes one way or the other is wrong cause idk anything for sure lol.
@@BookOfMorman Thanks for the recommendation.
I have read (more accurately listened to - I am visually impaired) _The Case for Christ_ by Strobel. The film may be based in that book. Was this a feature film?
If you really want to know if the Biblical claims are eventually supported, then you should consult _actual historians and scientists_ instead of Christian apologists. Going to a Christian apologist is like asking a 12-year-old Justin Bieber groupie for an honest, unbiased critique of the latest Justin Bieber album.
discovery institue seems to like him, which is akin to al capone supporting a candidate for police chief.
What was the book about the "modern self"?
It’s by Carl Trueman. Excellent. I actually interviewed him about it last summer: m.th-cam.com/video/liT5xA7b2sY/w-d-xo.html
Because prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes. The ungodly try to deny and hide the truth but they cant
Are you saying that one prophecy fulfilled is that "Some people won't believe our religion is true?"
“Religions are divisive and quarrelsome. They are a form of one-upmanship because they depend upon separating the “saved” from the “damned,” the true believers from the heretics, the in-group from the out-group… All belief is fervent hope, and thus a cover-up for doubt and uncertainty.”
~ Alan Watts
Bear in mind that Socrates was using question & answer, the Logos, or Logic, 400 years before Jesus, so Jesus wasn’t the first historical thinker to display this “forma mentis”.