The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God (ft. Justin Brierley)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ย. 2024
- There is a renewed fascination with the big questions of life. Many secular thinkers have recently come to faith in God and others are seeing the importance and relevance of Christianity for our modern age. Sean interviews Justin Brierley about his latest book and this surprising trend.
READ: The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: (justinbrierley...)
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I recently returned to faith and recommitted my life to Jesus after being an atheist for the past 12 years or so. One of the biggest things that brought me back to Christ was the current culture war. Even though I was a self-professing atheist, I found myself on the same side as Christians in the culture war. I found it odd that the same people who were claiming to be the rational thinkers who follow the science, were the same ones completely denying science when it didn't fit their narrative. So much of the secular liberal ideology is an assault on reality, and no one is allowed to question or disagree with the "official" narrative, no matter how absurd it is. I became frustrated, and I didn't know what to believe or who to believe anymore. I prayed, "God, I don't know if you are real, and I don't know if anyone is listening to me right now, but if you are real, please lead me back to you." God answered my prayer, and I've experienced a total transformation of my heart and mind. I find that I'm no longer angry all the time, I don't have the depressive thoughts as before, and I have a newfound desire to know God.
Ie, "I don't like trans people, so I decided to convert to a religion."
Very rational.
This was basically my prayer right before I became a Christian when I was 16, 50 years ago!
So you"prayed" to a deity that you were convinced didn't exist. Sorry but I am calling bs.
Comical, paraphrasing, “I left the dogma of liberal ideology that doesn’t permit questioning in exchange for religious ideology that literally teaches you not to question.” 😂😂 I’ve spent a fair amount of time in church and reading the Bible, at no time have I ever heard that Christianity promotes critical examination of Christianity. It demands the opposite
@@downenout8705
Nobody cares about your opinion.
I lost my faith in atheism in February and became a Christian. It's taken me about 7 months, and 3 months of regular church going to feel confident to publicly say that I'm a Christian.
I definitely started to take Christianity seriously through the intellectual route initially. Tom Holland has really changed my world view.
Pray Tom then, as he is an atheist (I think). Also for Jordan Peterson, who is so close...
@@grantbartley483 I've once heard him say that sometimes he feels closer to god. He was asked if he was theist and that was part of his answer.
@@karlj1564 Yes. I think he needs to be convinced of the resurrection, though. And why shouldn't he be? The historical evidence for it is virtually impeccable.
@@grantbartley483 He does an entire Rest is History episode on the resurrection. It's actually quite compelling. It's worth a listen.
I said goodbye to my atheism less than two months ago; may I ask what convinced you that the Christian way is the only way?
I went from Christopher Hitchens to Sam Harris to Jordon Peterson to Jonathan Pageau to being received in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Atheism to Faith in 4 thinkers.
Peterson's & Pageau's most recent podcast conversation is absolutely brilliant. Alchemical!
Is Peterson born again andJesus Is the only Lord?
JBP was my catalyst
So rationality to gullibility is four bizarre and disconnected steps. Neat.
@@highroller-jq3ix homie, you should be glad people are seeking the Lord/finding faith. don't be an ass.
It is Justin Brierley who has been a key touchstone in my turning away from the religion of Atheism and towards faith. I'm still figuring things out as I write this but I am pleased to say I am closer to faith than not. I'm honoured to be featured in Justin's book and I will always be thankful to Justin for his voice and friendship. ❤
Praise the Lord.
How is non-belief a religion? And . . . go!
Wishing you the best.
Please be gentle with yourself - don't let any human being judge you - take your time.
God wants us ALL to be saved and He is patient.
One other thing I will say is that our faith is not "blind" as non-believers will have you think!
The word faith in the Bible is from the Greek word "pistis" which means "trust"; having trust (through evidence) in that which we believe to be true.
Atheism is not a religion it's rejection of religion ✌️ you have the right to believe whatever you want but misconceptions like this need to be clarified since they affect our perspectives & interactions
@@infiniteoneness2573 Atheism is a belief system. Agnosticism is not.
Divine Design
“Only a rookie who knows nothing about science would say science takes away from faith. If you really study science, it will bring you closer to God.” -JAMES TOUR, NANOSCIENTIST
Justin Brierley's show helped give me the courage to listen to the arguments against Christianity when I first realized the need to break out of my Christian echo chamber. Helped strengthen my faith significantly. He hosted "Unbelievable" with such grace and honor. He is missed on that program, but I'm very glad he's still an active voice for belief.
When you rely on the appalling epistemology of Hebrews 11: 1, literally any asinine nonsense can be used to strengthen faith.
@downenout8705 like saying there is evidence for love and it is not seen, and that is nonsense? Is this what you mean? Apologies if I misunderstood you. Just trying to listen to you seriously.
@@seamusomurchadha2620 We have a name in my country for someone who believes in love that is not seen, a "stalker".
If you lack sufficient empathy to be able to recognise evidence of "love" in another, there is little more that I can say.
Faith is the excuse that people use when they don't have evidence. No rational person uses faith to cross a busy road. When they are convinced that they have sufficient evidence that the road is clear they cross.
I'm glad you got the courage to ask questions. I've been encouraging my 10yo to ask questions about God and Christianity for years, because I know it stands up to scrutiny.
My husband has the faith of a child, but I don't. I believe in God because I instinctively know He exists. I'm specifically a Christian because it's true.
@@downenout8705I'm also not really sure what your point is. You look before crossing a road, but you don't use a mass spectrometer before you drink pills prescribed to you.
God never asks for blind faith and He never asks for more faith than you use in everyday life. It's in fact easier to believe in the universe being created, than nothing coming from nothing.
I must say, I was a luke warm Christian (by luke warm I mean I was definitely not walking my talk at all) until I learned about new atheism. I started researching and it was the only thing in my mind. I now am stronger in my relationship with God and from personal experience I definitely know he exists, he has revealed himself to me. I am forever greatful that God used the new atheism movement to let me find him.
What exactly is "new atheism," and how did studying it lead to gullible credulity?
@@highroller-jq3ix
One thing is that it was a militant form of Atheism which is obvious hypocrisy. One tenet of Atheism is that it isn't a religion and the new spokespeople of it were dogmatic. Another one is Atheism is a "lack of belief" in God and the supernatural, and then these people would claim there is no God.
There's much more hypocritical thinking involved, but that's a start.
@@highroller-jq3ix I am going to reply so you feel good.
@@dulls8475 Yay! I want to feel as good as you do when you spiritually fellate the holy spirity.
@cameronclark8298 If I do your homework for you, you'll never learn, but I'll help you with the process:
1) Look up the word "gullible" using a standard online dictionary.
2) Look up the word "credulity" using a standard online dictionary.
3) Look up the function of nouns and adjective using a standard online remedial grammar tool.
4) Combine 1 and 2 into a single concept using the grammatical relationships you gleaned through 3.
5) Strut around proudly in your new found ability to do your own homework and create a new synaptic connection.
I really thanked God for the new atheist that stared things up among religious people. I came to know christ deeper thanks to my debates with atheist. As a naive christain then, they sound so convincing, it was Scary and exciting experience for me then, i got to read my bible more deeply and pay more attention to scientific claims, and watch a lot of debates. In the end I've no atom of doubt in God's existence and in the truth of the bible.
Interesting to read of your experience. My way to Christ was kind of the opposite. I was always interested in science, especially astronomy, space exploration, nuclear physics, etc. And once you see how astonishingly strange the world itself is, it's only a small step to believe in God.
@@MrSeedi76 Thanks, and I do agree with you, it's only but a small step. However, I think that it's the most scariest step that one can ever take, at least it was once for me then, because it changes everything. And I think it might also be one of the reasons why so many people that are aware of the undeniable wonders of life and of our universe still refuses to believe
@@MrSeedi76 it might be for you but how you can relate a creator to a guy that advocates stoning adulterers is beyond daft. personally i'm an artist and when i think "creator" i think just that, someone who creates and aims for beauty not same asswipe who wants love so bad he will burn you alive forever if you don't.
the first commandment conflicts with the first amendment and human rights law over-rides god laws, sorry, but
if you prefer democracy to a dictatorship you may be surprised to realise god is a dictator, he'll kill you if you
disagree with him. on anything.
and that's why religion WILL die, it's destroying itself.
Same. I could never walk away from an unshakeable knowledge that God is as real as the day I knew him to be on the day of my conversion. Nothing will ever convince me that atheism makes sense and I love the Lord all the more after 27 years, and hopefully am able to love others all the more by his grace.
The message i got here is , CHURCH BE READY FOR THE REFUGIES LOOKING FOR THE LOVE AND GRACE OF GOD. I pray we're ready to tell of His Love.
Im new Christian, only a few months in. The rise of Hitchens, Dawkins and the like early in the peace solidified my atheism. I am unable to tell you what bought me around as it is very indepth, but here i am, reading the bible, listening to gods word and reading gods word and step by step walking in gods light. To be very general i think seeing the down fall of our society had a lot to do with it, and realising how important gods word is for an orderly and loving world is what is bringing people back.
Welcome to the family!
So it wasn't because you had a good reason to believe, it was fear-based. Well at least you're admitting it's emotional rather than intellectual.
I don't see what you're saying about society at all though, since to me valuing the well-being of others is justified for purely rational reasons: because their well-being _is_ my well-being. I just has some delicious pierogies that I'd had delivered by an online website, which were prepared by various other companies and the goods (ingredients, final product, my grocery load) were delivered by various driver. When you add up all the people involved in that order, it's easily over a hundred people _whose well-being was required for me to have enjoyed those pierogies._
Well that's an argument for valuing well-being, for cooperating, for pursuing civilization, _that doesn't require deluding ourselves that a god exists._
But that obviously on top of that purely rational argument, _people are also empathetic,_ and so they're likely to behave this way anyway. (You probably weren't a complete jerk to everyone while an atheist. Personally I'm quite polite to everyone and when I wish them to have a great day I do genuinely mean it.)
The atheism ultimately is impossible for anyone to live consistently, especially when God gives someone that humble spirit to know the truth and with people like you, the eventually find their way back to the shepherd because he has gone out looking for you. When you heard his voice calling, you recognized it and thank God you are here again.
@@bobbymarcum772 A humble attitude towards truth means refusing to believe we know unknown ideas -- it means believing only good ideas (ideas supported by evidence). So humble people, when they realize nobody has strong, logical evidence of a god _don't believe in gods._
Is it impossible to live consistent with your non-belief in leprechauns? Well, yes. It is impossible, because non-belief doesn't involve any "living strategy" at all, so to say it's impossible to live consistently with that is pretty nonsensical, yeah? Well your comment about "living consistently" with atheism is exactly like that.
I'm sorry for your loss. Of reason, of freedom, and of personal accountability. All of the people holding back peace in the world, inciting political violence, and tearing apart communities with hatred and lies are Christians. Even priests in Russia (the land of godless commies, right?) are encouraging Russian soldiers to kill women and children in Ukraine for god. You have become part of the problem you want to address?
According to the survey data, for every 1 person who converts to Christianity there are over 10 people who are leaving it, so at least relatively few new people will fall victim to these ancient superstitions.
Jordan Peterson amazes me with how he can explain some of the biblical stories with amazing depth. And how there are so many lessons to be learned and how much the stories apply to our modern culture. Thanks for this great discussion.
I was an atheist up til 2 years ago (about) and was baptized on the Sunday after Easter with one of my older daughters. ❤
What made you reconsider your views & convert to Christianity? I ask because I notice most converts I meet & talk to usually were not very confident or certain of their position nor had they taken much time to research Christianity before converting
@infiniteoneness2573 I can't pin point it. I've always had an affinity for Christ. I have lived a very very......rough life of my own making, and after having kids, I just started re thinking my belief in nothing. I was a satanist, asatru pagan, crystal seeker, then aetheist. When I broke and gave myself over to Christ after repenting, then started becoming conservative.....it's a bag of different reasons. One day I was listening to Hitchens, then JBP.....JBPs bible series pushed me to listening to Mike Winger....and I broke. Now, I'm not perfect, but I am trying, many of my sins ....addictions, and my anger/anxiety.....gone. Not always completely. I still struggle with the anxiety part, but not as bad. I also have have several things happen that in retrospect could only have been due to God.....I am all over the place. When I wrote my testimony for my pastor, I felt like I was writing a novel 😆 that poor guy. But I digress. God is good all the time.
Can you point at any facts of reality that convinced you, or was it for emotional and social reasons like every conversion I’ve ever heard of?
@weirdwilliam8500 Most people I've seen who are converted to Christianity usually weren't very confident in their position to begin with. That's why most Christians usually target younger, less secure people
@weirdwilliam8500 Of course, anyone at any age can be tricked into believing this stuff, especially if they've recently lost a family member or lost their home, etc. Religion preys on fear & insecurities & it's disgusting
I always have been a critical thinking as child but I had things happen in my life that can't be explained I was 10 years old and one day in my school I heard a voice in my head tell me that my one class mate wanted to become a Christian I audibly said what ?! The voice again said he wants to become a Christian so I went over to him and asked him if he wanted to become a Christian and he looked at me very startled and pleadingly and said yes and got to lead him to Christ then I was 16 I was in really bad car wreck I looked up from my radio and saw a tellephone pole right in front of me and I heard that same voice tell me hold on to the life you have I woke up without a single scratch on me and my car was completely smashed in God never really gave me a chance to become a atheist and I thank him for it
I feel the same way. God spoke to me. It never occurred to me to say no, I was so overwhelmed that he spoke to me. You have a great testimony.
Many non-Christians have similar, meaningful personal narratives.
As an agnostic I recognize the humanity and genuine existential nature of these experiences. I too have experienced transcendent moments which I cherish.
so you admit you stopped thinking critically? lol
@@fbcpraise
jesus wrote nothing. not even "my dad can beat up your dad"
nothing was written about jesus, not even "saw jesus heal a leper today, amazing" until at least ten years after he was dead.
no one has a clue what jesus said, did or thought
and he spent 30 years telling folks god can cheat death, but the day he can demonstrate that "hey pilate, kill me again!" he vanished.
christianity is based on one bloke having a hallucination he saw a dead bloke he NEVER MET?
Hearing voices? That could be a problem. If you hear a voice in your head that tells you to kill your child (like Abraham did) please don't act on that. Get mental health help right away.
I can respect Sean for inviting atheist's, agnostics, witchers, new agers, and what have you to your channel and allow them to speak - I encourage you to continue do so, may be even try to open up to even more people with different views to speak ( probably not flat earthers as this case is pretty much closed and its more of a pure denial at this time where your own mind becomes your own prison) ,because at the end you will grow from it and you also allow other people to hear different perspectives. And doing respectful conversations on the internet is a gold on it self ♥.
Like for example its crucial for people to hear about exorcism and become aware of spiritual side of life and such things and demons - the entertainment culture unfortunately puts a disaster spin on this that absolutely need to be broken.
I could spend all day listening to these 2 men of God - absolutely love it!
they make me want to puke, i just thought i'd see if they'd grown some morals but apparently not, they still lie to the audience, still pretending one thing in the face of another, both the same hypocrites i saw in the last video.
check out the stats for yourself, religion is on the way out, these two rubbing each other's knobs isn't going to change that. pew polls and gallup, don;t just take my word for it (lol).
Peter Baghosian recently had an interview with a fellow atheist on the woke and trans phenomenon, and they both agreed they were missing the days when the craziest thing somebody believed was that some guy walked on water 2000 years ago.
I think Justin Brierly should sponsor a new bus billboard campaign: “Missing Christianity Yet?”
@@jeffscottkennedy yes, because atheism give us a bitter narrative about life : hopelessness, despair, misery, nihilism, and death. Christianity is all opposite of that.
@@borneandayak6725 exactly. Nihilism is the inescapable destination of atheism.
@@jeffscottkennedy you have looked at the stats?
despite brierly bare faced lying, religion is on the way out, and faster than the last polls predicted. take a look - religion can't get ANYTHING right anymore, you have christian gays, you have christian trans, you have christians need abortions, whatever your position on the teachings of the bible you're losing the audience.
sean and brierly typify "new christianity" to me, subscriptions, likes, patrons, books salesmen is all they are, apologist = a liar for god is what they do. and EVERYONE with sense sees it.
so you carry on believing this bollocks, no skin off my nose.
@@jeffscottkennedy tommy rot, why would i even want to be a nihilist, you lot talk total DRIVEL and that's another reason you're losing folks, anyone with sense can see you don't even understand your own religion or people's behaviour. "inescapable" you want so badly to sound intellectual you actually sound like a nincompoop.
Just loved this conversation. Sean and Justin together 😊 This was sooooo encouraging. Let's keep all of those mentioned in our prayers. ❤❤
In Jesus and In God I found the cure for the two great existential dreads of my life. The fear of not existing and the fear of eternity. In Christ i have the hope that I will continue to exist, in the mind of the God that created this universe I find the hope that my heart will be once again filled with awe and wonder of the kind that makes me wish to continue on, just to see what He creates next!
I can identify with what is happening to some of these secular thinkers. 50 years ago I too was an unbeliever struggling with the logical consequences of unbelief - meaninglessness, purposelessness, etc. To me evangelical Christians were either hypocrites or simpletons. I mocked them. Non-evangelical Christians were Christian in name only - basically secular humanists in a thinly veiled disguise. Not worth taking seriously as Christ followers.
My problem with Christianity was that I thought it wasn't true. Then I got to know somebody well, who was an evangelical Christian and was also both genuine and intelligent. I decided Christianity might be true after all. In order to test this I decided to look at the evidence - both historical and experiential. Only when both were convincing would I believe. The historical part was the easier and quicker thing to sort out. The experiential took longer because when I found God responding to my prayers I thought I might be deluded. Eventually I could deny Him no more. Since then life has become all that I expected and much more. Not easy, but so fulfilling. Sometimes the answers to prayer have been amazing. I can't thank Jesus enough.
@markquigley9730 "was also both genuine and intelligent"
The way christians live there life can be one of the most important aspects of being
a christian.
Amen! Prayer is a huge blessing!
Could you go into specific details on the prayers you made and what you received, and why/how you feel they were more than just examples of either confirmation bias or your own hard work, but some form of divine/supernatural aid? I'm not really interested in history that stuff can be argued for years, and scholars are still debating back and forth. You don't have to go into personal details or anything just a broad reference, if possible. Thanks
How do you tell the difference between god actually responding to your prayers and only thinking god is responding to your prayers?
Christianity is not true! the most important announcement of the 2nd coming did not materialize.
Just an Atheist dropping in to say “hi”! Love Justin’s podcast. One of the best, of the many religion based podcasts I listen to. 👋
Thanks for dropping by--honored!
@@SeanMcDowell Always a fan of honest, sincere discourse! Not all of us Atheists are evil, ha! 🤪 (not that anyone said we were)
@Tennethums1 As a person of faith, myself, I say you epitomize the respectful and open- minded Atheist, and I salute you for that. I have a couple friends who are also respectful, open- minded Atheists, and we've had many great discussions. We may not have changed the other's minds, but we came away with a greater understanding of each other's points of view. One of them has a son who became a minister, and I praised my friend for allowing his son to chose his own path. The uber-religious and the militant Atheists can be very dogmatic in their views, and I'm glad he did not fall into the militant category. My other friend took my compliment as intended when I said I thought he would make a great Jesuit. He was not averse to the praise at all.
Again, I salute your stance. Take care. 👍
Perhaps not the best response but 😅, God bless ❤
@@martok2112 I used to be anti-theist myself. I listened to some pretty…dare I say abysmal…atheist podcasts (yeah, I’m talking about you Atheist Experience of Austin. Matt Dillahunty, you’re a buffoon) where to hear them talk, you’d think Theism was some kind of pandemic laying waste to all peoples. My dad turned pretty religious after my mom died and for years it became a wall between us. He used to try and get me to go to church with him on his Birthday or Fathers Day…any time he felt he could just about goad me to go, out of guilt because it was “his” day and it was what he wanted.
I made a deal with him; I’ll go to church with you, but it can’t be your church.
So we went; Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Mormon, Unitarian (what my dad called the “hippie church” - saw chanting monks there), Southern Baptist, Protestant, Presbyterian, a fairly lively Pentecostal…and you know what?
Not a single one of them did anything but sing some songs aloud, give a “pep talk” and spend just a little time together.
So, I dropped the anti-theist side and began to understand a little better.
Though I find all religions to be complete bunk, I do at least “get it”. 😇
Thank you, Sean, for all these conversations you have with people like Justin and for posting them. Wonderfully encouraging to listen to and a great education to boot.
Brilliant conversation! The current climate of our culture cannot last. After 2 years of seriously studying what has happened within our culture and the unfortunate demise of the church in Europe and progressively in America, I have arrived at the same conclusions. It warms my heart to hear "big brain" people who remain atheists actually believing that the mess we're in is due to the decline of the church and how they want that back. I love the reference to the "walking wounded." Everything that everyone appears to want and need has a solution...and that solution is the God of the Scriptures...the Jesus of redemption...the wisdom...the ancient wisdom of the Scriptures. I cannot wait!!! Churches need to prepare themselves right now and be ready for it. I also have seen that God is purifying the church. The church needs to change to be more in line with God's ideal rather than the culture. If we change to match the culture then all those disillusioned souls will have no place to go. I loved, loved, loved this conversation!
V uvucuc8,p
Loved your comment! The Good Shepherd is still bringing in His sheep 🥰
er, you really fell for brierly's bs there didn't you. read back what you wrote and reverse everything cos you're way off base there.
pretending religion isn't dying might be comforting, and projecting that in some way back onto atheism might make you feel better, but the truth is religion is dying, like it or not.
people DO NOT want to join the BIGOTS CLUB.
Church fosters fellowship and strong social bonds, increasingly strained in this ever more atomized and technology saturated society. I know someone who goes to church but doesn't believe in Christian stuff and has no need for it either.
I love love love Justin Brierley!!!! His interviews are INCREDIBLE and I encourage every believer to watch them. Thank you, Sean....Great video😊
Justin is great to listen to. Sad he’s not on Unbelievable anymore, but I’m so excited to see how God uses him in the future!
Such a great discussion and an encouragement to those of us defending the need to know God.
I was a lost, sick, depressed, suicidal, liberal, new ager, until spring of 2023. Then Jesus stepped in, brought me back to life and rocked my world!!! Now I am an on fire, Holy Spirit filled, joyful, peaceful, loving conservative who is absolutely in love with JESUS CHRIST!!!
Wow!
@@SeanMcDowellyeah wow, it's almost like a they are just regurgitating your talking points about "atheists"
@@HowBoutDemBoyzz Um, I’m not sure who you are speaking about when you say “they” but I will tell you this; I am relaying my own personal experience. And yes, it is worthy of a “wow.” The way my whole life and being were so quickly and drastically transformed after giving my life to Jesus Christ is AMAZING! I was rescued from a living hell to a life of full of joy, peace, freedom and love. To quote from a favourite TV show “I was one way and now I am completely different, and the thing that happened in-between was HIM”
@@Ginger_H glad you're doing well.
Wonderful news
Jonathan Cahn in his book Return Of The Gods does a deep dive in revealing the specific spiritual entities behind these changes in the Western world. It would be awesome to see him on show Sean.
Specific spiritual entities…do you believe in astrology too?
There’s one earth but many versions of astrology…what seems to be the most likely explanation for that?
there are 13 signs of the zodiac in fact, all horoscopes from all time have to be redone. (ophiochus).
I’m glad that your prayer worked for you. For me, similar prayer were met with silence for years, so I just had to move on for my own mental well being. So I’ve stopped caring about god, and now I am finding I don’t really miss him, just the community aspects of church-life. If he is real, the ball is in his court.
@MarisaHoare - I guess he wouldn’t have to “prove” anything. But if it is quite literally love itself, it would simply prove it existed by being an actually loving being. But since it seems most conceptions of god require us humans to 1st humble ourselves by seeing ourselves as worthless first, and then this deity can start the lines of communication, it’s got a strange way of being love. So I’m not interested in this level of abusivness. That’s why I say, if god is real, it’s kinda his job to actual demonstrate that. I cannot make believe he exists.
i have been hanging out for this interview since Justin left the unbelievable show. really great video by two amazing communicators and apologists.
In a way Justin is responsible for my conversion to Catholicism. The discussion UNBELIEVABLE hosted between Alex O’Connor and Bishop Barron opened that door. Bishop Barron is an amazing apologist
It was Sean's expression when Justin talked about people starting to ask whether the bible could actually be true for me, his trying to hide his joy at that development. And then the way Justin couldn't hold his chuckle, realizing that that had excited his brother. 😁😁
Sean has a sweet humanity in these interviews - bless him❤
Absolutely@@kmaidotia
I'm 30 years old and was an atheist my entire life till just 7 months ago. My wife and best friend also recently found Jesus. There is definitely a rebirth in faith occurring.
That's cool, but it is anecdotal. Three new Christians doesn't quite equal a full-blown revival.
Wonderful interview big fan of you both! May God continue to bless the church and your ministries! 🙏🙏🙌
wonderful pack of lies, go check the stats for yourself, brierly is talking nonsense if he says religion is growing, it's dying faster than predicted in the last poll 6 years ago. these two are outright liars on most subjects.
On a much smaller scale this has happened to me personally. I left Christianity in at the end of 2013, went through a 'New Atheist' phase, it eventually burnt itself out and I have spent the last several years reading the different arguments, thinking about myself and my views in relation to them. It's been an interesting journey.
Wow great conversation encouraging and hope giving🙏🏼May the Lord bless you both🙏🏼
This was a brilliant discussion. Listening to Justin share his experience over years brought a tear in my eye.
Sean got the best of him.
Justin loved "Unbelievable" he ran that race well.
It is interesting to watch both stories of people going from Christianity and coming to Christianity.
I always wonder why someone would choose to worship human sacrifice.
I think it’s a lot more common to see people who “grew up Christian” leave the faith simply because they were likely only Christian by proxy to begin with. They likely never got answers to the hard questions and maybe never even understood the gospel and its full implications. I honestly think that atheists who become Christian are more likely to stick with it for the long haul. I am a former atheist who became a Christian because I found the evidence compelling and now I can never go back because I have had real experiences with God in my life that have fundamentally changed me. Almost all of the stories I have heard about people leaving the faith have to do with spiritual abuse they experienced in the church over the years and essentially boils down to Christians are wicked and sinful just like everyone else and a lot of people have been lied to and convinced that being a Christian means you stop sinning altogether. Obviously it’s a lot more complicated than that but just based on what I’ve seen it seems like the church does seem to fail young people in a lot of ways and could probably do a lot better at discipleship.
@@LemonLimeJuiceBarrell
_"I am a former atheist who became a Christian because I found the evidence compelling..."_
Provide an example.
@@EvilXtianity Perhaps he is not applying his evidence to everyone and the "evidence" he has is just compelling to him enough to change his mind. That does not mean he could aggregately change minds.
@@LemonLimeJuiceBarrell I am not sure ...I like the "comfort food" of Christianity. it's allure with an social network and community and connection are a powerful draw. It's ability to try to explain everything is kinda like an opiate for the masses, in a good way. I miss it myself. It would be so easy to just go back but I am on a quest for the truth. Not my truth or someone else's truth. That is a hard journey so I am a Nones Nothing in particular right now. It is a hard lonely road but worth following. in this day and age Christianity is so easy to do in America.
I wasn't an aetheat but I was a passive Christian. Following recent events in the CofE I left that particular branch. It has completely rebooted my faith being away from cultural dogma rather than theological doctrine. Agree that religion is on the rise.
I was an atheist for 12 years. 2 years ago I returned home: the Holy Catholic Church.
I give thanks to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for welcoming me back into his house, despite all my sins and my arrogance.
Jesus is Lord. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Awesome, awesome! The astounding thing for me is how we have to humble ourselves and submit to God, which sounds like it would be disempowering. But in actuality it is the MOST empowering thing I have ever experienced. Pride truly is the worst sin. Pride leads to so much suffering.
so you've gone from being moral and independent to joining the bigots and abusers club. pity. you could have joined any religious group but no, you go for organised crime, self confessed criminals.
@@aisthpaoitht er, you sound quite proud of yourself chummy.
@@HarryNicNicholas my happiness and empowerment comes through and from my submission to God
Congratulations for joining the cult of child rapists in the Catholic church, but don't feel bad, the other Christian churches are just as evil as yours.
I've noticed this too! When we start to see the secularist in the political whelm (or elsewhere for that matter), so steeped in their approach to life and their faith in their policies working, failing to produce anything worthwhile and lasting in relieving the social ills they claim they have the answers to, coming to people of faith on even terms asking for our help, then I perceive a window of opportunity and a hesitant reawakening by them to realities they have, for a very long time, disavowed and repudiated as mere myth and superstition and ignorance. In other words, the secularists (atheistic or otherwise) are becoming more open to the possibilities of another worldview and a better way of looking at the world for the common good.
Dawkins seems more chill now in interviews, not sure if anyone else has noticed. Maybe because of age.
Yes, he has grown as a person
@@christinatracy2119. And that’s saying, unfortunately for him, absolutely nothing. Development as a person outside of Christ gets you nowhere but to be a more well-rounded Hell burner. Pray for his repentance and conversion.
@@Garden366 Why should I pray for him? He has his free will and I won't interfere. Be careful. Even Jesus doesn't pray for everyone.
@@br.m Lifting one verse out of it's context is not good. Please go back and reconsider the scoping.
@@iandacosta107 Sorry? Please remind me what one verse have I taken out of context?
I too am a Christian optimist. Christ's Church has always moved forward, has always grown, has always conquered. Christ's Church is invincible because Christ is invincible. The Truth is invincible.
I grew up in the church and it was an important part of my adolescent life, but I just didnt feel like I could honestly say I believed in God when I didn't. I liked my church, I liked the lessons the Bible taught me, but I was not comfortable saying I was a Christian when I wasnt sure if God actually existed (and I didnt want to lie about my doubt anymore, so I walked away in college).
I gave up my agnostism the night of 3/14/23 (a lot of factors, but the birth of my son was especially important to me humbling myself and asking for help from God). That night, I made the decision to at least consider that God DOES exist, and all these spiritual/religious aren't crazy and were being serious about being able to actually have the God if the universe as a part of my day to day life and beliefs..... This is not an exaggeration: the moment I had that thought and committed to at least acting/behaving as if God existed... God showed up. It struck me like a bolt of lightning made of pure love, and as I held my baby boy in my arms, it felt like I was finally letting God hold me.
It was overwhelming. Like a mix of a roller coaster and drinking from a firehose. I've taken MANY drugs over the years and am quite familiar with being high... this was different. Different to the point that I wrote the date down in a journal (that I hadn't opened in years) because it seemed important. I was confused as to how moments after being "agnostic", God seemingly became the only thing I WAS sure is real. It was the first time I understood why someone would "fear" God/the Truth.
It is overwhelming, and continues to be, but it brought me the first true peace, happiness, contentment, HOPE, guidance, and purpose in life than I've ever felt as an adult. And I've been lucky to witness a miracle or two.
Since that day (to connect it back to the podcast) my own life, my family's, my friends, and just the feeling I get in watching TH-cam videos or whatever... I get the feeling we are in the midst of a 3rd Great Awakening (look up the first two, we actually still teach about these in public schools, which I can attest to as a History teacher)
TLDR- God is pretty cool, would highly recommend. 5 stars lol ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Try substituting the word "God" for "Allah" or any one of the Hindu gods, and you will understand how vacuous your post sounds to an atheist.
Amazing testimony!. I have a son who is still in the belief system gathered while in college. We keep praying for the same breakthru in his life that you had. Thank you for sharing! ❤
@@downenout8705 I know it sounds fucking crazy. It is fucking crazy. And I would never believe it if I heard it from someone else (let alone a TH-cam comment) but I experienced it. It was real.
@@spartymatt9627 Wow, you just don't get it do you. I don't doubt the intensity or how real your experience seemed it's your unevidenced attribution to a specific deity that I am questioning.
I have also experienced a profoundly real encounter with what I thought was the living god. However, unlike you, I wanted to be convincing to others before sharing my story. So I researched neuroscience and discovered, much to my disappointment, I couldn't differentiate my experience from a transient psychotic episode.
@@downenout8705 it wasn't a specific diety. It was the idea of a ruling power/God/spirit/ultimate overarching law of the universe and everything that I was thinking about. I just use Christian terminology because that's what I knew growing up. I actually don't think it's this God instead of the others. It feels to me like this God is the same dude who all these other religions have also been talking about. They are all the same story, same God of everything.
Keep up the good work gentlemen!
I am not ashamed of Him. And will stand with Him IN the fire if he deems me worthy. My family and my brothers and sisters of all Nations will watch from above as he sets the evil ablaze. And rejoice in his glory as evil is destroyed. Everyone has a choice of being good or evil and this year is that year to decide. God Bless Everyone!
I became a Christian in 2021
sorry to hear that. just when religion is fading.
Thanks for sharing 🙏🏿
His grace and mercy be upon you all and your loved ones 🕊️🥛🍯
As an atheist, I don’t see what’s so surprising about all this. I actually became an atheist during a period of listening to Justin’s show back in 2010 or even earlier. As a new atheist, I tried a couple secular, atheist and humanist groups. It was fun with the newness of seeing the world in a new way, but I quickly lost interest. My preexisting friend group works for me. Most of them are Christians (though some of my Christian friends abandoned me upon my losing faith), but I have a few Buddhists and a couple apatheistic “nones” as well. No church, no clubs or anything else needed for me. I still get newsletters from a local humanist and secular group and they seem to be going strong.
The church has been fragmenting since Peter and Paul. So many denominations. Why would Sean and Justin expect anything else from atheists? It’s what humans do. Thing is, while it seems the “new atheists” have stopped being so much of a bother to Christians, believers- especially apologists- continue to be jerks (for lack of a better term atm) toward atheists. They insist we actually believe and suppress our knowledge of god in order to persevere in sin and such (Rom 1:18ff). They insist that they have special knowledge and it’s absolute, they strive to convert children and disadvantaged others, significantly overstate their case (as Justin does here), are generally rude (when they know you’re not a prospective convert) and so on.
PS. Peter Boghossian is no person I’d take pride in having on my side as he’s such an intellectual pansy.
just as some christians might speak harsh - so do many atheists. That impression is mere bias.
Also, people DO come to God and one big thing is walking away from sin - which resides in the natural wants and perversions of the flesh. Once you have this experience you DO realize how much your prior rejection of God was not wanting to lose your fleshly wants. They say this from having walked through it, not as an insult to the atheist.
You might call it projection…. or perhaps there is more truth to it there than you want to acknowledge. Even if delivered with less tact than would be nice.
@TESTCHANNEL-qg8qnIndeed! Thanks for sharing.
@TESTCHANNEL-qg8qn- Amen.
I stopped being an atheist this year (don't remember the exact date). I'm yet to be officially converted, as I plan to do it in Taiwan or Japan (wherever fate lands me, I guess). I don't know how it happened, I just did. Granted, I am not Christian, but religious people do inspire me to be more in touch with my faith.
Which one of the thousands of Gods are you going for? Lots to choose from!
@@markb3786 We don't have a god per se (as far as I know). we follow the teachings of Buddha. And just like in Christianity, we have many perspectives on our faith and how it should be practiced. Let's be respectful of each other regardless of belief or lack thereof.
I read The God Delusion, it was so angry that I threw it away. It was ridiculous
True. It felt like written from the perspective of someone who already knows he's right without even really looking into any of the claims he tries to "debunk". Dawkins seemed to be completely uninformed about any Christian history. If I remember correctly he claimed Luther said, "here I stand and can do no other" when pinning his thesis to the Wittenberg church door.
1) that story itself is mere legend
2) Luther supposedly said that during or after his trial but that is just another legend.
So Dawkins mixed up 2 different things both of which aren't really supported by any historical facts.
Was it as ridiculous as the Bible? I mean talking donkeys? A stick being turned into a snake and then turned back into a stick? Parting the Red Sea? Walking on water? It's hard to believe people can be that gullible.
I couldn't get past Chapter 1. The arguments were not of high quality. Like, "I know Einsten said 'God doesn't roll dice' but Einstein actually didn't really believe in God. And Einstein was really smart. Therefore there is no God."
There were half a dozen or so equally low quality arguments in chapter 1, so I stopped reading it.
Justin Brierley -so good to hear your voice I miss you ... but understand it was time to move on
Became a practicing Catholic this year. When you get down to the bottom of it, you realize that it is either God or absolutely nothing. And by "it" I mean everything.
joining the abuse religion is nothing to boast about, didn't the pope have to apologise for all the lawsuits the catholics are facing? any religion but catholicism surely, mind you the muslims and the anglicans are up the creek too, law suit wise.
Please read the bible for yourself and remember that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity.
@@PM-dq7pe lol easily proven false by Jesus sending his apostles out to spread the good news
Sean. I think you are right about Hitchens, Harris,, Christianity being tied to a personal experience. I"m a new Christian. 2017. JBP brought me to Christ. When I share his content with my angry Christian friends I learned their experience in their formative years at Christian school of being shamed & riduculed cmbined with being witness to the hypocrisy of teachers who were not walking in Christ, just collecting a paycheck, scarred them in their formarive years and left a deep disdain of the church. 3 churches I attend are weak in Theology, and woke. I go to the Bible, CS Lewis, online Hillsdale College course, etc. to be fed. Sadly, not church
Interesting. Justin claims, “If you just look at statistics, there’s been a constant decline for years (church attendance, the percentage of the western population who identify religiously)”. He then goes on to use anecdotal evidence to attempt to support his claim that there exists a rebirth of a belief in god. This certainly sounds like wishful thinking.
@TESTCHANNEL-qg8qn This is directly from the Pew Research Center:
Religious “nones” - a shorthand we use to refer to people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” - now make up roughly 23% of the U.S. adult population. This is a stark increase from 2007, the last time a similar Pew Research study was conducted, when 16% of Americans were “nones.” (During this same time period, Christians have fallen from 78% to 71%.)
@TESTCHANNEL-qg8qn Fair enough but the anecdotal evidence provided still strikes me as nothing more than wishful thinking. I haven’t read Justin’s book but I wonder if he has considered biases such as confirmation bias or sampling bias.
The plural of anecdote is not data.
The plural of guessing is not fact.
The plural of inference is not deduction.
I was about 8 when I realised the Bible didn’t make more sense than Star Wars. Now, I really loved Star Wars and still do. Do I believe it’s true? No, of course not.
Please pray for my daughter Abigail Fardina anak Usang. Let's Jesus use her life for His kingdom
Wonderful to see Justin on the other side of the table..
Sean, did Justin provide you with any data to support his rebirth hypothesis? The only places I understand Christianity is growing is in third world countries. In the west it continues to diminish. If by rebirth you mean that a few more intellectuals are open to the idea of God, so what? They are not enough to offset the decline.
brierly is a liar, always has been, sean just goes along with whatever drivel he guests dream up, just for subs and patrons. don't be fooled these tow are just more grifters.
I’ve recently come back to Christianity. Though my beliefs have changed considerably, I do believe that Jesus, was and is the messiah.
It offered normal people nothing, so not surprised it crashed, but a bit surprised it crashed this quickly
And that is important if you base what is true on what you perceive as useful.
Atheists are the fastest growing group in all the reliable polls on religion. Christianity is losing adherents by the boatload and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. It's your religion that is crashing.
The Truth will always prevail and endure. All there other fabrications will evaporate like the mist as the morning Son rises, or like the shadows with the midday Son.
Brierly has been such a great moderator over the years that I'm shocked he's so staggeringly dishonest in this vid.
1. Atheism is just non-belief in gods. That's it. It's the rational position because don't know gods exist. (Until the evidence changes, non-belief is the only reasonable position for truth-seeking people.)
2. Because atheism by definition involves no gods, it can't be described as "religious".
3. Because atheism by definition is just non-belief (or disbelief) in gods, you can't accuse it of always adhering to scientific materialism.
4. A book someone likes isn't their "holy text".
4. Teachers of a sensible position aren't religious leaders, they're just people trying to help you detach from a horrible belief.
5. Atheism isn't a 'cause about something'. It's non-belief in gods. _That's it!_
Does 5 make sense to theists? It's like Gary calling into question what _your_ non-belief in leprechauns (your "cause") is really about -- it's not about anything, except truth! We don't know leprechauns exist, Gary. We don't have evidence of them. So we just don't believe in that garbage idea. Well it's the same with gods.
Brierly _knows_ these points I'm making. That's why I'm accusing him of flat out dishonesty -- this isn't merely a mistake, he's actively telling lies.
*1. Atheism is just non-belief in gods. That's it. It's the rational position because don't know gods exist. (Until the evidence changes, non-belief is the only reasonable position for truth-seeking people.)*
No. Just no. 1st of all, you are guilty of the false equivalence fallacy. Brierly doesn't care about a person's non-belief in deities when he uses the term 'atheist'. He is explicitly using the term in the context of Enlightenment Naturalism. It's not the Brierly is being dishonest, it's that you aren't thinking.
Secondly, atheism isn't 'the rational position'. It's just one of many. Just because you don't have the education to know how the term 'atheist' is used in many different contexts doesn't mean that you get a monopoly on what is and is not 'rational'.
*2. Because atheism by definition involves no gods, it can't be described as "religious".*
Bullshit. This, more than the other points on the list encapsulates you utter lack of education. It's like you don't understand that Far Eastern Religions exist. And that's extremely telling.
Moreover, in many key ways, you are probably religious in some ways, such as a belief ion the unfounded delusion known as human rights, or secular governments, etc.
*3. Because atheism by definition is just non-belief (or disbelief) in gods, you can't accuse it of always adhering to scientific materialism.*
Except I can. In the Enlightenment tradition, atheism is a Naturalistic philosophy. It literally can't be anything else except adhering to scientific materialism.
*4. Teachers of a sensible position aren't religious leaders, they're just people trying to help you detach from a horrible belief.*
TRANSLATION:
The beliefs of non-white Westerners scare me. Non-White people NEED to agree with me and my incel virgin thoughts.
*5. Atheism isn't a 'cause about something'. It's non-belief in gods. That's it!*
I'm genuine shock that you're this stupid. If you believe in God, that means something. If you don't believe in God that also means something. Non-belief causes things to happen within the universe, just as belief does. This is something that can be ascertained by a 1st grader. What's your excuse?
@@thepalegalilean1. Confirming Brierly's dishonesty by repeating it doesn't address my point. The majority of people self-identifying as atheist are non-believers, which is why when you google "atheism" you get things like "disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods," and the first-sentence summary on Wikipedia, _"Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities."_ The majority of atheist guests he's had on his show hold this position.
2 The definition of religion is, _"the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods."_ Hurling insults towards this fact _doesn't change the fact._ So any ideology that doesn't involve a god (or superhuman power(s)) isn't religion. Well atheism is non-belief in any gods, so by definition it _must not_ be religion, and therefore calling it religious is dishonest.
(Note in particular how I'm the one supporting my claims with evidence -- facts of reality -- while your objections are just you vaguely disagreeing for no good reason. That tells us who's on the side of truth here.)
3. You can _wrongly_ accuse it of that, but again _we just saw the definition of atheism_ (in '1' above) and it doesn't involve any other parts of a worldview, so I'm not sure why you would make such a clear mistake.
4. If you know you have to slide that far off topic that you aren't even addressing my point, then you know you're wrong. Well if you know you're wrong...why are you disagreeing?
5. What does your non-belief in leprechauns mean? Oh, it doesn't have a meaning? Now you're caught up and hopefully realize that non-belief in gods carries no intrinsic meaning. Any meaning is from other sources. Countless atheists have made this point, but apparently you haven't been listening (or perhaps you've only listened to theists tell you lies on the topic).
_Most importantly, see how you haven't presented strong, logical evidence of a god?_ Well that's the centerpiece of the conversation: the reason to remain unconvinced that god(s) exist is the lack of any convincing argument that they exist!
@@thepalegalilean So you're using words like "stupid", bullshit", "incel virgin" etc and you think ad hominem attacks help your pitiful excuses for an argument? So you hate human rights? Got it. By the way, Jesus was brown skinned and had kinky hair if you believe the one and only description of his appearance in Revelation: "Skin like bronze and wooly hair". So you are a racist to boot.
I remember when Justin came here and visited Rob bell church and Joel osteens. Out of all the great and good churches. He went to those 2. Mind blowing.
Jordan Peterson play huge role in this shift.
What is it about the hair ?
Am looking forward to watching this conversation Friend Good Luck 👍 😊
But belief in God is still falling. Atheism is experiencing what Christianity has over the centuries - that of splitting into a myriad of different groups. Because atheism is only the response to a single issue, it is inevitable that those actively involved in the debate need other issues to differentiate themselves from others. I suspect this is also because the fundamental argument of whether the Christian God exists, is all powerful, all good, etc has been largely settled in the negative - and so other things are needed to argue about.
Gen Z is more spiritual then Gen M so in a way Atheism is falling.
In answer to your question, Sean, about how to best reach out to people to move them away from atheism and scepticism to a relationship with Christ, the answer is very simple and close to what you concluded: It's not to have all the apologetic answers or to bring them to church, but mainly to be filled with the Holy Spirit, specifically the Spirit of love for one another and for them (John 13:34-35).
any idea who wrote john? little things like that are what keeps me atheist, you know, facts. you're entirely wrong by the way. you have no idea how to make someone "find god" and we already have "love for one another" we don't need a god to TELL US that.
religists are so, nincompoopish.
I think that AI will bring the crisis of meaning to a climax, as society will be forced to reassess what we value - the product or the soul behind it? I think AI will drive society back to God.
wow, very well put.
I would love to see you guys talk more about spiritual abuse in the church. Sadly, I believe it plays a huge role in keeping many from having anything to do with God.
They won’t talk about the most common reasons people leave according to all the surveys and studies. Those reasons aren’t emotionally reassuring, don’t reinforce their narrative, and don’t sell books. I’ve watched a lot of videos like this and always come away disappointed.
Can you elaborate on some of what these spiritual abuses are please?
The initial flurry of New Atheism has settled out into a calmer, more practical atheist movement. The Christian Church has experienced implosions and divisions many many times through the millennia. Atheism is in its infancy by comparison but give it a generation…
Can you explain what this calmer, more practical atheist movement is about and how it will benefit its adherents and society?
Yea but it would be a book, not a TH-cam post 😂 Basically, religion no longer helps some people make sense of their world. In fact, religion makes daily life more confusing because the reality we experience does not often align with the principles of the Bible. Developing a non religious worldview takes time because there is not a weekly meeting where people tell you what to think and how to live, but doing the hard work of making sense of the world without religion can be well worth the effort and peace of mind. Religion can create unnecessary divisions that a secular perspective is free to question and discard. Of course humans are humans, whether they are religious or not, but atheists have the opportunity to reconsider long held practices. That’s the best I can do by typing on my phone 👍
@@ag7075 If you type in "Deconstruction Christianity", you'll see a fair amount of calmer videos. The process of getting people to take ideological inventory, to set aside things they know vs the things they just take for granted, is generally a healthy process. From there getting people to admit that they know less than they think they do is big step towards actually learning about the world (this applies to everyone religious and secular) and then getting a better handle on real problems that people face and (hopefully) solve them.
It's not as flashy as saying you'll live forever in an afterlife while having a deity as a celestial life coach, but it is honest.
Atheism is not really popular and you already made it sound like a religion it fialed many Gen Z are spiritual and many are still Christian on paper face it New Atheism is a very small group with little growth and appeal it is dead. PS Many gen M joined unaffiliated churches.
Great conversation.I will look further into Austin Brierley. I love Tom Holland. I am reading his book How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. I also love his history lectures.
Honest to goodness, I was shocked by Sean's first sentence, particularly the second statistic he cited: "Church attendance is down, the percentage of the western population who identify religiously as _nuns_ is growing..."
'nones'. I think the number of people who identify as nuns is going down
How are you not aware of that and it’s a good thing:)
Same here! Had a nice little chuckle.
Fascinating discussion. Thanks.
It fell apart after Dawkins debated Pell and Pell had the audience laughing at Dawkins. Richard was shown to be a whiny little kid.
Dawkins does not control Atheism anymore than Pell controls Christianity. Just because stupid people laugh at you doesn't mean that you are wrong.
@@williamgreenfield9991 If you spent some time watching the debate you’d see a lot of atheist positions being put forward. You’d see how Pell not only ends them, but returns queries that Dawkins just can’t answer. To be Frank most atheist can’t answer basic questions and use the argument of ignorance 🤷♂️
@@paul_321 At least Atheists are honest enough to say "I don't know" to some questions. What basic questions are you speaking of? Some Christians also can't answer certain questions, but if they say "I don't know" I would never accuse them of being ignorant.
Great conversation! I have to say as someone from Finland that I believe we will reap horrible fruit in the years to come from the liberal and godless choises us and our neigbouring countries have made. Just talked to a friend from Sweden who worked in a Christian kindergarten but they have to close it down because the laws in Sweden make it impossible to have anything Christian in education, also homeschooling is banned there. Finland is heading that direction for sure but still have more religious freedom, kids can be homeschooled and we have wonderful Christian schools and daycares.
You forgot about all the "horrible fruit" that was reaped back when religion was in total control. They call it the "Dark Ages" for good reason. You could and would be burned alive at the stake just for questioning the Christian dogma. Hundreds of thousands (mostly women) were burned alive for the crime of being witches (and how would one defend oneself against such a charge?). How about the centuries of child molestation and rape and the cover ups still going on. Slavery was codified since it is sanctioned by the Bible. Endless religious wars, the Crusades, the Inquisition, outright murder of anyone even suspected of being LGBTQ. Sorry, but things are better now since Christianity has been on it's inevitable downward spiral.
Atheism give us a bitter narrative about life : hopelessness, despair, misery, nihilism, and death. Christianity is all opposite of that.
Atheism is the single position on a single issue. The sheer arrogance and hubris you have to assert that because people don’t believe in your magical deity they only have hopelessness, misery, and death. I sincerely feel bad for you for if you weren’t insecure in your own beliefs and others not believing, you wouldn’t have to lie and go on inept diatribes.
BS. There are plenty of Atheists who are happy and plenty of Christians who are miserable. And by the way, everyone will die someday. Get over it. No one here gets out alive.
@borneandayako6725 - even if you right about the bitter narrative of life, that does not make it false, or conversely, that Christianity is true.
I was raised in Santa Monica, California. It was a secular space of Los Angeles. Was baptized as a child by my secular mother for a reason I don’t know. Most of my friends were secular including my Jewish friends. There was a synagogue in my neighborhood. This had no effect on me. I was not raised Catholic. Entirely secular. Eventually I grew up and became interested in Jesus and turned into my reverting into a committed Catholic. I am today.
Dr. McDowell, we are still here. We are not going away. There are more Atheists everyday. :) Enjoy the show.
Are we as the chuch trusting in the LORD with all our hearts mind soul strength.... walking by the Spirit. Saying always, let Your will be done Father
If you think "Atheism" is a religion, you probably think not collecting stamps is a hobby.
The only thing we realized around 2011 is that there didn't need to be a "movement". The masses were leaving religion organically, and they still are. Dawkins, Hitchens and others got caught up in hating on Islam after 9/11, with good reason in my opinion, which far left liberals didn't like... that's what did them in. Political correctness ruined their careers, not a resurgence in the belief in god.
Love this! One of my all time favorites 👍🏼 👍🏼
why? it's all BS. religion is dying, atheists are growing, no one wants to join the bigots club anymore.
“Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of US adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or 'nothing in particular',” Pew wrote. “This accelerating trend is reshaping the US religious landscape.” To the religious, try truth it isn’t as bad as you’ve been told
Perhaps you should have watched the video instead of just reading the title.
@@Sherelle86 😂😂you probably have a fair point. I decided to take the title as a fair representation of the material in the video. If the title is misleading, then I guess shame on me for not investing my time in a click bait video.
@@drewj4297 I'm guilty of the same. Especially if I don't agree lol.
I was an atheist until the age of 32(I'm 35 now), then I had a sudden unexpected spiritual awakening, not religious, spiritual.
Atheism is alive and well guys. You know it. That’s why you have to do this video….
It wasn't about any death of atheism. I am glad not everyone is cowed and fooled by the vituperative, arrogant and rhetorical atheist voices out there, though there are some more irenic ones, thankfully.
Did you see that Peter Boghossian wrote an endorsement along with a slew of conservative Evangelical leaders for Critical Dilemma? (Dr Neil Shenvi and Dr Pat Sawyer's book on Critical theories coming out in October.) I thought that was so interesting. Sean thank you for having a respectful place to dialog. I know you get pressure at times to come down hard on certain people or movements, but you hold back to keep dialog going. It's a hard space to hold, but I can see the fruit in the lives of your commenters.
this is pretty shamefully apologetic from justin. The fact that some have distanced themselves from the brash tactics of hitchins and dawkins has nothing to do with a renewed belief in god. The trend is still all one way in terms of increasing disbelief, even if the more popular atheist positions have become more nuanced.
No it is not the trend is turning to all things Spiritual like Neo Paganism Progressive unaffiliated churches etc the Internet and New Atheism has ruined that movement for many and especially now with money issues, death etc faith is appealing to many.
I’m 44 and did not even understand the concept of God, as I wasn’t raised with it. I was baptized in January 2023, after a miraculous conversion late last year. Jordan Peterson and Tom Holland were huge influences.
I never grew up religious, or even thought about it when I was younger,...I'm 36 now and after everything I have experienced and witnessed and researched over the last 4 years I can definitely tell you its pushed me towards god, and checking out the bible,...I feel atheism is by design 🎉🎉
I also didn't grow up religious and only became a Christian at 24. I think it's a good opportunity to kind of develop a more mature perspective on those questions. The thing that brought me to Christ was reading "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis. But reading the Bible itself even while I was still an atheist probably helped a lot, too.
@@MrSeedi76 Reading the Bible confirmed my Atheism. That happens a lot.
What do you mean "by design"?
"In US, Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace."- Pew Research Center, October 17, 2019
The questions didn’t properly represent people coming to Christ.
@@paul_321 I guess that only the polls that positively reflect your beliefs are accurate. That's called being disingenuous.
@@bibleburner8426 It’s called being genuine. The questions weren’t clear. If someone doesn’t go to church every Sunday they are still Christian. If someone doesn’t identify with a denomination they’re still Christian. That’s where the nons come in. Atheism has failed time and time again. That’s why when USSR fell so many wanted to go back to Christianity. Travel a bit you’ll understand
@@paul_321 I'm a big fan of researching various sources. If you don't like the poll that I presented, just google "is atheism on the rise in the world" and take your pick of reports.
@@bibleburner8426 I prefer simple analysis. USSR and it’s regions pushed atheism. Likewise China says it’s an atheistic country. So help me out, if Islam claims it’s growing, Christianity is looking for truth but atheism are bragging about a growth who’s right? USSR is gone, China is admitting putting theist in camps, and places like Africa are growing in religion.
Keep googling your “stats” because google is for religion 😁🤣 right.
31 minutes in and this is really good!
Are churches filling up again, or are you just counting the number of Christian TH-cam channels?
Covid caused a dip, now people are returning to church
I mean the internet is the church for us Gen Z so meh.
@@jonathancunningham8739 Sure, but then you are using a different definition of "church" than McDowell.
Everyone is invited by the Lord of All to join Him. Daniel 7 tells of His wonderful dominion. It also talks about those who oppose Him or who aren't interested.
A lot of "Christians" believe in God, but they live like atheists. God says one thing, and adherents of traditional Christianity do the opposite. One of the greatest examples of this is Christmas, Easter, and Sunday services. God plainly said "don't practice the way of the heathen", and "Christianity" still reason that these inherently idolatrous festivals are Christian because _they_ say so.
Thank you Justin!!
Facinating! Thank you so much.
Jim Warner Wallace and I love his book, “the person of interest “
Sean, I am definitely looking forward to this interview and the current stats.
You’ll enjoy Justin’s insights and perspective!
@@SeanMcDowell yep, i was laughing so hard at how he tried to make "religion is dying" into "atheism is dying" it was quite a joke. good job your audience is only interested in what they want to hear, and not interested inthe fact religion has had it, no one wants to join the bigots and abusers clubs anymore. where do you stand on trnas issues, abortion, gay rights? cos religion can;t get ANY of those issues right anymore, you will always offend someone, even in your own religion. bye bye god.
I’m a bit further on, so another comment- Regarding Ravi Zacharias scandal, it was the atheist community (especially Banjo Playing Atheist here on YT) and theologian Randal Rauser (who also represented an anonymous Christian) who brought it to light months before it broke. The evangelical community was rather harsh and strictly denied any possibility of such a thing, standing up for Zacharias. It was truly sad to see.
Cancel culture lacks something Christianity has- grace. It depends on where you look. Christianity is the original cancel culture from cancelling the gods others believed in in antiquity to cancelling games, toys, movies, books, whole belief systems, music, food, other people, holidays, science, and so much, either calling the thing immoral or claiming Satan is at the root. It’s really quite silly and continues.
“Atheists are less interested in arguing about evolution.” Actually, the idiocy of evolution denial has been pretty well pushed to the margins of Christianity. Most of the mainstream that still does not accept evolution simply don’t talk about it, leaving the true wackos to push YEC. Why should atheists (or better, scientists) waste their time arguing with the fringe who are effectively silent (or muted) on the matter these days?
The original cancel culture? Nah. The concept of in-group versus out-group has been going on for a very long time.
@@iandacosta107 Yes, sure. Going back thousands of years. My comment was mostly a tongue-in-cheek response to the hypocritical tendency of Christians to point the finger while ignoring their habit of doing the same from the beginnings of the belief system.
Very encouraging 👍
Really really enjoyed this.