Imagine leaving to go to the bathroom and then coming back to see this guy talking about his Christianity

@FabledNarrative

3 жыл бұрын

This comment made me laugh out loud. :D

@sci-fisamurai1594

3 жыл бұрын

I’d want to know the question that made him convert 😂

@marcdaniels7233

3 жыл бұрын

This is laugh out loud funny

@slevinchannel7589

2 жыл бұрын

@@marcdaniels7233 Seen the reaction to this named "Christian Apologist Impersonates an Atheist, Atheists Respond"?

@robinlee9272

11 ай бұрын

I was worried thinking if one student got up and left never finding out he is a Christian 😮

The funny thing is that you could tell he’s a Christian just cause of how he speaks. What I mean is that his introduction sounded like a pastor introducing himself to the congregation.

@merkkila5033

3 жыл бұрын

he blew his "philosophy professor" cover extremely quickly, since it was clear after just a few sentences that he has no academic background in philosophy whatsoever

@heavnxbound

3 жыл бұрын

@@merkkila5033 Sure. But it’s to help school students think critically and have their beliefs challenged. He doesn’t have to talk like an atheist Harvard professor to get the job done in this situation:)

@merkkila5033

3 жыл бұрын

@@heavnxbound And instead he introduced/reinforced negative stereotypes about atheists, by not being able to honestly/accurately represent one (e.g. he admitted that the bit about the multiverse was intended as deception meant to sound scientific and reasonable- implying that such a tactic is typical or representative of atheists generally). If he wants students to think critically and have their beliefs challenged, he should have an actual atheist and/or philosophy professor do the presentation instead of set up strawmen by pretending to be something he's not, and isn't particularly good at pretending to be.

@st.michaelsknight6299

3 жыл бұрын

@@merkkila5033 This guy actually represented athiests better then most atheists. Including many on youtube such as matt dillahunty and rationality rules.

@merkkila5033

3 жыл бұрын

@@st.michaelsknight6299 Hardly. He admitted that one of his answers was intentionally deceitful.. in addition to being something no atheist would actually say (no atheist would respond to a question about the fine-tuning argument by bringing up string theory). So not only a misrepresentation, but a deliberately dishonest one. Very sad. I thought the Bible prohibited lying? Or is it OK to lie if its about atheists?

Imagine one if the students was a closet atheist and got secretly excited until the reveal lol

@racool911

3 жыл бұрын

Oh my god finally someone who isn't crazy...damn it

@The-Dyland

2 жыл бұрын

Then they missed the point.

@danielasanchez4674

2 жыл бұрын

@@The-Dyland True

@DaleBrose

2 жыл бұрын

There were probably many more than just one in the audience.

but wouldn't it be better to just get a real atheist? with a christian doing it they have a higher chance of misrepresenting an atheist arguement

@BAAWAKnight

3 жыл бұрын

You mean a 100% chance of creating a strawman/out-and-out lying because they know there's no way to back the claim that there is a god.

@FighterDoken

3 жыл бұрын

And misrepresent he did. Many times. Sad.

@mb207

3 жыл бұрын

Anything to not have an actual conversation with an atheist

@dwo356

3 жыл бұрын

It's also lying. While I find that rather typical of many Christian apologists, I don't typically see them freely admitting it and representing it as a good thing.

@orange-cuttleanimations7577

3 жыл бұрын

@@mb207 nothing says love thy neighbour like actively avoiding someone just because they have a different belief 🙄

I like to imagine that Sean and his dad used to do these atheist role plays at the dinner table on a regular basis

@slevinchannel7589

2 жыл бұрын

Seen the reaction to this named "Christian Apologist Impersonates an Atheist, Atheists Respond"?

I was an agnostic for some time yet I grew up in the church and my parents are pastors. Ultimately it was the LOVE of God that brought me out and the unconditional love I saw in my parents. God is good! Great point by Mr. Sean about 1 Corinthians 13, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love I am only a resounding going or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." It is the Love of God, His loving kindness that leads to repentance.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Amen!

'I try to avoid creating a strawman'. 'I'm going to pretend to be an atheist'. You are an oxymoron. It's like me pretending to be a theist and than talking some christian crap. YOU ARE AN OXYMORON...

@magnatcleo2043

3 жыл бұрын

It's like trying to protect somebody from getting shot by running them over with a truck.

@myrhh2260

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure that’s he wrong use of the word oxymoron bro

@josephde-haan1074

3 жыл бұрын

@@myrhh2260 If you're not sure look it up cuz. It's on the interweb you moron....

@georgehugo561

3 жыл бұрын

@@josephde-haan1074 I'm here to learn. What, in your opinion, was the worst straw man that he put up?

@josephde-haan1074

3 жыл бұрын

@@georgehugo561 'I try to avoid creating a strawman'. 'I'm going to pretend to be an atheist'.

Claims to be not trying to strawman or make atheists look bad... Goes on to make arguments that are strawmen and then use word salad on purpose... hm..

@Sharetheroad3333

3 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/enaAm5WfirvNgc4.html

@Nai61a

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sharetheroad3333 I note that you have appeared a couple of times, perhaps more, posting this link. I have not clicked on it and I doubt many will because of scams. If you would like people to follow up, it would be a good idea to say more about what you are posting: what is it, who made it, what is the name of the channel?

@bobross9172

3 жыл бұрын

@@Nai61a It's one of the most popular atheist channels, Genetically modified skeptic, response video. Pretty much bodies Sean's representation of an atheist

@Nai61a

3 жыл бұрын

@@bobross9172 I see. You think McDowell's "atheist" sounded like GMS? No, absolutely not.

@lukedeakin7124

2 жыл бұрын

@@Nai61a I think he'd saying GMS pretty much debunked the representation of an atheist Sean made

You know... rather than roleplaying people you don't understand, maybe ask those people to talk for themselves... I'll grand that you didn't appear to be trying to come up with strawman, nor with the ridiculous stereotypes peddled in christian movies. As far as apologists go, you're the only one that seems to want to be honest, at least that I know of. But you are clearly not capable of actually thinking like an atheist. You are defending against bad apologist arguments that weren't even made, because you imagine they are good ones, while no atheist I've ever had contact with finds them even remotely convincing. Hint: not one of the arguments you think are good, are in fact good. First of all I find it offensive that you lot think it's ok to roleplay atheists at all, as if we're some separate species to be studied. You will never see any atheist role play a theist in such a way... The idea alone is absurd. As if it's normal to train people to confront atheists. Frankly, I think it's sick. But if you want to get christians to understand the positions atheists ACTUALLY have... recognize that the only proper thing to do is to let ACTUAL atheists tell you. You are training people to make dumb assumptions about the positions atheists take, so when they will run into real atheists in the wild they'll think they know how they would reply, while really you're not remotely realistic. You should stop this roleplaying of yours. You are simply not capable, just like I wouldn't be able to twist my mind into actually thinking like a theist. If you want to present atheist viewpoints, ask the f-ing atheists to present them... What's more at the end when you've admitted to roleplaying, you are telling them things like "did you notice I didn't answer the question?" This very definitely is a huge strawman position. While it's extremely common for apologists to dodge the question, or confuse the matter, really most apoligist ONLY do that, atheists have no reason to do so. Ever. We have no position to defend, we have no stake in this, we just don't believe your claims. Atheists don't use things like string theory to confuse theists. IF they bring it up, it's because that's what they ACTUALLY think. Not that your average atheist would bring up string theory when asked about fine tuning. The average atheist would simply point out that the universe is clearly NOT fine tuned for life, and that even IF it _were_ very supportive of life it would be a logical fallacy to _assume_ there was any intention behind it. You do not get to assume such intention, you have to demonstrate it, _then_ you can ask where this intention came from. But you reply as if a god of the gaps argument would be valid, so you have to come up with something else... Maybe it's just that you as an apologist are so used to your peers dodging questions that you are projecting the common behavior of apologists on atheists, maybe you didn't intend this deeply dishonest portrayal of atheists. I'm actually willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, again because you seem to be the only apologist trying to be honest. But you did it anyway. You portrayed atheists as dishonestly dodging questions that are extremely easy to answer, because YOU can't grasp that it IS easy to answer nor that an atheist has no reason whatsoever to dodge any questions. YOU lot are trying to portray certainty over things you can't possibly have a clue about, atheists don't have such a position, they just don't believe you. There's nothing to hide. If we don't know something, we can just say we don't know unlike you, and as soon as you jump to your god of the gaps and think you've won that way, we just point out that this is a fallacy as well. Again... STOP roleplaying atheists. You aren't capable of it, you never will be, and it's highly misleading towards these children. You are misleading them, giving them completely false ideas about atheists, even if you aren't intending to. If you want them to hear atheist viewpoints, let them talk with actual atheists. They don't need protecting from the truth buddy... atheists are not going to bite them. That being said... I have to commend you. Thank you even. Because you publicly brought up the story about the girl that only told you she was an atheist because she was afraid of the hostility that theists often show towards atheists. It's a surprise, and a really good one, to hear an apologist honestly address that this is a problem, rather than attacking the atheist who brought the problem up.

@dwo356

3 жыл бұрын

I'm fine with the role-playing. I have a problem with deliberately misleading kids, especially when it's not actually useful, and representing it as a good thing.

@joined201010261347

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for taking the time to articulate this. I live in the west of the Netherlands, where atheists are very much a majority. Most atheists here were not raised in a religious belief system. This means that for us pretty much all religions seem equally unbelievable. However, it also means that most of us never think much about religion and are not used to thinking about the intellectual arguments that believers come up with to defend their beliefs (or the arguments that more self-conscious atheists come up with to argue against religious belief systems). We wouldn’t do well in this apologetics class! I myself would probably say “I don't know” a lot. Most people from my community might admit to the same, or come up with a great variety of embarrassingly bad and not well thought out ad hoc arguments-totally unlike the pretend atheist here. It is of course very different in the US, where most atheists are former believers, and had to struggle with losing their faith, and still have to cope with people around them who criticize them for not believing in their doctrines and god. At the end McDowell seems to suggest that he is a Christian, not because of his upbringing, or his feelings, or any of that, but because he thinks that Christianity is true, that there are good arguments for Christianity. That is very different from famous apologists like William Lane Craig or the philosopher Alvin Carl Plantinga (if I remember correctly) who ground their belief in personal experience, notwithstanding their ability to come up with sophisticated arguments.

@nagranoth_

3 жыл бұрын

@@joined201010261347 well they don't have that ability. It just seems that way to people who already believe the same things. Which is exactly why he can't role play an atheist. I'm from the Netherlands as well btw, and would have no trouble dealing with those questions, but admittedly only because I find the nonsense going on in the US intriguing enough to have become familiar with it. Even so "I don't know" is more often than not the correct response, because you can always follow it with "and neither do you, otherwise you'd have actual evidence to support your claims"

@Sharetheroad3333

3 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/enaAm5WfirvNgc4.html

@topranked5465

3 жыл бұрын

They are afraid aheists will deconvert their sheep

I'm just surprised none of these kids knew who he was to say, "Hey, I know you're not an atheist, I'm subscribed to your channel. 🤣"

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

😂. A few told me that they knew afterwards, but fortunately they didn’t blow my cover!

@michaelperrigo

3 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell in the beginning when you introduce yourself you can see one of them from the camera angle look back at his friends like "uh... What? Lol"

@karinerness4165

3 жыл бұрын

😂@uUnknown2Yoo right?!😉

@claytonreeves150

3 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell Why the deception and not an actual atheist? Your "arguments" are obvious fallacious strawmen. Exactly how terrified are you of having an actual atheist speak to these young indoctrinated minds? You're pathetic. Absolutely disgusting.

@fred_derf

3 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell So, "fortunately they knew you were lying and didn't call you on it", how very christian of them.

This presentation was definitely designed to reinforce Christian (not just theist in general) arguments rather than present a genuine example of atheism. I do think that you were trying to role play to your best understanding and not be a straw man. But your answers to the questions were very reminiscent of theist assertions where there must be a solid answer to everything. Atheists can be very comfortable saying “I don’t know” and /or “let me get back to you after I look into it a bit more”. I’m not sure why you think lying or using word salad is something that atheists do on a regular basis during these discussions. Some do I am sure because atheists vary as much as humans do. I apologize if this has been your experience but anecdotally it hasn’t been mine. I did appreciate that your character didn’t seem heavily based on the stereotypical “angry atheist” though.

@feedingravens

3 жыл бұрын

Why is it called apologetics? Because they have to make up apologies for all the inconsistencies in the Bible, the only source for the belief. Therefore it is absolutely common practice to misrepresent the opponent's position, that procedure is finetuned since 2000 years. And it works perfectly. The US religious industry is 150 billion dollar strong - tax-free. You have billionaire preacher superstars like Kenneth Copeland, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker etc.

@hannahbeanies8855

2 жыл бұрын

@Vincent Kinney ok

@einarabelc5

2 жыл бұрын

Or they can pretend they know while INSISTING there's No God. Which is what he was doing here. Notice the "I didn't really give an answer" part of his speech at the end. Agnostic is the name.

@hannahbeanies8855

2 жыл бұрын

@@einarabelc5 As I said, there are many different kinds of atheists since the only uniting factor is the impossibility of an intelligent all knowing all seeing creator. You can be atheist and not have all the answers. Agnosticism still considers the possibility of a creator, which is entirely different from atheism. I certainly won’t deny there are arrogant unkind atheists who do behave that way. I’ve met them myself lol

@RK9th

2 жыл бұрын

I believe he was trying to portray a Gnostic Atheist, rather than the more common Agnostic Atheist that you're referring to.

I appreciate this thoughtful presentation. As an atheist I now continue to listen to apologist almost hoping that one day someone will share with me an argument that I can be convincing to me. Sean, you are the only one that I can find bearable to listen to as a non believer. It is frustrating to constantly have your ideas be made into a strawman and be told things like I don't believe because I hate God. Not believing has been the most difficult experience in my life but I had to be honest and follow the truth as best as I can. I see most of apologetics as trying to stop Christians from losing their faith rather than genuinely trying to convers and convince non believers. My point is that I see you as doing your best to fully understand and converse with your interlocutors. Much respect. I still don't believe, but I appreciate being treated with generosity.

@gigahorse1475

3 жыл бұрын

Another guy you might like is Mike Winger (he has a KZread channel). He’s also very humble, doesn’t look down on anyone, and does his best to not straw man.

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

Why are you tortuting yourself with this garbage? You already know there is no God.

@sherylkornelsen1140

3 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/qqakyLN8eKfciKQ.html This is a message that explains the Gospel.

@questioneverything8876

2 жыл бұрын

For what it's worth.2000 yrs ago the bible came together at the treaty of Nicea. The bible is pulled together by a prophetic timeframe.ONE of the pivotal timelines is the return of the Jews to Israel after 2000 yrs of wandering the globe.The credibility of the prophetic elements lies in the reclaiming of Israel in 1948 on the time frame provided by countless prophets in the bible. What are the odds of a nation being made in a day (just as it was foretold ) by the prophets .WHAT ARE THE ODDS? That a small off shute cult of Judaism should predict all this and more. However what intrigues me the most is that despite their mass exodus from Israel 2000 yrs ago,despite the scattering of the Jews they maintained their beliefs and traditions over 2000 yrs of wandering and returned . Look around you.How many people of second or third generation immigrant families maintain their ethnic traditions and practices after 50 to 100 yrs let alone 2000 yrs. The odds speak for themselves. Look at the prophetic elements within the bible . Chuck Missler is legendary and ( although passed) might interest you as a person of intelligence. He explains this prophetc element very well and Hugh Ross is a famous astrophyscicist .They are all over this on KZread. They might help you wrap your head around the odds of these prophecies coming true and provide truth through science and rational arguments. KEEP AN OPEN MIND

@lindseydicken7921

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your transparency, Peter!

Why use a Christian when there are many qualified atheists available? I can only conclude that their fear of real argument might actually challenge their students faith.

@xXEGPXx

3 жыл бұрын

Next time he will bring along an """"""""""Atheist""""""""" to bring up the exact same points he did. When you are pushing a false narrative deception is the only way to get people to believe you. It's really really gross

@merkkila5033

3 жыл бұрын

especially when he admits that he was deliberately strawmanning atheists with that bit about String Theory and the multiverse in response to a question about fine-tuning. Extremely intellectually dishonest.

@TheRealCatof

3 жыл бұрын

@@xXEGPXx Why bring up the same "points" instead of just letting the atheist speak for themselves? You do realize christians don't know what atheism is right? If they knew, they would be atheist.

@gabepearson6104

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheRealCatof lmao I know more about atheism than you do.

@TheRealCatof

3 жыл бұрын

@@gabepearson6104 If you knew what atheism was, you would be an atheist

I listen to apologetics all the time and I was legitimately challenged by most of your responses. A couple I could of answered. How easy it is to think you’ve grown and can answer for your faith, but then put on the spot realize you still have a long way to go. We should never stop learning and always be humble.

@anmariee5560

3 жыл бұрын

I can relate to your comment so much!

@nerdineverythingnerdinnoth4984

3 жыл бұрын

Same here as an atheist.

@kamo.k1458

3 жыл бұрын

For real bro some of em just caught me off guard

I love the part where the apologist teacher claims his guest is "not just someone faking it this time!"

Dr. Sean, Great video. Enjoyed this a lot.

As an atheist (which is a horribly simplistic one-word definition to attempt to summarize an entire person), I really appreciate the exercise that you did with the kids here and I think your core message of "think about WHY you believe the things that you do" is a really great one. It seems that many people are too eager to adopt a set of beliefs (or formulate their own) without questioning, exploring or challenging any of the ideas behind that belief, especially the tough issues. Thanks for sharing this!

@richvestal767

3 жыл бұрын

I don't think that "atheist" is at all intended to describe the person as much as it is to describe an idea, belief, or position that a person holds. I'm a former atheist, but I never thought that by others calling me an atheist or calling myself an atheist that what I was as an individual was reducible to that single description or definition.

@Webhead123

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly right. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, people tend to reduce others into narrow categories, even if that is misrepresentative of the person as a whole. Saying that someone is an "atheist" tells you about one, tiny, specific aspect of their world-view. There could be a million different forms of what "atheism" looks like depending on the individual holding that view. Cheers!

@nelsnoel4463

3 жыл бұрын

I appreciate you watching this even though you are an atheist. I’d encourage you to keep watching stuff like this

@Webhead123

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, absolutely! I'm not interested in casting judgement on anyone. I am interested in understanding how and why people hold the world views that they do and how those views impact the way they treat themselves and the world around them. I felt this was a good demonstration why it is generally unwise and non-productive to judge too quickly or too harshly. Every person deserves respect, even if you disagree with them in some fashion.

@Shadesa

3 жыл бұрын

But Atheist ( A without and absence of The) A-Theist. A belief of the absence of The Creator or absence of Theology which is 1 God. So when you tell other people you are an Atheist. You are telling other people you believe in the Absence of God. You can’t be an Atheist, then take ideas from spirituality, then you aren’t an atheist. You can’t take ideas about Good and Bad because an Atheist doesn’t have any weight on subjects like that because if atheism is true, we are all subjects of a random occurrence in space and nothing really matters. If you don’t want people to treat you and view you as an atheist then don’t call yourself an atheist.. an atheist has a definition for a reason to define an individuals beliefs. If someone is Ignorant (unaware of their surroundings) and you call them ignorant. It would be ignorant to say “that’s such a simplistic definition to evaluate someone’s character” well no shit. It’s called a defining character trait lmao The thing is, I don’t think some people really know what and who they believe in. So they adopt ideas from every walk and way of life to try and figure things out. If this is you, then you’re not an atheist. If you are looking at many different ideas and ways of life, then you are eager for and are searching for the Truth. To define yourself as atheist means you already have a set firm belief that there’s no God.

My daughter found you on Tik Tok. She got me to listen to you because she thought you were lit. I told her she found a good one. She is witnessing to her online friends... thank you for being in that platform.

@ElficGuy

3 жыл бұрын

"Thank you for enduring that platform for Jesus*"

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the encouragement!

@wrestlingacademy7433

3 жыл бұрын

I think you did an excellent job (as usual) of showing love in the defense of your positions. I think that is what sets the greatest Christian apologists apart from the greatest atheist apologists. And I would definitely consider you among them. Great work!

@wlb2121

3 жыл бұрын

@@wrestlingacademy7433 there are no atheist apologists, idiot. We just want proof. You have zero

@MrSirwolf2001

3 жыл бұрын

@@wrestlingacademy7433 Do you mean that the "Christian" apologist are willing to lie? Because that is exactly what he did. I don't think that I want to listen to someone who blatantly ignores his own chosen deity's laws. If you can't make your argument honestly without violating the ninth commandment then your deity must be weak or false.

As an atheist, I can appreciate that you try to make a respectable presentation of being an atheist enough that some people were convinced of what you said you were, even if only for a short time. I also appreciate that you focused most of your after-talk on how Christians should think about their behavior toward others because that's one of the many facets of where I lost my belief. I remember being involved in Campus Crusade for Christ in college and the abundant misogyny was overwhelming to me during those formative years. Good on you for trying to help Christians be better Christians.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for noticing and recognizing the goal!

@mercyaustin854

3 жыл бұрын

Seconding this, it would be so easy to turn the atheist into a straw man or a caricature, but you speak with dignity and thoughtfulness that make it clear you're not only aware of serious issues that are being raised but are confident in your own Christianity enough to do so. I'm on my own deconversion journey right now but your videos give me hope.

@lawrence1318

3 жыл бұрын

A Christian doesn't just have a belief. Rather, he/she knows the Lord personally. It's called a belief, but primarily it's an intimate relationship with the Spirit of God.

@Afterword.

3 жыл бұрын

​@@mercyaustin854 The fact that you have hope gives me hope for you. :) There's nothing to be ashamed about having questions and wanting a rational warrant for believing. Dr. Mike Licona (a well-known New Testament historian) has been open about how his inquiries into the resurrection began because of severe doubt. He was raised Christian (so was I) and wanted to know the truth. Wherever it led him. Some of us need that more than others, and those who don't seem to need it... well... they often don't understand - even when one shows how it's a Scriptural practice. One has to ignore that noise. And it's just noise. It can feel lonely, but you're not alone. There are a lot of us out there like that, but it can be hard to find one another. Apologetics is needed now more than ever though. I'll pray for you now. So keep searching for the truth. Even pray. It can be a tough process, but if you seek God, you will find him. And he's true. My questions led me to answers and, well, becoming stronger in God than I ever thought possible. One thing too... I have found thinking in terms of Next Best Alternatives as very helpful. Agnosticism is not an option for me. If Christianity is the best explanation, as Sean McDowell argued, what's the next best explanation? It can be helpful to consider the gap. And the gap is wide.

@Isaiah53_John3.16_ChangeUrLife

3 жыл бұрын

Wow! I wish there were more respectful atheist like you!! 💕 Most of the ones that I've seen aren't this well spoken. ~~much love, from your christian sister😅~~

As an atheist living in a 96%+ religious country, I appreciate the monologue around the 55 minute mark, . I do not agree with most of your responses while portraying an atheist, but at least it wasn't the total caricature I've seen others do. Kudos for that.

@topranked5465

3 жыл бұрын

Half a caricature isnt good enough He should have declined and actually invite a real knowledgrable atheist

Genetically Modified Skeptic and Paulogia devised a response video for this. Would love to see your thoughts on their points.

@ourtexasjourney1850

2 жыл бұрын

His response to all the statements in this video. m.kzread.info/dash/bejne/hYOHr82HeJvMfqg.html

I think he should have told that poor guy Mithras was really "born" as an adult from a rock 🤣

@LoveYourNeighbour.

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, the alleged parallels between Christianity and pagan myths, have been HUGELY exaggerated!

@EighthDayPerlman

2 жыл бұрын

@@LoveYourNeighbour. Christian exceptionalism has been HUGELY exaggerated. There have been countless thousands of religions, they sprouted all over the world, all claiming authority on the origin of the universe and morality and the afterlife. The differences are tiny compared to the parallels.

Three things I’ve learned after watching this video: 1. Atheist Sean is scary. 2. These students know their stuff. 3. This video is awesome.

Ever thought about having a real atheist give one of the Q and A sessions?

@nadiaraven

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, totally. I'm an atheist, and I feel like I could do a better job of answering some of these arguments than the fake atheist. I mean, I think he was genuine in giving the best answers he knew of from an atheist perspective, and I didn't mind him doing it. He definitely was right in reprimanding the students in their treatment of an atheist. But ultimately this exercise was sort of like practicing drawing from photos rather than drawing real life models; you're never going to quite get the depth and quality if you don't practice on the real thing.

@heavnxbound

3 жыл бұрын

@@nadiaraven I agree! He did a good job with not sugarcoating things that might be difficult for Christians to explain; that will really challenge these people’s minds to think more about it and study. As a former atheist, I think this was a really cool thing to do. But I would absolutely love to see a current atheist come to the school and talk with them too :)

@patrickjones2379

3 жыл бұрын

It wasn't bad. Paulogia had a great review of his conversation. I think the biggest issue I had was that he set up arguments that he already had answers for. I'd like to see Matt Dillahunty or Cosmic Skeptic do this. Give the highschool students a big dose of real argumentation.

@nadiaraven

3 жыл бұрын

@@patrickjones2379 yeah, I came here from genetically modified skeptic's video that featured paulogia. He had some good points.

@st.michaelsknight6299

3 жыл бұрын

@@patrickjones2379 Just record yourself saying I dont know over and over and there you have matt dillahunty

“I’m not going to straw man” Proceeds to straw man. Next time, get an actual atheist. The last 15 minutes was the only thing that was worthy of this entire video.

@wadetisthammer3612

3 жыл бұрын

What was the straw man? Virtually everything he said I've heard uttered by actual atheists.

@sovijus

3 жыл бұрын

@@wadetisthammer3612 His atheist arguments are very shallow in almost all cases. And while there might be atheists that think this way, they certainly don't represent the most well thought out atheist positions. This is the equivalent of taking average Christian, that has only passing knowledge of the Bible and theology, and trying to present his arguments and views as the best defense of Christianity. It is not very charitable. If you are interested you can check out "Christian Apologist Impersonates an Atheist, Atheists Respond" by Genetically Modified Skeptic.

@claytonreeves150

3 жыл бұрын

@@wadetisthammer3612 No, you haven't. You've heard them uttered by morons who happen to be atheists, or by Christian apologists who deliberately misrepresent atheist arguments. Pathetic.

@on-the-way222

3 жыл бұрын

You mad?

@Matthew24.4

3 жыл бұрын

See his response video. He has invited many atheists to talk to talk at his church and in front of his class. He used the arguments that he has heard these atheists use.

I know who you are Sean, but if you were trying to disguise yourself, it would be your voice that gave you away, rather than your face haha Would be fun, if you do this again, to put on a fake voice too lol

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Haha, I hadn't thought of that!!

Great stuff! Just sent it to my youth group crew and some others. Thanks!

@MrSirwolf2001

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, you should absolutely vaccinate your children with this Pablum. Of course, it won't actually do anything to prepare them if they run into someone like me, or Matt Dillahunty, or Aron Ra or any of the other "real" Atheists, who have actual arguments, but you will feel better, and isn't that the real prize?

I don't believe Sean when he says he wouldn't be a Christian if he thought it was wrong. There's nothing that can convince him he is wrong. When faced with a choice between the Christian explanation of reality and the much more plausible scientific/naturalistic explanation of reality, he without fail chooses the Christian explanation.

@frankwhelan1715

3 жыл бұрын

Yes,it's baffling.

@Mrslariss

3 жыл бұрын

What about his true back story brought you to that conclusion?

@kdietz65

3 жыл бұрын

@@Mrslariss Really? It's the entire premise of the video. He clearly understands the naturalistic explanations of reality, as he articulates in this very video. Yet he's still a Christian, and therefore dismisses everyone of those arguments, replacing them with the Christian view of reality.

@Mrslariss

3 жыл бұрын

@@kdietz65 Oh ok, I think I understand where you are coming from. I can see how it would appear that way if you believe the arguments that he makes as an “atheist” are true. From the viewpoint of a Christian though, especially knowing that he questioned the veracity of Christianity as a young man, it shows that even though he thoroughly understands the atheistic arguments, he was able to remain a Christian because of the answers he found to refute such claims.

@kdietz65

3 жыл бұрын

@@Mrslariss Right, exactly. That's my point. Any time the scientific worldview has something plausible to offer but conflicts with the Christian worldview, he will find a reason or justification to stick with the Christian worldview, and that's why I say nothing can convince him that he is wrong.

You should post a follow up video with Christian answers to all these questions (within 1 video)

@__.Sara.__

3 жыл бұрын

Something like that would be super appreciated! I'm going to research on my own, but would love to hear Sean's responses.

@LoveYourNeighbour.

3 жыл бұрын

I would have LOVED it if he would have had time to provide responses to all the Atheist objections he had brought up! Unfortunately, he ran out of time. I sure hope none of those poor Christians were left in a mild state of shock LOL.

@LoveYourNeighbour.

3 жыл бұрын

@@__.Sara.__ I really enjoy listening to Christian videos that show the logical holes in the types of Atheist arguments Sean brought up. Braxton Hunter (on KZread) is the best one I know of. He's debunked these kinds of seemingly solid Atheist arguments, many times. But still, I do agree, it would be GREAT to hear all of these issues properly addressed by Sean himself!

@marcussmith000

3 жыл бұрын

@@__.Sara.__ yes totally in the same boat. Researching myself because the whole “believing the universe was just always there not created is just the same as believing God was just always there” kind of stumped me. Would love to hear a follow up.

@jacobjenkins5941

3 жыл бұрын

@@marcussmith000 Generally, I like to think of the argument as that everything physical has a cause. The Big Bang, which is the best current scientific theory on the origin of the universe, postulates that there was a point of infinite density that was infinitely small which exploded and created the universe. This is the argument against the eternal universe because science now demonstrates that the universe must have had a beginning. All things physical have a cause, and so the universe must have a cause. There are three main possible arguments for the origin of the universe. 1. The (theoretical) multiverse is a series of universes that exist consecutively, creating a new universe each time the previous one collapses. 2. God created the universe. I'm not an expert at theoretical physics, but the research I have done has helped me answer this question. Let's start with number 1: If there are a series of universes that each cause one another consecutively they must go infinitely back in time because there was no original universe (there was always a universe before any universe). The problem that this idea runs into is that there must be an infinite amount of time before this universe can exist because there is an infinite number of universes that precede this one. Therefore, today must happen infinitely far into the future, and that is impossible. (Infinite regress) Number 2: God has existed eternally, but He is not made of matter, nor does He exist within time (because he created both time and matter). Therefore there must not be an infinite amount of time between God's origin and our origin, because God has always eternally existed outside of time. There is a third option that I disagree with, but I still don't understand enough about it to make a solid argument. Anyways, I hope that helps! God bless.

As someone who once doubted the existence of God, I would encourage Christians parents with young teenagers and adults in college to have honest conversations with your children about their faith from time to time. Just because they go to church or Christian school is not enough. My doubt or denial about the existence of God began when I moved to college. Thank God, I'm now a firm believer in Jesus Christ.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Yes!!

@Unconskep

3 жыл бұрын

One of the 10 commandments is thou shall.not commit adultery, However Christians hypothetically believe that a supernatural God somehow got a married medievil virgin pregnant, just so he can have a personal relationship with YOU.........that's not faith thats INSANITY

@KikatzuMusik

3 жыл бұрын

@@Unconskep You're completely clueless about the biblical story. Mary was not married when she received Jesus. She got pregnant by a miracle (like Adam was formed by God) not by "intercourse". And what do you mean with medieval? Jesus was born in the antiquity. And Jesus didn't came down to earth, that he can have a "personal relationship", he came down on earth to die on the cross as a perfect atonement.

@Unconskep

3 жыл бұрын

@@KikatzuMusik the bible is the most edited, exaggerated, misinterpreted, corrupted book ever written, when something has to be interpreted then it is already flawed, as there is no authority on interpretation, just opinion and in your case a superstitious opinion, religion is superstition and nothing more Superstition ( definition) A........a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false sense of causation. B.......an irrational abject attitude of mind towards the supernatural, nature or God resulting from superstition C........a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary. Miracle ? Can you prove that? NO ,a miracle is a term used for your superstitious imagination, when you have absolutely no evidence. Faith is not evidence if you had evidence you wouldn't need faith It's the 21st century nobody believes in Adam and eve anyone, Adam and eve are genetically impossible, the Adam y genome and mitochondrial eve is a METAPHOR and has nothing to do with the bible story, it dates back to the stone age where there were thousands of people around at that time so Adam and eve can't be the first people. Jesus was a real person but not the son of God, there is no evidence at all outside the bible and the bible is a fictional book based on assumptions and metaphors, Tactics, Josephus, Pilly etc wrote about Jesus, however they lived years after Jesus's crucifixion and didn't know him personally nor had any verifiable evidence ,Tactics is the only reliable verifiable of Jesus outside the bible However nowhere does Tactics say Jesus was the son of God. As for resurrection, Jesus was just a copy, Tammuz, Odin, Osiris, Attis etc, all were claimed resurrected gods as for eyewitnesses many of the stories clash and contradict each other and are extremely weak and controversial, remember thousands of people seen Elvis working at 7eleven years after his death........Philosophers / historian's who lived whilst Jesus was alive wrote nothing about him NOT ONE WORD.

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear that Mr. McDowell damaged your brain.

Oh dude. The "secret agent Sean" on the thumbnail/title picture of this video is PRICELESS! That was hilarious man.

I criticized your atheist performance in another comment, but I did want to give credit where credit is due. I truly appreciate the message of love and respect for atheists. Many of us came from Christian or other religious backgrounds and have received incredible backlash for coming out as even questioning faith. But atheists are still humans with the ability to love and respect, and likewise feel hurt and abandoned, just as much any person of faith. We are not evil or have no emotional experience. We still experience empathy and compassion. I love my theist friends and family very dearly and not any less than I did before as a believer. So hearing a Christian reinforce that was shocking, but it truly respect you for it.

@TinkerBell-bt6vu

Жыл бұрын

Sean is so good for this and a great example of what every Christian should be...and every human person should be. We need to love and respect eachother

@phineas8532

11 ай бұрын

I hate atheists and atheism. People who are questioning their faith or are weak in the faith are way more reasonable. Unless you can truthfully say that nothing supernatural happened in jerusalem in the 1st century ad, atheism is and will forever be nonsense

Great job Sean!

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jonathan! I hope we can connect soon.

I'll reiterate the same question others have asked: why? Even from the student's perspective, why? How is this helpful to them. At all. The deception is a weird tactic. Especially for a Christian. Next time, don't lie. Just get a real atheist to talk to the students. It's not that hard.

@feedingravens

3 жыл бұрын

Why? Simple answer: To train the kids that they will waive away any atheist arguments in the future. In principle he acts as a vaccine: He presents the student body a weakened, defunct virus that the body can easily overcome - so that when confronted with the real thing, the body has an instinctive response available.

@praxton

3 жыл бұрын

If you think this is watered down atheist arguments, you don't talk to many atheists. For one, I don't know any atheist who places much if any stock into the multiverse hypothesis. The only people I hear talking about it are Christians telling other Christians that atheists believe in that. Not to mention, how can a Christian answer questions about atheists? I mean the arrogance of even assuming one could. If the student wants to know why an atheist thinks the way they do, why not ask an actual atheist? What you want to be happening here is actually the opposite of what is happening. A Christian cannot give even a watered down version of an atheist's beliefs and ideas. They can only give their interpretation and assumptions because rare is the Christian that actually listens and tries to understand. By default, their position is going to be defensive. What actually is happening here is giving these kids a false sense of security and confidence, and when they face a real atheist-not a non-practicing Christian-in college they are not going to be prepared. Because it's not going to go down like this. And, again, it's a Christian actively participating in a deception. Regardless of intent, trust is damaged here. The truth is that this is the safest way for them to "expose" the kids to atheism. They know if they were exposed to a real atheist who actually knows what they're talking about and what they're doing, not only will the students have their worlds rocked but the teacher would also be out of his league. And you know that's true because they chose the path of deception. They lack the confidence in their own beliefs.

@feedingravens

3 жыл бұрын

@@praxton We are on exactly the same level, that this is fake and cherrypicked atheist arguments how christians would like them to be. And that from people that claim morals can ONLY come from God, from the fear of God's wrath. So lying in the name of the omnipotent entity (I prefer to take away the personality from the God concept) is good and moral. Just as muslims state it explicitly for Allah. This CHRISTIAN teacher approached a CHRISTIAN professor to lie to and deceive his students, and they both see no fundamental issue there. I am pretty sure that they see not the slightest reason to repent before their God.

@YAWTon

3 жыл бұрын

@@feedingravens The students are now vaccinated. Against the wrong virus.

@MrSirwolf2001

3 жыл бұрын

@@YAWTon They "vaccinate" them with saline and the get surprised when they meet influenza, Yersinia pestis, and Ebola.

That was an astonishing act of dishonesty and deception . McDowell comes into this with innate biases. To attempt to speak for Atheists instead of having an actual Atheist speak sort of defines the hypocrisy, obfuscation and selective interpretation of Christian teachings in general. I am so glad to be free of this madness and am assured every day, that my decision to ask questions and seek the truth was the correct move.

This is very insightful! Can I request and suggest that you do a breakdown of each of the questions and your answers as another episode, please?

"Sshhh" - part time high school teacher gets revealed 😂😉

I must say, your strawman costume is excellent.

As someone who was brought up in a country where turning away from one's religion is technically punishable by death, the story at 56:45 honestly moved me to tears. There's a lot of angry comments here about how Sean went about portraying atheists here, but to be honest the reasons he's doing what he's doing are beautiful and we would all do well to follow some of his advice: we should believe in things we have thought about and rationally conclude are the most correct based on the evidence we have, and if someone draws a different conclusion to us, we should do our best to respect and understand them. Bravo Sean, and thank you so much for doing your part to bring people from different religions closer together.

@bdnnijs192

2 жыл бұрын

"if someone draws a different conclusion to us, we should do our best to respect and understand them" Straw-manning peope with different conclusions (atheisst) in front of an audience of (Christian) Students completely undermines serious attempts to understand them.

Very informative👏👏👏

3:06 the kid was like “wait did Sean just say he doesnt believe in God? Am i the only one hearing this??”

Please do a follow up video where you give the Christian answers to the objections you brought up.

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

Or better yet - get an actual atheist to speak rather than pretending to be one.

Hi Dr. Sean, I'm an atheist that saw your video from a response video from Genetically Modified Skeptic. I just came over to your video here to thank you so much for the part in @56:41 where you brought up the things that an atheist may experience when they are surrounded by people in faith. Regardless of my personal thoughts about religion, I thank you for doing your part in bettering the relations of atheists and christians.

@phineas8532

11 ай бұрын

You need to grow up man, there is never gonna be atheists and christians all holding hands and singing songs as you dream of

Maybe Ive been reading too much graham oppy but Sean needs to up his atheist answers.

@hamsarris8341

3 жыл бұрын

Graham Oppy isn't heard as much as Matt Dillahunty tho 😂 Seans gotta present the typical atheist position.

@gabepearson6104

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamsarris8341 yeah the typical atheist is the whole I’m not convinced. Where as if Sean represented oppy, this talk would have been about 30 mins describing the role of arguments in belief changing. Then centered around theoretical virtues.

Aa an atheist I think Sean did a fairly good job. I could nitpick a few details, but nothing major. It's a really nice change from the endless straw men about what atheist believe we get from most apologists. Sean is one of the very few apologist I actually respect.

I really enjoy watching you interact with students in this way and giving answers to atheist's objections. How do you justify the deceiving/lying to the students at the beginning about who you are?

@michaelw7504

3 жыл бұрын

It’s like filming a movie. Everything in a movie is basically a “lie”. Chill out. Jesus used parables. Sheesh. Do you really think that He saw someone with a log in their eye when He used that parable? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@slevinchannel7589

2 жыл бұрын

@@michaelw7504 Seen the reaction to this named "Christian Apologist Impersonates an Atheist, Atheists Respond"?

I didn't knew that you did this in my country in the philippines, do you have videos like this in my country?

Wow. I could not have disputed a lot of your points. Kudos to these kids for their efforts in continuing to grill you!

My only question is why you didn't just get an actual atheist to give the seminar?

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

I do that with my students often...

@cubieblu

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear!

This group seems to lack a sense of humour. That is very rare to see every joke go right over their heads. This is not meant as an insult. Just an observation.

@alwayshonest357

3 жыл бұрын

would you be laughing along with someone disrespecting your Father?

Atheist here. Not exactly the answers I would give, but it's a decent effort with laudable goals. I particularly appreciate the bit near the end about treating atheists with kindness and speaking with Grace. More apologists should be like Sean. Even though we disagree, I would happily sit down and have a beer with the guy.

I am an atheist, I came from Genetically Modified Skeptic's channel after seeing him talk about your video. I want to say two things, one I appreciate that you did your best to represent atheists accurately and addressed how we treat each other as theists and non-theists; your intentions were clearly coming from a good place and it shows even if I don't share the same arguments or viewpoints of the character you portrayed and you do admit to certain strategies during the discussion that I would personally try to avoid when having a debate in good faith as an atheist with a theist. The second is to ask that you invite atheists to represent themselves at discussions so they can portray their own views. We are not a monolith so I'm sure you'd hear a variety of viewpoints in those discussions, but I feel like it would be a better way of going about these discussions to promote a healthy discourse. If nothing else you can view it as an opportunity to convert an atheist, and for you and your students to better understand who we are and what we think, provided they were given the opportunity to express their views, respond to questions, and to question others. Thank you again for asking your students to consider how they treat atheists and for reminding them that we're all deserving of respect and civility as human beings.

I have renewed respect for Sean McDowell after watching this. He was very convincing....

@ts4gv

11 ай бұрын

lol

So funny to hear Sean give all of the arguments he regularly refutes. So good to do this. God bless you and your work.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks. I agree it probably made you wonder at first ;)

@gfujigo

3 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell Great job as always. In the future, consider providing refutations for your atheistic arguments.

@taylorwarren2000

3 жыл бұрын

@@gfujigo Yes, haha.

@k9felinePeru

3 жыл бұрын

IKR! I kept smirking all the way thru.

@LoveYourNeighbour.

3 жыл бұрын

@@gfujigo At least he PARTLY did, at the end. But he then ran out of time...

I've watched this twice and will continue to watch it repeatedly. Love it!

You played the role of the Atheist very well with their arguments , are u an Atheist Dr Sean? 😂😂😂

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Haha, nope. But I really do try to represent it fairly. If not, I offend atheists and don't sufficiently challenge Christians!

@christfollower5713

3 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell i respect that really , you didnt leave a space for anybody to accuse u of being biased ! Am sure God is using your Apologetics in these days ! God bless you and Happy Resurrection from your Coptic Christian brother (side note , Orthodox celebrate Easter with different calender , am sure u have watched the Holy fire event from 2 days 😂) God bless your life and your family and protect you 🙏🏻❤

@EighthDayPerlman

2 жыл бұрын

@@SeanMcDowell I think you did a pretty good job of role playing an atheist who barely graduated high school. Representing yourself as a philosophy prof at a major secular university and then displaying total ignorance of multiverse theory and cosmology is another matter. It's deceptive and suggests that these arguments are the best the secular world can offer. I challenge you to confront the real arguments of science when teaching your students.

What do you do when you're so good, you convince people to change belief. The point of "life is more valuable if there is no after life because you have limited time". You were very convincing 🤔

@alicej7857

3 жыл бұрын

It's good practice for people to analyze why they believe the things they do when forced to entertain an idea they don't already have for exactly the reason that it can seem very convincing on a superficial level. But once you really analyze that, it doesn't add up and you'll know why. For example, if life is just an accident, it doesn't have any real purpose aside from what people make up arbitrarily to get them through it which is exactly what aetheists accuse Christians of doing by pretending there's a God. That's just one thing that comes to mind for me, but it leads me to several other logical objections as well as practical problems with it By practical I mean for example that it's quite easy to say we can create our own purpose to make our lives meaningful when you're living in comfort in a free and wealthy country. It's not going to work so well when you're living in north korea for example.

I don't usually watch newer videos, so it's hilarious to hear you mention something as recent as Wandavision. (Spoilers!) Quicksilver wasn't from another universe, he was just a guy named Ralph who got enchanted.

@hamsarris8341

3 жыл бұрын

Darn it

Really good🙌

Can you make a video now explaining the Christian view for all the answers you gave as an atheist? ☺️ thank you for all you do to help us understand these issues!

@Psi_man

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, that’s what my son was looking forward to, but they ran out of time. Was a little bummed, but then again, it’s forces us to do our own research with some hope that even with reasonable arguments against God, there are reasonable arguments for God as well.

@MapleBoarder78

3 жыл бұрын

He’s got a video out on his channel that does just that. 👍🏼

@outseteddy6306

3 жыл бұрын

There are 2 good christian apologists I would recommend in case you don't know them, David Wood and Frank Turek. One of David Wood's videos (20 minutes) kzread.info/dash/bejne/i22Oo7eldKzTopM.html One for Frank Turek (47 minutes) kzread.info/dash/bejne/mm2D18abXaXMmto.html&t Both of them go into atheistic views and dissects them. Hopefully you get a few answers you're looking for.

@ourtexasjourney1850

2 жыл бұрын

His response to all the statements in this video. m.kzread.info/dash/bejne/hYOHr82HeJvMfqg.html

I wish that he had brought in an actual atheist so it wouldn’t feel kinda scripted. But the fact that he acknowledges the damage that exiling people based on beliefs or if they don’t believe brings is commendable. I’m personally an atheist, and I wasn’t raised with a religious belief. I grew up in the south and I was always told to not talk about religion or politics and I followed that. I was a curious kid, and I had gone to church with my neighbors a few times. I didn’t really understand it because I was quite young, and honestly the only thing I my mind was ‘why didn’t they give us more bread’ during communion. I know almost nothing about the Bible, though I know a few of the basics because I read a child’s version as a kid, and I genuinely enjoyed it because it had pictures and I enjoyed Jesus’ revival. I think the Bible is a great storybook, but not a good history book. I’m currently studying geology and I think hearing peoples views is interesting. I believe in science but there’s absolutely stuff we don’t know or can’t explain, but because I was never raised with a religion, I don’t have any inclination to believe in it. My morals are based on what I have learned and have been taught what was right or wrong. I don’t know what’s out there, or even if there is anything, and if there is something, that’s great, but that’s not gonna stop me from being curious and testing things. Even if there is some sort of creator, it’s not my job or obligation to worship them. There are Christian songs that are absolute bangers tho

@stevethyng8275

6 ай бұрын

Mr. Science, you have a worship gene. If you don't think it's your job you're sadly mistaken

Amazing ! Thank you so much ! I really appreciate the pieces of advice you give at the end. So true I learnt a lot, thank you

I'm an atheist. I think you did a good job representing an atheist position. Your manner was seemingly fleetingly combative at a couple moments and the hearing thing, couldn't tell if it was intentional or just sound problems. I would hope that your portrayal of an atheist is as positive as possible (to steelman as best you can the position)...I'm sure you know people will at times dismiss an opponent based on perceived character flaws. Awesome practice. I would hope the religious get actual atheists to play with as well (as part of their education). I am curious if you ever challenge them on the use of faith and allow them to sit in the discomfort without alleviating it. Good presentation...you've piqued my interest.

@BrustinNikolai

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I agree when he said stuff like "did you hear anything I was saying?"around the middle and other comments

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

He didn't.

@alittlelogic5914

3 жыл бұрын

@@optillian4182 Didn't represent a typical atheist response or challenge them on the use of faith?

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

@@alittlelogic5914 He didn’t represent the atheist position.

@alittlelogic5914

3 жыл бұрын

@@optillian4182 I see. My point wasn't that he did a good job overall...but that he did a good job representing "an" atheist position (though as you pointed out, not an effective job representing "the" atheist position...what would be considered the most effective arguments for the atheist position/against theism generally). I was just saying he was probably closer to a thoughtful and semi practiced atheist interlocutor than these kids have ever really seen. Sorry for any lack of clarity.

Proverbs 26:18 Just as damaging as a mad man shooting a lethal weapon Proverbs 26:19 is someone who lies to a friend and then says, "I was only joking." So from the Scriptures above, was that a right thing to do? To pull a prank as a Christian.

Fantasy conversation I wish were more common: Atheist: What are my religious views? Well I’m an atheist. (Explains views.) Christian: Oh, interesting. I’m a Christian. (Explains views.) Atheist: Oh, I appreciate hearing your views. Would you like to discuss further. Christian: Sure. (Totally civil discussion ensues with lots of nonjudgemental listening.)

@maxxam3590

3 жыл бұрын

I tend to see that conversation, specially off-line. Heck, I even have relatives and friends that are believers, and not only do I respect them, I love them.

Hi Sean, I got the book you sent. Thank you very much for your generosity.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic!

I really resonated with your point about Christians being known by their love. That's such an important part of this whole conversation!

Oh my goodness this must have been so difficult to proclaim the complete opposite of what you know to be true in your heart, especially with the love you have for Christ Jesus. Imho, that was an Oscar worthy performance. I applaud you @seanmcdowell praise Jesus, his Glory shines in you.

You were doing well representing atheism until you started talking about the multiverse.

@petery6432

3 жыл бұрын

You act as though no Atheist holds that position.

@unomaster2533

3 жыл бұрын

@@petery6432 I'm sure there are some Atheists that believe in magic but that doesn't make the belief in magic a tenet of Atheism. If someone is going to portray Atheism in a non-biased way then it's important that they only portray the values that define Atheism. Otherwise, because *some* Christians believe the Earth is flat, I would be telling you that Christians believe the Earth is flat, which - of course - not all do.

@georgehugo561

3 жыл бұрын

@@unomaster2533 Good way of putting that, I suppose. I don't know much about the multiverse theory though except that I find it a bit of a get out of jail free card kind of argument in some ways. What would you suggest as an alternative answer to the fine tuning question which prompted his multiverse answer?

@unomaster2533

3 жыл бұрын

@@georgehugo561 That's a tricky one. I felt like the problem with his atheistic shtick was that he didn't even seem convinced himself. Of course the multiverse theory is a (somewhat) scientifically valid response to fine-tuning, but I don't think a Christian should take it upon himself to explain it "as an atheist would" to college kids, doing the argument very little justice. He kind of portrays atheism as though it's a religion or a belief system. But, of course, there is no 2500 year-old sacred text containing 613 commandments by which atheists must adhere or explaining the nature of the universe(s?). Anyway, with that said - and to answer your question - I'll give my personal beliefs on fine tuning (Please note: I'm an agnostic atheist and I believe there was some form of "Big Bang"): So, in essence, fine tuning puts human-beings on a pedestal. It assumes that we humans are so unique that the universe must be here to accommodate us, and us in particular. But this is begging the question. Because it assumes the universe is fine-tuned for us, when in fact _we are fine tuned for the universe_. Firstly, there's a good chance we aren't alone in the universe and that there are aliens in distant galaxies; so maybe we aren't so special - a whole universe exists and there's just this one tiny planet all for us. Secondly, say that we change one thing about the 'big bang'; maybe it expands more quickly than it did; maybe it's hotter and more dense than it was. In any case, it's possible that, in any given variation of universal conditions, some form of life would be capable of surviving. Maybe some of the life that would have existed in that 'alternate' version of our universe doesn't exist in our actual universe because our universe simply wouldn't accommodate its needs. It's kind of like survival of the fittest, except for planets. With so many different planets, within different solar systems, within their own galaxies, there are bound to be at least a few that have life - we could be one of many.

@EighthDayPerlman

2 жыл бұрын

@@unomaster2533 Multiverse theory is in no way a response to "fine tuning". It isn't a response to anything theistic. It isn't a response to anything about humans per se. It is a response to the weirdness of quantum mechanical observations and the surrounding mathematical structures built to describe and predict them. "Fine tuning" is fundamentally a misperception at the get-go, because it pretends incorrectly that humans are in a position to assess the statistical probability of our own existence, despite having a sample size of exactly one. Of course, Christians also have other ways of misrepresenting quantum weirdness (god of the randomness gap) but we can wait for that additional straw man before addressing it.

Plot twist: Voddie Baucham planted in the audience...

Nice little trick there. Multi-verse and universe. I have seen this routine it's a good act.

Q: I imagine myself beeing in the crowd, listening to the Q&A or asking questions myself and hearing someone with a Phd (or also without) speaking convincing, pulling lots of quotes&Co. (And don't having the time to research stuff on the fly) How to react? I don't want to question his smartness, neither do I want to pull everything he said apart. But I also don't believe his whole argument. While writing: I just remember just before COVID on a Mission-Trip sitting on the table with two non-christian Philosophy Phds on two occasions, how could I forget that😀 Don't remember the concrete situations though. I only remeber: It was nice to talk to them and they both came back regularly even though they disagreed with almost everything from the front - don't know how much this was our work or/and god supernaturally drawing them.

Well done Dr. McDowell. This actually took a lot of focusing and I'm impressed you lasted as long as you did.

I am going to also say I disagree with you doing this. It is a lie and puts you in moral peril. I would question the morality of a faith teacher that promotes this. For what reason? Bring a real Atheist and do not mis- represent or speak for people you do not agree with.

@on-the-way222

3 жыл бұрын

You mad?

@sackettfamily4685

4 ай бұрын

I think anyone who's been around a topic of arguments long enough, they can usually argue both sides really well. For instance I've previously enjoyed watching creation vs evolution debates. The arguments are rarely new, and haven't changed in 20+ years. So an apologist can probably put up a very good argument for someone on the other isle. It's a testing of their faith, and in a safe place. Safe because he can give them answers to the usual arguments against God. This is good and not bad.

Just turning on the video I almost thought you were in Mike Winger's office at first. Lol.

A question on what atheist Sean McDowell said: if the universe/metauniverse is eternal, so there are an infinite number of days that the meta universe has existed, then how have we arrived at today after an infinite amount of time? (i.e. if the meta universe has existed for an infinite amount of time, then how are we able to reach today or add to infinity?)

@jamesdeburiet3919

3 жыл бұрын

I don’t know if you watched the whole video but he was faking being an atheist. He’s Christian And that’s a good question. The eternal universe theory can easily be disproven. If there were an infinite number amount of days before today, then how could today have arrived. Atheists use this argument cause they know the universe had a beginning. And I don’t see how a Shepard 4000 years ago knew the universe had a beginning unless it was supernatural

I’ve literally never heard a better defense of atheism

@gigahorse1475

3 жыл бұрын

That’s exactly what I was thinking! Most atheists (at least online) will just act like they are smarter than you because they don’t believe in a talking snake. 😂

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

Are you serious? It was actually not a particularly good defence at all. Sean straw manned some atheist positions and completely ignored some of the stronger atheists arguments. I'd give him a C-. There are many of better defences of atheism available only a couple of mouse clicks away for anyone who genuinely was interested in the truth.

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

That's why you're not an atheist _yet._ ;)

@riverofthewood

2 жыл бұрын

Go watch some real atheists!

I love this video! Thank you Sean for reminding us we must love others!

If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for ever victory gained you will suffer a defeat. If you neither know the enemy or yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Sun Tzu.

Not the worst attempt to emulate an atheist I've ever heard. But I noticed you couldn't help sneaking in some things most atheists wouldn't claim to know that Christians do. I doubt you realized you're doing it (because you're not actually an atheist, and are just trying to imagine what one would say). I think you've heard these arguments enough to have memorized a partial script, but you don't really understand how atheists have actually reasoned their way into the conclusions they draw. I also love your follow up to the "how does consciousness arise" question. Obviously I don't know, and you correctly point out an honest atheist will say so (does that mean you were pretending to be a dishonest atheist....?). But then your "answer" is just the classic God-of-the-gaps argument. Atheists don't know (and they're not so dishonest to pretend they know), therefore It's magic, and that's how it works. Why don't you be an honest theist and admit you don't actually know either?

Sean was the kindest and most considerate atheist I’ve ever known! 😂

@taratags4499

3 жыл бұрын

And most thorough and prepared! And despite that, the least defensive/non offended. We all know what typically happens when we challenge most any real atheist or push their buttons! Most atheists are offended off the bat by just the fact that we are Christians because they are offended (projecting guilt?) by the God of our Bible and the message of Christ. Your nice atheist persona did not come across like you thought the Christians were idiots!

@alittlelogic5914

3 жыл бұрын

If your interested in positive kind courteous conversation with an atheist there are plenty of us to interact with. Consider this an open invitation. As long as there's no condescension or sniping and there is genuine dialogue, I'm always game.

@Go4Noctis

3 жыл бұрын

@@taratags4499 You realize how often atheists are austrasized from Christian communities correct? Some christians are even taught that atheists bassically serve satan. Most atheists wouldn't even think about Christianity if it was so pervasive in US politics. Also I find it very dishonest of you to talk about "Projecting Guilt" as it infers that atheists actually believe in YOUR god and just are lying to themselves.

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

@@taratags4499 Pot meet kettle. Many Christians are hyper-offended when anyone dares question their preferred doctrines or ask them how they know what they often claim to know. The one difference I see between most atheist and most Christians is that atheist usually care more about whether their views are objectively true.

I imagine that, while role-playing, when you say things like "I don't believe in God" or "Jesus wasn't real" it would be hard not to cringe internally and sweat a little more! 😂 I'm glad God, in his omniscience, knows our hearts!

@namapalsu2364

3 жыл бұрын

Well put, especially the last sentence.

You the man brother Sean!!

this needs more views omg!!

It was an atheist who challenged me in high school that made me turn away from God for many years. Thank you for challenging today’s youth so that they are ready when they encounter an atheist argument. Any recommendations for children’s apologetics books? My 8 year old asks a ton of questions.

@YO-ui8cf

3 жыл бұрын

I have an 8 year old and would love to have book recommendation also 😀

@marileet8589

3 жыл бұрын

Natasha Crain has some good books one is called, “Talking to you kids about God” you can also listen to her interview with Focus on the Family, on KZread

@Window4503

3 жыл бұрын

They might be a little young for this, but Prepared to Answer from Northwestern Publishing House might be good. It address very popular arguments against the Bible, God, and the Christian life. It’s pretty easy to read, so even if you have to explain it to them, it might help.

@givemeliberty1041

3 жыл бұрын

@@marileet8589 thank you for this resource. I have been watching her interviews this morning!

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

So you want to brain wash your child rather than educate them and let them make up their own mind?

This is great Sean. Going to show it with my youth group

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Good for you. It'll make them think for sure!

@ourtexasjourney1850

2 жыл бұрын

Please show his response to all the statements in this video. m.kzread.info/dash/bejne/hYOHr82HeJvMfqg.html

Link to the near death you promote at the end in the description please.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

m.kzread.info/dash/bejne/mJylrsVvd7PbXbg.html

Lmao this was hilarious as a follower of your channel.

I am a Christian and find this absolutely disgusting. He is lying, the whole way throgh.

@KellieSPEAKS

8 ай бұрын

That’s one of his points

@tonygoodkind7858

6 ай бұрын

Kellie, well the lying is kinda threefold: * lying about who he is * lying by presenting most atheist arguments as _not quite_ the actual arguments, in order to portray them as worse than they are * and (only from a Christian perspective) "lying" by making those arguments and revealing why the arguments for Christianity are bad (which Christians might wrongly perceive as lying, but when you correctly criticize each major argument for god, they all make mistakes. And those mistakes mean we have no evidence of any gods).

bro....great roleplay....but we need answers and methods on how to refute or answer or deal with those topics and questions you raised as an atheists....pls make a video on it

@gravity111587

3 жыл бұрын

I thought the same thing.

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't you prefer to know what is true, rather than just learn tactics so you can win? That is what an intellectually honest person would do.

The first girl's question was exactly what I would ask 😂

Imagine if atheists role played with Christians as young earth creationists flat earth evolution deniers. That would cause many rational Christians to speak up and defend themselves.

I Love this. Where where you when I was in school? O you were not born yet! Good job Young Man Keep up the good work.

I saw this video on the other channel last week and then found Sean. I so glad I found him cuz I love his content. God bless you Sean!

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Thank you!

It's so funny to watch a reverse version of apologists going to University Campuses! This is great opportunity for Christians to really think how to deal with questions that challenge their faith.

In the introduction, the teacher says he presses the students in their class, then he says "this time it will not be someone pretending [to be an atheist/skeptic]". Wasn't that a lie? Why didn't they bring in an actual professor who is an atheist to represent an atheist's perspective? McDowell wants to say he presented a steal man of the atheist arguments, but the very fact that they brought Christian instead of an atheist suggests that they wanted to defang the atheists arguments in some way. To bring in an actual professor of philosophy and an atheist would be too risky.

This is nice. Like, yeah, when I’m talking with atheists, I really ought to be loving. I think it’s easier get yourself worked up and upset. It’s harder to be loving.

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

But why is that? Why do you get upset by simply talking to someone who has a different opinion than you?

@samanthajeffers9339

3 жыл бұрын

@@1970Phoenix I think it’s just been a pitfall of mine sometimes. Like, if the other person in the conversation is intense, then I feel intense. But if they are open to a conversation, then the atmosphere is totally different. One friend of mine who’s an atheist has just been curious and asked me why I believe in God, and he believes that we should stick to our morals, even if he’s not religious. He’s into Philosophy though

@1970Phoenix

3 жыл бұрын

@@samanthajeffers9339 Thanks for your reply. Mature people (on all sides of every debate) should be able to have a sensible conversation about their disagreements without emotions becoming involved. Having said that, as humans, it is not always easily done, and if the other person is acting like a jerk, sometimes its best to just walk away.

@samanthajeffers9339

3 жыл бұрын

@@1970Phoenix I agree with you, 100%. Also, it’s easy to get flustered and be hateful back when there’s a conflict. But like you said, we’re only human, and being the bigger person is hard sometimes ^^’

Sean did this at my school, and it was immensely unhelpful. Not because it didn’t make people think, but because he never gave Christian answers to the atheist objections he raised. I’m sure his heart is in the right place, but I would enjoy him following up on the things he said. God bless his ministry, he is doing a lot of good.

@SeanMcDowell

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry it wasn’t helpful. Did you seek answers? I get daily emails from people challenged by this who want answers. They’re there if you’re willing to look!

@noelleduba2451

3 жыл бұрын

The most important thing is preaching the gospel in love. That's the lesson here. Even arguing the truth is meaningless without love. The truth will not be received without the guidance of the Holy Spirit who speaks through us and opens hearts to God's word.

@zhugh9556

3 жыл бұрын

When you encounter people in the real world who disagree with you or have a different point of view they generally do not also argue against their own position in order to help you out. I think that was the point of this exercise.

@optillian4182

3 жыл бұрын

@@masterskorpz You say that like it's a bad thing.

@hhstark8663

3 жыл бұрын

Here is the answers to the objections: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nK6ZltiFfqzJoKQ.html&lc=UgzNG-UHM3vj0nmxMIR4AaABAg.9NKrreaEiP59NZh9szWb7B

Great video! please put a low pass filter on the audio. there is a high pitch ringing.

You did this at my school once and it’s what caused me to eventually leave the church

@JackgarPrime

9 ай бұрын

Oops, sounds like he accidentally did his job too well that time!

@TalesOfTheCaptain

9 ай бұрын

@D-Fritz Hey brother, I am curious why that caused you to leave the church?

@Muhluri

6 ай бұрын

Lmao😂.sounds like his plan backfired