This is Why I Believe in God (A Response to Alex O'Connor)

This video is a response to Alex O'Connor's video titled "This is Why I Don't Believe in God."
• This is Why I Don't Be...
To watch part 1 of an 8-part series on creation, which gives arguments against naturalism, see the following link:
• Creation (Part 1): You...
May God's name be praised.

[@JirDilovanA.]

Nice to see more people approaching to philosophy of religion . Keep it up!

[@donwanderley7156]

Punishing someone (e.g. Jesus) for wrongs done by others is unethical.

[@newcovenantopcssf]

That person, Jesus, willingly took the place of others so that their guilt could be paid. That is not unethical but mercy.

[@beingpath]

Jesus said and did some very nice things according the Bible (though it’s a shame he didn’t think to denounce slavery). Aside from that, the morality of the book is absolutely horrific. Nothing points to a real or loving god.

[@newcovenantopcssf]

That is strong language. Do you have an example?

[@MalachiWhite-tw7hl]

I'm sorry, but the remarks at 13:25 sound unreasonable. You have this all-powerful creator if the universe, but He expects a human being to take the initiative and believe in him before he'll commune? You must believe in Him and then he'll, what, make you believe more? Silly.

[@newcovenantopcssf]

If a person hardens himself and rejects the offer of communion he will not have it. In either case Alex's contention that he is a non-resistant unbeliever is not correct. Ultimately, it is God who takes the initiative because all people are prone to reject Him. God changes the hearts of some and grants them the heart to seek Him. The rest willfully and of their own volition reject the offer of communion. It is no argument against God to say that those who do not have communion with Him are actually seeking Him. That is Alex's contention, but God does not turn away any who seek Him (Deuteronomy 4:29).

[@L.Ron_Dow]

@@newcovenantopcssf _"God changes the hearts of some and grants them the heart to seek Him"_ Exodus 33.19 & Romans 9.16 right? Now, Alex uses quotes from Psalm 139 - what do you make of verse 16 after the bit where David acknowledges that God knows exactly how he formed before he was born? Verse 4 also seems to pertain to this.

[@RuriRuri24]

I really tried to follow your logic... I dont find it! (as a preacher in church..yes, you are fine..but as a debater..☹)

[@newcovenantopcssf]

Any example of something specific?

[@newcovenantopcssf]

Alex is obviously not a "non-resistant unbeliever", nor do they truly exist. The geographic distribution of belief is not an argument against God's existence unless there is some reason God is obligated to reveal himself equally to all people. The Bible teaches the opposite, so any argument that makes use of geographic distribution is not an argument against the God of the Bible. Sin explains suffering.

[@Lady_Amax]

I think it is unfair of you to use a circular argument in saying that one must follow gods morality to find him. How then would any non beliver find god? They would already have to be christian for god to show himself but then why should he show himself? If the requirement is simply that we already share gods morality aren't we being deprived of the free will to chose god? Also at around 40 minutes in you claim gratuitous suffering is caused by original sin but nonbelivers have no reason outside of the bible to belive a man called Adam was the origin of humanity and much less that he condemed us to suffer for his wrongs. Thank you for making a response to these arguments and even though I may disagree with you I'm happy to have heard it.

[@NationalPK]

What is meant by “find God” is experiencing God/knowing Him personally.. for this it is required that you assume Gods existence, just like you’d assume that a cookie exists before going to look for it. Assuming Gods existence does not make you a theist..

[@newcovenantopcssf]

Hi, I appreciate the question. God has given everyone a conscience, which generally corresponds to His law. There is a sense, therefore, in which all people understand the morality, at least to a significant degree, of the one true God. There is actually no basis for morality once the conception of the true God is lost. Nietzsche understood this and described all morality as a convention and ultimately the only thing that mattered was a will to power. Most people naturally recognize that this is evil, just about as evil as it gets. The reason people understand this to be the case is because they know that God's law is right per their conscience. Furthermore, Alex claims that a "non-resistant unbeliever" is a contradiction of what the Bible teaches, that is, it is not what you would expect if God truly existed. My point is to show that Alex's situation is a perfect demonstration of what the Bible teaches and shows that it is true. With regard to suffering, the main point that I was making is that suffering is the result of sin. The reason there is sin in the world is because of Adam's sin, but even if you do not accept this as historical, it is still the case that all people know that they've sinned because, as noted above, God has given everyone a conscience. There is, therefore, no such thing as gratuitous suffering and it cannot be used as an argument against God. I'm glad you appreciated these arguments. I hope you will continue to consider them. The Bible teaches that in reality all people know that He exists. I hope God opens your eyes to this that you might find life in His Son.

[@Lady_Amax]

​@@NationalPK I don't think you have to asume the existance of a cookie to look for it only the possibility of it's existance which seems far more reasonable to me (which is by no means an objective metric) than us having to assume a specif religions truth when we wish to find "the" truth. There are thousends of religions and perhaps some of them are more reasoble than others but it would still take years to consider them all as thouroughly as believers of most religions want us to. There is of course the possibility those with a good consience will be drawn to god based on his morality being true (I am granting that it is for the sake of this argument) meaning those who are deserving of salvation would find it. But my problem really is that none of this actualy provides any proof towards the existance of god but only give a possible refutation of arguments against him. And even if we grant that there is something supernatural nothing I and likely Alex have noticed points this to be the god of christianity.

[@NationalPK]

@@Lady_Amax Sure, you can assume the possibility of Gods existence instead, thanks for pointing that out, that’ll also be enough to rationally seek God without making you a theist. There is no difference to these assumptions when it comes to how you will seek God in light of them. Sure, nothing said in response to the hiddenness objection is proof for God, but it’s not supposed to be. There are positive reasons to believe as I think you are aware of

[@Micha122888]

Alex can look for God all he wants and not find Him if the Holy Spirit has not regenerated his heart. He can study the Bible and all the theology that exists and not find God if his heart is hardened. Much like the Jewish leaders in Jesus day, God is here and they failed to recognize Him. I like these kinds of videos, can you do more debate reactions and commentary?

[@newcovenantopcssf]

Very true. The plan is to start doing more videos like this. Hopefully God will use them for good.

[@MalachiWhite-tw7hl]

Why on Earth would such a Spirit harden hearts?

[@Micha122888]

@@MalachiWhite-tw7hl read Exodus 10:27 and ask why would Yahweh harden Pharaoh’s heart

[@MalachiWhite-tw7hl]

@@Micha122888 I did--it still makes no sense. Why would Yahweh harden Pharoah's heart rather than soften it?

[@L.Ron_Dow]

@@MalachiWhite-tw7hl He wanted the opportunity to show how mean and powerful He was. He was showing us his Big Stick.