Comments

1. Kelly says on Nov 7, 2007 @ 03:21 PM:

   Thank you for this. It's always good to have a reminder of what's going on - not that I'm not painfully aware of the secularization that is taking over the country. I want to fight back, and I'm learning more thanks to you and other apologists, but sometimes the scope of naturalism just seems so HUGE. From everyday news to little comments I hear from fellow students, I can't get away from it. So thank God for people like you that are out there fighting the good fight. You provide wonderful material for strengthening my knowledge and understanding about my faith(which I am fairly new to)and fill me with enthusiasm every time I hear or read a carefully dissected naturalistic/humanist argument. I pray that more people will truly think about the implications of the naturalistic worldview and really seek answers instead of just accepting what is "fashionable." It seems there are so few like this, though... the general population just seems so blatantly disinterested, uneducated, or blind to such topics! It's profoundly frustrating and confusing to me. Anyway, I want to thank you for this enormously important site. The podcasts are greatly appreciated!

2. Jason says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 08:39 AM:

   Holy cow! I didn't realize how far the neo-atheists' targeting of our kids went. Absolutely disgusting! All the talk online I've seen from atheists about religious (mainly Christian) parents "indoctrinating" their children suddenly takes on a new dimension. I used to think it was just a product of their hatred of religion. Now I see it's something much darker.

3. Rich says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 10:09 AM:

   Sorry Mr. Craig but the destruction of religion is inevitable. If Atheist engage you they lose? lol, your silly arguments dont stand the test of srutiny to anyone with a enlightened mind above your sheeplike followers.

4. Jimmy Li says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 12:04 PM:

   Rich, I like how you do not have anything to offer but assertions... How do you *know* that the destruction of religion is *inevitable*?

5. Jake says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 12:37 PM:

   Rich, I must (respectfully and disrespectfully) disagree. Religion, as you put it, may fade, but Christianity will not. For you see, Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. So, you are completely wrong. God Bless, Jake

6. Gavagai says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 12:37 PM:

   Rich says, "Sorry Mr. Craig but the destruction of religion is inevitable." This is a mere assertion without argument. What does he even have in mind by "religion" here? There are thousands of religions around the globe. Which one does he think will be "destroyed"? All of them? How would that happen? Maybe he means only a subset of religions. Taoism, say, and Shinto, Jainism, Bahai, Santeria, Tijani, Mahayana...? He doesn't specify. And what does he mean by "destruction"? Why is it inevitable? He doesn't say. Looks like we're left with empty atheistic rhetoric. He again asserts without argument, "your silly arguments dont stand the test of srutiny." By all means, Rich, please exposit Craig's arguments and then scrutinize them for us, specifying which premises you think are false and why you think they are. "to anyone with a enlightened mind" Btw, it's 'an' not 'a'.

7. M says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 06:44 PM:

   The "New Atheism" is a reactionary hate group. It is no less fanatical and anti-intellectual than the fundementalists it presents as the prime examples of religious belief. They also have this hidden double standard. They seem to think their "moderate" anti-theism cannot be criticized, but religious moderation can be equated with fanaticism simply because they hold similiar beliefs. Yet, when someone mentions anti-theists like Stalin, all of a sudden their beliefs aren't related to that. Whatever.

8. maddog says on Nov 15, 2007 @ 07:47 PM:

   Rich, actually it's just your spelling that doesn't stand "sruntiny." Not to mention your grammar ("If **Atheist** engage you"). But thanks for the typical atheist 'enlightenment.'

9. sirhemlock says on Dec 1, 2007 @ 07:36 PM:

   In the West we are under the media-driven illusion that Christianity is in decline in the world today. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Predictions of the demise of religion are not new, but they have certainly seen better days. 1966 saw the publication of a highly influential and much-debated work by Harvey Cox entitled The Secular City which began with the affirmation "The rise of urban civilization and the collapse of traditional religion are the two main hallmarks of our age and are closely related phenomena." More recently, Cox published a follow-up on his work, entitled Fire From Heaven (NY: Addison-Wesley, 1995). I couldn't actually see the egg on his face in the picture on the back cover, but it wasn't hard to imagine as I read the comment above it (written by Cox): "Why were so many wise and well-qualified people -not just popular pundits but careful scholars who might have been expected to know better- so demonstrably wrong when they predicted the imminent decline of religion? If God really did die, as Nietzsche's madman proclaimed, then why have so many billions of people not gotten the word?" William Lane Craig explains a fact largely unknown to Christians in the West, that Christianity is growing today at a rate unprecedented in history in a chapter on the problem of evil in the world in his book Hard Questions, Real Answers (2003): “It may be the case that natural and moral evils are part of the means God uses to draw people into His kingdom. This was brought home to me several years ago as I worked through Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993). It is precisely in countries that have endured severe hardship that evangelical Christianity is growing at its greatest rates, while growth curves in the indulgent West are nearly flat. Consider, for example, the following reports: “China: It is estimated that 20 million Chinese lost their lives during [Mao’s Cultural Revolution]… Christians… stood firm in what was probably the most widespread and harsh persecution the Church has ever experienced. The persecution purified and indigenized the Church… The growth of the church in China since 1977 has no parallels in history. Researchers estimated [that there were] 30-75million Christians [by 1990]… Mao Zedong unwittingly became the greatest evangelist in history… “El-Salvador: The 12-year civil war, earthquakes, and the collapse of the price of coffee, the nation’s main export, impoverished the nation… Over 80% live in dire poverty… An astonishing spiritual harvest has been gathered from all strata of society in the midst of the hate and bitterness of war. In 1960 evangelicals were 2.3% of the population, but today are around 20%. “Ethiopia: Ethiopia is in a state of shock. Her population struggles with the trauma of millions of deaths through repression, famine, and war… Two great waves of violent persecution… refined and purified the Church, but there were man martyrs… There have been… millions coming to Christ. Protestants were fewer than 0.8% of the population… in 1960, but by 1990 this may have become… 13% of the population (Johnstone, op cit, pp. 163-164; 207-208, 214). “A chart released by the U. S. Center for World Mission documented the amazing growth in evangelical Christianity over the centuries. The researchers who compiled the data estimated that, in A.D. 100, for every evangelical believer in the world there were 360 non-Christians. By the year 1000 there were 220 non-Christians for every evangelical believer in the world. By 1900 that ratio had shrunk to 27 non-Christians per evangelical believer. And by 1989, for every evangelical believer in the world there were only 7 non-Christians. According to Johnstone, ‘We are living in the time of the largest ingathering of people into the Kingdom of God that the world has ever seen’ (Johnstone, p. 25). It is not at all improbable that this astonishing growth rate in God’s kingdom is due in part to the presence of natural and moral evils in the world” (Exerpted from W. L. Craig’s Hard Questions, Real Answers). Dare we who are Christians pray for revival in our own Western countries? What will it take to awaken us? A couple of months ago, Asia Times posted an amazing article which brings home the fact that in the immediate present, these trends are not leveling off, but accelerating. Asia Times claims China may well and very soon become the center of the next great global movement of Christianity. It also affirms the largest concentration of Evangelicals in the world will be in China by mid century if present trends continue; and these brave Christians are not sitting idly by. This is quite amazing considering they were virtually unknown there just a generation ago. They are a tough lot who are willing to die or lose their freedom rather than compromise the demands of the Gospel, much like their predecessors in the first centuries of the Christian era who transformed their world so rapidly. And they are quite bold in their ambitions. As Asia Times observed, “China's Protestants evangelized at the risk of liberty and sometimes life, and possess a sort of fervor not seen in Christian ranks for centuries. Their pastors have been beaten and jailed, and they have had to create their own institutions through the "house church" movement.” There numbers are growing at an unprecedented rate: “Barred from churches, Chinese began worshiping in homes, and five major "house church" movements and countless smaller ones... now minister to as many as 100 million Christians. This quasi-underground movement may now exceed in adherents the 75 million members of the Chinese Communist Party; in a generation it will be the most powerful force in the country.” Their ambition is, no less, to take the gospel back to Jerusalem: “The most audacious even dream of carrying the gospel beyond the borders of China, along the old Silk Road into the Muslim world, in a campaign known as "Back to Jerusalem". As [Time correspondent David] Aikman explains in Jesus in Beijing, some Chinese evangelicals and Pentecostals believe that the basic movement of the gospel for the last 2,000 years has been westward: from Jerusalem to Antioch, from Antioch to Europe, from Europe to America, and from America to China. Now, they believe, it's their turn to complete the loop by carrying the gospel to Muslim lands, eventually arriving in Jerusalem. Once that happens, they believe, the gospel will have been preached to the entire world.” Only Christians such as these, totally unintimidated even in the face of death and imprisonment, are really up to the dangerous challenges presented by the Muslim horizon they are aiming for. Perhaps God will work the evils they have suffered through so horrendously for the good in a way we will soon understand... We who are Christians should pray fervently for them. Their road is not as easy as ours.

10. Ashley says on Dec 16, 2007 @ 03:39 AM:

    Lol...I just love comments from such "enlightened" Atheists like Rich. If you shop around on the internet, you can find that most of the God awful, grammatical errors are practically all done by Atheists. Youtube..the (Retard Haven).. is by far the best place to find them.

11. Mira says on Dec 11, 2008 @ 05:07 PM:

    Dr. Craig, thank you sooooooo much for clarifying the radicalism of Neo-Atheism. Especially with regards to the radical beliefs atheists like Richard Dawkins have regarding child-rearing. It's absolutely frightening that NO ONE is discussing this aspect of Neo-Atheism.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I also appreciate how you discussed the lack of reason being used by Atheist 'scholars' - indeed their very refusal to use logic and reason.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I would like to add that I am in university currently pursuing a career in education and I haven't seen all that much anti-theism on campus (at least not from the instructors).
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I LOVE your style of rational discourse and I'm an instant supporter of your show.

12. Kit says on Jul 4, 2010 @ 10:02 PM:

    IT seems that Richard Dawkins, in his attempt to take control of education away from the parents, would do well to read an excerpt from A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS: (Pay attention to More's final quote)

    William Roper: "So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!"
    Sir Thomas More: "Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?"
    William Roper: "Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!"
    Sir Thomas More: "Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

    Mr. Dawkins seems to be living under the assumption that the Government and the Education System will, once run by atheists, will always be run by atheists.
    That is a very foolish assumption.
    He gives the State all this power to get rid of religion, what is to stop it from turning on the atheists? Nothing.
    He will be putting his atheists on the road to totalitarianism (or as F.A. Hayek might say: Serfdom) where any future leader may decide to become a "Big Brother" and weed out such outdated beliefs as "democracy", "individual liberty", and "civil rights".
    Does the atheist have a right to raise his kid to hate Christianity in a way that makes Dawkins seem like Pat Robertson? Yes! I would give that right so a Christian couple could raise their kids to be

    As for polytheist-thing. Obviously, that woman never heard of the statement by Tacitus that "The Romans make a desert and call it peace".
    Spartan boys were required to kill a Messenian (I may have the group wrong, however) as part of a rite of passage.
    And the Athenian women were little more than property.

    That woman should be forced to watch the First Season of HBO'S (fantastic) ROME, Mel Gibson's APOCALYPTO, and read Bernard Cornwell's book STONEHENGE (which features multiple child sacrifices).
    

13. robaylesbury says on Jul 4, 2010 @ 10:50 PM:

    I doubt that Christianity is going anywhere, anytime soon. It will probably change a little. All religions evolve; it just remains to be seen how.

    And not all Atheists are evil, intellectually impaired morons.

    Be good if we can avoid generalisations of that kind.

14. robaylesbury says on Jul 5, 2010 @ 07:57 AM:

    This made me chuckle.

    http://richarddawkins.net/videos/486298-christianity-debate

15. Anonymous says on Jul 6, 2010 @ 05:34 PM:

    New-Atheism is not new and Neo-Paganism is still pagan. "Enlightened minds, indeed! Now, I know what Dr. Craig meant when, asked in an TV interview about his website www.reasonablefaith.org, he stated to the effect that one would find it difficult to believe the "reasoning" of some of the atheists who comment on this website. I think he was just trying to be gracious, because I believe the readers on this blog (website) are well aware of this.