Transcript Tower of Babel

Video 1st
• Show Video of Dr. Will Provine – Cornell
University
• -Evolutionist Worldview…
Sources
• Dr Jason Lisle
• New Book
“Discerning Truth”
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Videos available online for free – Youtube.com
Evolution and Logical Fallacies
Ultimate Proof of Creation
Nuclear Strength Apologetics (2 parts)
Dr Greg Bahnsen
Rom 1
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18 For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it
to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that
have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to
him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were
darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man
and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the
dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Worldviews
• We have to understand our opponents
worldview 1st.
• Then we can show him or her how their
argument does not work under their own
worldview..
• What do you mean???
World View
• The overall perspective from which one sees
and interprets the world.
• A collection of beliefs about life and the
universe held by an individual or a group.
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A person’s worldview, whether it be Christian, humanist or whatever is a personal
insight about meaning and reality. It is how a person interprets, through his or her
own eyes, a personal belief about the world. A person’s worldview tries to give
reasons for how the facts of reality relate and tie together. The summation of
these facts provides the big picture into which the daily events of a person’s life
should fit.
It is from this worldview that an individual derives an understanding,
interpretation and response to the world in which he or she lives. To each
individual, their own worldview should provide a coherent manner in thinking
about their world.
An individual’s worldview is his or her basis for answering such questions as:
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
What is true and what is false?
How should I conduct my life, or act?
Does God exist and if so what is my response to Him?
Worldviews
• We cannot argue as if our opponent has the
same worldview as us. (That is a skeptic,
agnostic, atheist etc)
• We have to show them how and why their
worldview is faulty… and then lead them to
Christ.
Bible Believers Worldview
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• Basics – nothing by chance – all by design
God exists
God created the heavens & earth
God created mankind
God revealed his plan for mankind through the Bible
God sets the rules for mankind & the universe (rules that
govern: morality, ethics, responsibility, reasoning, behaviour
laws that govern the universe ie: gravity, thermodynamics etc)
God has a plan for his creation
There is such a thing as Good & Evil
God is actively working with the nations and peoples to fulfill
his plan
God is taking out a people for his name
Jesus is the Messiah – Salvation is through him Etc… Etc
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Atheist's Worldview:
Basics: Nothing by design just blind chance
Matter came into existence by itself – (therefore no need for a “Creator”)
“The heavens and the earth” came about by themselves (not God)
Nature is all that there is.
Life evolved by a very slow process termed “evolution”. Simple cell to complex
organisms, over billions of years
• No foundation for Morality (conduct – behavior – mercy – good – evil etc)
• No foundation for Ethics
• No such thing as good and evil (right and wrong)
• Man decides his own rules
• Man decides what is truth (not universal, no absolutes, truth is subjective)
• You live your life, you die, and then you are gone – absolutely gone forever never
to be alive again.
• This is a chance universe – we are here not by design but by chance – anything
goes – its all meaningless ultimately.
Show Video Clip – Cornell – Will Provine
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ceTeJeUnNw&list=UU9usbAZGutWEI
-l41Cst1-w&index=1&feature=plcp Starts 0:15 ends 2:50 TURN ON
SPEAKERS
Problems with Atheist's Worldview
• Its inconsistent with the way they think, act, and reason
• In an evolutionists worldview they cannot rationally account for:
• The concepts of Morality (Justice, Love, Mercy, Innocence, Good, Evil,
Truth, not just Gospel Truths, but Science truths, Math truths Etc) Laws of
Logic (The Standard of Correct Reasoning) Why would there be a correct
of standard of reasoning in a chance universe?
• We are arguing that these concepts come from God.. Man is made in the
Image of God (Elohim)
• Apart from God there is no rational explanation of where these concepts
come from.
Arguments from Evidence…
• Evidence by itself will not resolve a worldview
conflict
• Its not that people don’t have enough
evidence (they do – Romans 1) We all have
the same evidence. Its how evidence viewed.
• A persons presuppositions / worldview tells
him what to make of evidence.
Almost all Atheists believe in
“Naturalism”
• Naturalism commonly refers to the viewpoint
that nature is all that there is.
• Examples: Matter, Atoms, Gravity, Speed of
Light, chemicals, elements, planetary
motions etc
#1
• “There are no Absolutes”
• Example: There are no Absolute Truths.
• Murder is wrong – Lying is wrong etc (these are Moral Absolute truths)
• Well, the statement “There are no absolutes” itself is an absolute
statement.
• It contradicts what's its trying to say.
• What is absolutely true is always correct, everywhere, all the time, under
any condition.
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(absolutes refers to standards of ethics, morality, reasoning, behavior,
religious beliefs etc)
• If there is no God, as these atheists aggressively proclaim, then there is no
absolute standard for morality and it would be foolish to say something
is right or wrong from their worldview. By whose standard do you make
this determination? For the atheist, there are really only two options:
individuals decide or society decides. If each person gets to decides for
himself/herself what is right or wrong, then one can’t say that any of their
decisions were wrong. If each society gets to determine this, then no one
can say that what the Nazis did was wrong because Hitler’s society
determined that it was fine to exterminate the Jews.
• There is a bigger problem with an atheist crying out for moral justice.
• If evolution were true, then there would be no such thing as human free
will and a person could not help but behave the way he does. Since we
would just be cosmic accidents, the result of random chemical reactions,
then all of our decisions would be the result of mere chemical reactions
in our brains. We could say, “The chemicals made me do it.” Consider the
frightening words of atheist Will Provine Professor at Cornell University:
Dr. Will Provine – Cornell University
• “Let me summarize my views on what
modern evolutionary biology tells us loud
and clear . . . There are no gods, no purposes,
no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is
no life after death. When I die, I am
absolutely certain that I am going to be dead.
That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate
foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to
life, and no free will for humans, either.”
#2
• Its wrong to teach Creation in school, because you are lying
to the children and that’s not right.
• Our reply:
• We reject your idea that it would be wrong to teach Creation
in Schools, but even if it were wrong, how does that make
sense in your worldview?
• The Atheist is standing on God principles to prop up their
own argument here. (right & wrong)
• They are arguing from a Moral standpoint..
Almost all Atheists believe in
“Naturalism”
• Naturalism commonly refers to the viewpoint
that nothing exists beyond the natural
universe.
• The view of the world that takes account only
of natural elements and forces, excluding the
supernatural or spiritual.
#3
• I believe in Naturalism. Show me logically how
the earth can be 6000 years old.
• Laws of Logic are not in a Naturalists World
View – they cant be explained on their terms.
• They have no part in their worldview. Only in
the Christian world view does reasoning or
logic make sense
#4
• The Christian God is not good. Look at how he slaughters
people and innocent young children, in the old testament.
• Again why the fuss?
• We reject the notion that God is not “Good”, but in your
worldview why would this be wrong. After all your worldview
has no basis or foundation for standards for Morality etc.
• The critic here is borrowing God’s principles to argue against
God. This does not work. What principles? Right and WrongMorals.
• They are arguing from a Moral standpoint.(Godly)
#5
• Why are you creationists against Science?
• “Complex Question”
• Phrasing a question such that is assumes the conclusion.
• The question should be divided, as follows:
• Are you against Science, and if so why?
• Well actually we are not. We are not against all Science(s), just
the ones in error. Like the Theory of Evolution
#6
• Which of the two contradictory stories in Genesis do you
accept?
• “Complex Question”
• We reject the idea that Genesis contains any contradictions,
but on your own world view why would it matter anyway?
• We recognize that contradictions are wrong because they
prove to be a lie, and our worldview can account for that
because lying is part of Morals (bad morals) – why in a
random chance universe would you care if I lied anyway?
#7
• Person “A”: “Why is the universe ideally suited
for life?”
• Person “B” “Because otherwise we wouldn’t
be here to observe it.”
• True perhaps, but Irrelevant
Fallacy of Irrelevant Thesis
• When the arguer proves a point but the point
they prove is not at issue.
• Or when a person proves a point, but does
disprove the actual argument at issue.
Irrelevant Thesis
• Why do living creatures have complex parts
that function together so perfectly?
• Because if the didn’t they would have died off.
• This retort does not explain why those
complex parts are there in the 1st place.
• True perhaps, but Irrelevant
#8
• “There must be life in outer space, no one
have ever proved that there is not.”
• Arbitrary – easily reversible
• There must not be life in outerspace because
no one has ever proved there is…
Appeal to Ignorance
• Arguing that a claim must be true because it has not
be proven false.
• There must be life in outer space, no one has ever
proved that there is not.
• Appeals to ignorance are always reversible
• There must not be life in outer space, no one has
ever proved there is not.
Video Clips
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ceTeJeU
nNw&list=UU9usbAZGutWEI-l41Cst1w&index=1&feature=plcp Starts 0:15 ends
2:50 Will Provine – Cornell
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EonZXFd0
Afw&feature=youtube_gdata_player Starts at
3:55 Ends 7:03