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William Lane Craig debates Austin Dacey: Does God Exist?

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Here is the video and summary of a debate between Christian theist William Lane Craig and Austin Dacey at Purdue University in 2004 about the existence of God.

The debaters:

The video: (2 hours)

The video shows the speakers and powerpoint slides of their arguments. Austin Dacey is one of the top atheist debaters, and I would put him second to Peter Millican alone, with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong in third place. This is the debate to show people who are new to apologetics. The debate with Peter Millican is better for advanced students, and that’s no surprise since he teaches at Oxford University and is familiar with all of Dr. Craig’s work. The Craig-Dacey debate is the one that I give to my co-workers.

By the way, you can get the DVDs and CDs for the first Craig-Dacey debate and the second Craig-Dacey debate and the second Craig-Sinnott-Armstrong debate. The Peter Millican debate is not available on DVD, but the link above (Peter Millican) has the video and my summary.

Dr. Dacey’s 5 arguments below are all good arguments that you find in the academic literature. He is also an effective and engaging speaker, This is a great debate to watch!

SUMMARY of the opening speeches:

Dr. Craig’s opening statement:

Dr. Craig will present six reasons why God exists:

  1. (Contingency argument) God is the best explanation of why something exists rather than nothing
  2. (Cosmological argument)  God’s existence is implied by the origin of the universe
  3. (Fine-tuning argument) The fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life points to a designer of the cosmos
  4. (Moral argument) God is the best explanation for the existence of objective moral values and objective moral duties
  5. (Miracles argument) The historical facts surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
  6. (Religious experience) God’s existence is directly knowable even apart from arguments

Dr. Dacey’s opening argument:

There are two ways to disprove God’s existence, by showing that the concept of God is self-contradictory, or by showing that certain facts about ourselves and the world are incompatible with what we would expect to be true if God did exist. Dr. Dacey will focus on the second kind of argument.

  1. The hiddenness of God
  2. The success of science in explaining nature without needing a supernatural agency
  3. The dependence of mind on physical processes in the brain
  4. Naturalistic evolution
  5. The existence of gratuitous / pointless evil and suffering

One final point:

One thing that I have to point out is that Dr. Dacey quotes Brian Greene during the debate to counter Dr. Craig’s cosmological argument. Dr. Craig could not respond because he can’t see the context of the quote. However, Dr. Craig had a rematch with Dr. Dacey where was able to read the context of the quote and defuse Dr. Dacey’s objection. This is what he wrote in his August 2005 newsletter after the re-match:

The following week, I was off an another three-day trip, this time to California State University at Fresno. As part of a week of campus outreach the Veritas Forum scheduled a debate on the existence of God between me and Austin Dacey, whom I had debated last spring at Purdue University. In preparation for the rematch I adopted two strategies: (1) Since Dacey had come to the Purdue debate with prepared speeches, I decided to throw him for a loop by offering a different set of arguments for God, so that his canned objections wouldn’t apply. I chose to focus on the cosmological argument, giving four separate arguments for the beginning of the universe, and on the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. (2) I reviewed our previous debate carefully, preparing critiques of his five atheistic arguments. In the process I found that he had seriously misunderstood or misrepresented a statement by a scientist on the Big Bang; so I brought along the book itself in case Dacey quoted this source again. I figured he might change his arguments just as I was doing; but I wanted to be ready in case he used his old arguments again.

[…]The auditorium was packed that night for the debate, and I later learned that there were overflow rooms, too. To my surprise Dr. Dacey gave the very same case he had presented at Purdue; so he really got clobbered on those arguments. Because he wasn’t prepared for my new arguments, he didn’t even respond to two of my arguments for the beginning of the universe, though he did a credible job responding to the others. I was pleased when he attacked the Big Bang by quoting the same scientist as before, because I then held up the book, specified the page number, and proceeded to quote the context to show what the scientist really meant.

Dr. Craig is always prepared!

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Two reasons why Christians and conservatives should not donate to United Way

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Well, it’s that time of year again, when corporations bully their employees into donating to the United Way. I thought it might be a good idea to urge all Bible-believing Christians to avoid donating to the United Way.  Please share this post if you agree with it!

Let’s start with abortion. The United Way gives TONS of money to fund abortion providers.

In 2008, United Way affiliates send $1.9 million to Planned Parenthood:

The national United Way does fund Planned Parenthood; their website states:

United Way funded programs through Planned Parenthood include community health maintenance, e.g. communicable disease prevention; medical care service; family planning; health education; public awareness services; and family preservation and strengthening services, e.g. counseling and family life education.

Nationally in 2008, local United Ways distributed an estimated $1.9 million to Planned Parenthood agencies.

Any finances being donated to Planned Parenthood (even if not specifically for abortion services) will free up more of their money to be used toward abortion services.

In 2015, United Way sent $3 million to Planned Parenthood:

Last year, on the heels of shocking videos showing the Planned Parenthood abortion business selling the body parts of aborted babies, a new expose’ from a group that monitors corporations that finance the abortion giant reveals the United Way is a major donor. That expose found United Way agencies giving $2 million to the abortion giant.

A new expose’ released this week shows that figure has increased to $3 million.

In 2016, United Way sent $3 million to Planned Parenthood:

Analysis of the most recent IRS Form 990 filings and other documentation found 62 United Way affiliates sent $2,756,799 to Planned Parenthood abortion organizations in tax year 2016. 2ndVote’s latest findings indicate an increase of $168,806 from the $2,590,994 United Way funneled to Planned Parenthood in 2015.

We’re living in a time when abortion rights involves such issues as sex-selection abortions, race-selection abortions, covering up statutory rapists, Democrat support for infanticide, attacking Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, selling the body parts of unborn babies, etc. I don’t think we can count on United Way to come down on the right side of these issues. We’re already being forced to fund abortions with our tax dollars, thanks to Democrats. I don’t think we should give any more money to abortion providers and their secular leftist allies.

That’s abortion. What about gay rights? We’ve seen a lot of pressure on traditional values coming from the secular left lately. They redefined marriage AGAIN to deprive children of their biological mothers or fathers. They’re pushing for the Equality Act, which would have huge religious liberty repercussions for Christians.

Texas attorney Maria Martinez explains on the American Thinker:

The Equality Act is more draconian that any state or city conversion therapy ban to date because it takes away the traditional constitutional exemption for religious freedom.  The act specifically states that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) may not be invoked as a defense, marking the first time in history that Congress has limited the reach of RFRA.  This means that it could become illegal for Christian pastors, churches, schools, and ministries to communicate a message that sexual orientation or gender identity can change.  The Equality Act is unprecedented in its overreach, impacting even adults who are willingly seeking counseling.

By contrast, therapy of any kind that pushes a person toward same-sex attraction or gender transition is not impacted by the law at all.

Banning counseling isn’t the only thing the Equality Act will do:

  • Parents could lose custody of their children if they decline to assist in their gender transition.  Parents in Ohio recently lost custody of their female child because they would not give her testosterone supplements to help her “transition” to look like a male.

  • Doctors and hospitals could be subject to lawsuits for refusing to perform so-called “sex change” surgeries.  In California and New Jersey, Catholic hospitals are already being sued for discrimination for refusing to perform these surgeries.

  • Battered women’s shelters could be required to admit members of the opposite sex.  In Anchorage, Alaska, a male who was refused access to a shelter for abused and trafficked women sued the shelter for “gender identity discrimination.”

  • Faith-based adoption and foster care agencies that believe that children do best with both a mother and a father could be forced to shut down.  This has already occurred in at least six states in this country.

I wonder what United Way thinks about attacks on Bible-believing Christians by LGBT activists? I posted what they shared on Facebook at the top of this post, and this is what I found on their Twitter:

United Way Twitter Gay Rights Pride Month LGBT
United Way Twitter Gay Rights Pride Month LGBT

I don’t find that very encouraging, do you?

As a Bible-believing Christian, maybe I would be better off giving money to an organization that protects religious liberty, like Alliance Defending Freedom. I understand that many people who call themselves Christians think that the United Way’s positions are compatible with the Bible. But not everyone who calls herself a Christian actually takes the Bible seriously. Especially when it interferes with their career advancement and peer approval. This is especially true of people who work in Human Resources.

Please, don’t give money to the United Way

You don’t HAVE to give money to the United Way, just because the godless progressives in your office try to bully you into it. Instead, why not send the money to the Life Training Institute, or Ratio Christi, or Alliance Defending Freedom? These are groups do operate on Bible-based principles. I do think that Christians need to be careful about who they donate their money to. It doesn’t make sense for Christians to get up and go to work and earn money, and then give it away to anti-Christian groups who want Christianity to disappear from American life. Paul talks about how God rewards those who give gifts to partner for the gospel in Philippians. Make sure that you are not wasting your money on anything less.

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Is the hate speech of the secular left inciting violence against Christians?

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Transgenderism is promoted by many groups: WPATH, GLAAD, hospitals like the Boston Children’s Hospital, big tech companies like Google and Facebook, left-wing groups like the Human Rights Campaign, corporations like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, etc. Is all this advocacy for transgenderism causing violence against people who disagree with it, such as Bible-believing Christians?

The concern that Christians have is that when powerful groups promote gender dysphoria as natural and normal, then anyone who tells the truth about that can become a target. And it’s not a stretch to see someone who is having mental issues turning to violence to get the approval and celebration that they feel will make their lifestyle choices work out for them – in the sense that compelled affirmation makes them feel good about their own choices.

By now, everyone has heard about Audrey Hale’s attack on the Christian school in Nashville.

Newly released pages purportedly from the Nashville Covenant School shooter’s manifesto indicate that the shooter was strongly fixated on gender ideology and deeply held anger against Christianity.

In the pages, released Wednesday by The Daily Wire, trans-identifying shooter Audrey Hale condemns her parents, harshly criticizes Christians, and fantasizes about her “imaginary penis.” The pages come after months of stonewalling from authorities, who refused to confirm or deny a previous set of manifesto pages commentator Steven Crowder released in November.

On Wednesday, there was a new shooting by a new transgender shooter, this time targeting a Catholic school.

Daily Signal reports:

The man who opened fire at a Minneapolis Catholic school Wednesday identified himself by two names, and those names match a court record for a name change in 2019.

Two children, ages 8 and 10, died in the shooting, and the shooter injured 17 others. Authorities found the gunman dead at the scene. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.

“The shooter has been identified as Robin Westman, a male born as Robert Westman,” Patel wrote. “The FBI will continue to provide updates on our ongoing investigation with the public as we are able.”

Law enforcement sources confirmed the suspect’s identity as Robert Westman or Robin Westman in speaking with Fox News. The New York Post also reported that police identified Westman in a news conference and said Westman “has been identified as a transgender woman.”

Just regarding the motive, the shooter did not like Jesus, and presumably followers of Jesus.

The Post Millennial explains:

The alleged shooter in Wednesday’s deadly attack at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis… appears to have posted a chilling video on YouTube before the massacre that makes several pop culture references as well as references to other shooters. In the footage, Westman can be seen displaying multiple firearms and ammunition magazines, as well as a target board with an image of Jesus Christ taped to it.

Now, you might remember that Minnesota is famous for their seculalism and leftism. These people aim to be “good without God”, so let’s see some “objective morality” from the secular left.

Here’s an article from The Post Millennial:

In the wake of a devastating mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that left two children dead and 17 others injured, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey preached about transgender rights during a press conference after it was revealed that the trans male killer identified as a woman.

“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Frey told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

The mayor of Minneapolis, MN is – of course – a Democrat. He has nothing good to say about Christians, but lots of good to say about transgenders. Does he think that the shooting was justified, because of disagreement with transgenderism? It’s almost like he is telling Christians (the victims) not to cause more shootings by disagreeing with his transgender agenda. This certainly is an escalation from the traditional response of “don’t disagree with me, or I’ll end myself”. Now it sounds like “don’t disagree with me, or I’ll end you”. There were some voices saying similar things about the Nashville shooting, that it was provoked by those hateful Christians.

And in another article from The Post Millennial, the mayor says:

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey delivered a statement on Wednesday after a deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, rejecting “thoughts and prayers.”

Andy Ngo, who follows the violence of “Trantifa” and other leftists pretty closely, tweeted this:

We don’t know the shooter’s motive yet. A full investigation is needed to find out whether the motives are anti-Christian. But, there are several anti-Christian quotes from the shooter, such as the saying “Where’s your God now?”

More from that article: no mention of a father in the home, but:

Fox News reported that his mother, who worked at the school before retiring in 2021, signed off on his gender transition as a minor.

Many leftist women today are transing their children, divorcing fathers in order to get a free hand from the family courts to do it. I’ve blogged several examples: this one and this one and this one. I have a friend whose ex-wife is transing his kid against his will. She is making him pay for it, too. I am left to wonder if the ejection of the father from the home (69% of the time the woman initiates divorce), and then the use false accusations to get full custody, causes the child’s mental issues. Children need their fathers.

By the way, be careful what corporate news sources you rely on, because they can distort the truth for their own leftist agenda.

Daily Caller explains: (archived)

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez inaccurately claimed Wednesday that semiautomatic firearms could fire “dozens of bullets” with a single pull of the trigger while covering a Minneapolis shooting.

[…]“What has incorrectly been termed an ‘assault weapon’ is a semi-automatic firearm that fires just one bullet with each pull of the trigger (versus a fully automatic firearm — machine gun — which continues to shoot until the trigger is released),” the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) said in a fact sheet.

And another one from The Federalist about ABC News:

Few moments best capture ABC News’ reputation as “propaganda press” better than anchor Aaron Katersky’s misleading coverage of the alleged anti-Christian, anti-Trump Minneapolis school shooter — who Katersky effectively portrayed as a Trump supporter on Wednesday.

[…]“We’ve also been going through [the video manifesto] and can tell you there are crude diagrams of the church. There are also photos of the weapons, and they include all sorts of writings, the names of past mass shooters, criticism of Israel, the name of President Trump written on the guns,” Katersky said Wednesday.

[…]Katersky omitted the actual full inscription related to Trump revealed in the videos, which was: “Kill D*****d T***p.” Casual listeners who didn’t see the footage of the weapons themselves or read the manifesto could easily walk away thinking Trump’s name on the weapon meant allegiance to him, not homicidal rage against him.

The Federalist also has a post entitled “CNN, NYT, USA Today All Publish Stories About Shooter Without Mentioning His Trans Identity”.

Would you like to see federal law enforcement do something about hate speech from the secular left that incites violence against Christians and conservatives?