You Have to See This to Believe It

Do we have a Google Earth? Can we check out heaven? Can I see the harp? The whole thing's so stupid. I believe that it's a great framework for life. And I think that you could live a better, more fulfilled life if you live like that.

Joe Rogan’s Critique of Christianity and the Demand for Proof

Joe Rogan is an extremely popular podcast host who has some very interesting views about Christianity. In the past, Rogan bashed Christianity without reserve.

You understand, mother f***er, because the New Testament is utter horse s***.

But more recently, he has been more charitable about Christianity.

All these different, very easy-to-understand principles of love and happiness and camaraderie, if you just follow those, they're really beneficial. They really work.

Let's take a look at what Rogan has said.

I mean, because Christianity, at the end of the day, with no proof, everything is mythology. Everything. With no proof.

Rogan says that Christianity is all mythology and no proof. I wonder if Rogan is aware of the countless archaeological discoveries that corroborate the historical events in the Bible.

I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report to us supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.

I wonder if Rogan has considered philosophical arguments concerning epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.

Because the triune God exists, it can make sense for us to assume a immaterial, universal, and invariant, that's unchanging, laws of logic and arithmetic. The Christian worldview can make a coherent appeal to universal and immaterial laws that reflect the thinking of God.

With proof, then you examine the proof. It's super simple. And anybody that argues against that is just, you're just biased. You have your own ideas.

We agree. Anyone can examine the archaeological discoveries that have been made concerning the historical events in the Bible. And anyone can examine the logical arguments Christians make about epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.

Our proof is that only the biblical worldview can answer all of life's essential questions. Such as, What's the origin of the universe and of life? What's the origin of knowledge? What's the justification for believing in the uniformity of nature?

Where do the concepts of right and wrong come from? Is the universe purely material? Or do immaterial concepts and ideas also exist?

If you have some proof that there was a God, that this God had one son, and he made this son come down and get beat out of him and nailed to a board so that we could all have no sin. Do you have, can you show me some studies?

Can you give me, do you have a box of evidence that you can pull out and we can examine all the different pieces that points to the undeniable conclusion that that's true?

But Joe, not all proof has to come in the form of studies and boxes of evidence. We demonstrate the rationality of the biblical Christian worldview with philosophy, reasoning, and logic. And we demonstrate the irrationality of competing worldviews in the same way.

This spontaneous generation is not true. Because if you don't, then it's a myth. Then you're believing mythology. Doesn't mean it's not real. But if you put all your eggs in that basket and you don't have any proof at all, well, you're entering into this weird world where you don't pay attention.

You're entering into this weird world where you ignore certain aspects of things because you've decided what is and what isn't. That's not thinking. That's not thinking. It's like it's convenient cookie holder placement of ideas.

It's not thinking.

Rogan's argument is that if Christians don't have any rational reasons for believing the Bible, then they will be irrational people. But he doesn't consider the possibility of Christians actually having rational reasons for believing the Bible and who are perfectly rational people.

Rogan seems to be hopelessly biased against this possibility.

Because if you're thinking, you can't accept it. If you're thinking, you go, wait, what? He came back from the dead? Has anybody ever done that? Three days? Came back from the dead. I don't think you can do that.

I mean, that's what people would do normally.

But, you know. But isn't it even crazier to believe that the universe came from nothing, that life came from non-life, and that knowledge came from no knowledge? If it's arguable that these events were miracles, then it's not so crazy to believe in the miracles of the Bible.

My kid had a function today, and I went to this function, and they're all, we're singing God bless America, and there's like something about heaven in there, and there's school prayer. I'm like, okay, are we teaching people?

We're teaching kids things, right? What's heaven? Where is this? Is this a real thing? Are we just pretending heaven's real so the kids feel good and they can get through 12th grade? What are we doing here?

Well, if we can argue that the Bible is a rational, legitimate, and necessary worldview, and the Bible teaches that heaven exists, then heaven exists. That would be the proof.

You know, we have to make up about stuff that we don't know instead of just accepting what we do know.

But Joe, if you can't explain where the universe, life, and knowledge come from, then there are enormous gaps in what you think you know. Have you ever considered that you don't know as much as you think you know?

Instead of just celebrating and accepting what we know about life, we have to pretend that there's a heaven, and you're going to go to heaven when you die. What the f*** are you talking about? Like, you're teaching my kid nonsense.

No, we would actually be teaching children the most rational thing to believe.

Why don't you teach them some Rumpelstiltskin sh**? Why don't you make some sh** up about leprechauns?

Because the Bible teaches about heaven, but not about Rumpelstiltskin or leprechauns.

You're making sh** up about heaven. Like, and you don't, okay, like, if the kid comes to you, like, um, where is heaven on a map? Can you, uh, can you take me to heaven? Do we have a Google Earth? Can we check out heaven?

Can I see the, can I see the harp?

But just because something isn't material or can't be seen doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Rogan is blindly assuming an empirical worldview without any justification for his position.

The whole thing's so stupid. You'd be like, wait a minute, who told you this?

Well, it's pretty stupid to believe that the universe came from nothing, that life came from non-life, and that knowledge came from no knowledge. The Bible actually gives us answers that atheists like you don't have.

Rogan’s Softer Tone Toward Christianity

More recently, Rogan seems to have softened his tone about Christianity.

All these different, very easy to understand principles of, like, love and happiness and camaraderie, if you just follow those, they're really beneficial. They really work.

The good news here is that Rogan seems to have more respect for what Christians believe now. The bad news is that Rogan is still missing the central point of Christianity, which is that morals and ethics are meant to reveal our sinfulness before God and point us towards our need for Jesus as our Savior.

I believe that it's a great framework for life, and I think that you could live a better, more fulfilled life if you live like that.

Rogan is focused on what leads to a better and more fulfilled life here on earth. But Rogan still doesn't recognize that the most important reason for believing in Jesus is that we are all sinners who have offended an infinitely holy God by breaking his law, who deserve infinite punishment for our crime, and who need a sinless sacrifice to be not only reconciled with God, but also to experience eternal joy and fellowship with God in heaven.

Free Speech, Admiration for Rogan, and the Call to Repentance

Joe Rogan is one of my favorite atheists because he values free speech and is willing to stand up to big tech censorship.

With Joe Rogan, who I really, really love. I love Joe Rogan. I listen to his podcast. I do. I think he's excellent at what he does. He's a great interviewer. I have a passion for Joe Rogan. I love the man.

And I would love the opportunity to be able to sit down with Joe Rogan to engage on some of these issues. I think he would handle it really, really well. I think we would enjoy ourselves together. I think we'd have a good time together talking about these things.

But, like everyone else, he still needs to repent of his rejection of Jesus as Lord and Savior and trust in Jesus's atoning work alone for his salvation.