THIS Is Christianity's FATAL Error?! | Pastor Reacts

The Challenge of Divine Communication and the “Fatal Error” Claim

If God is everywhere at once, he could just tell us his message in person and coach us directly because the communication of a perfect God should be perfect. In order to refute a God they do not understand, they complain that he's not obvious enough for them.

People like this dismiss it. They say, oh, it can't be conscience. That's not loud enough for us. That's not obvious enough for us. Why does it need to be obvious for you? And the answer is because I don't want to know God.

Did you know that Christianity has a fatal error? Is this the end of Christianity as we know it? Um, I didn't get the memo, but apparently after thousands of years, it's finally going to be brought down by an atheist YouTuber.

Really? Well, we're about to find out. This was a suggested video from you, the Wise Disciple community. So thank you for that. And we'll get right into it. But if this is your first time, welcome. My name is Nate, and this is Wise Disciple, where I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you are meant to be.

I suppose I can't do that anymore if Christianity has a fatal error, but, uh, I don't know. Let's, let's see what all the fuss is about, shall we? Make sure to like and subscribe and share this one around, but only if this ministry blesses you.

Omnigod Attributes and the Thought Experiment

All right, let's jump right in. Christian faith is often referred to as an Omnigod because he's believed by most Christians to be omnipotent or all-powerful, omniscient or all-knowing, omnibenevolent or all-loving and omnipresent.

Whoop-de-whoop. I mean, I affirm that. Back in the day, I went through a phase where someone would, I don't know, call my name or say something that I agreed with, and I'd go whoop-de-whoop. And that tells you about just what I was listening to when I was young and unsaved.

This kind of God exists, then you're left with a major problem. The problem of instruction. To understand this conundrum, we first need to start with a hypothetical, a thought experiment. Forget everything that you know about God.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and predict. I'm just going to make a prediction. So I haven't seen this video yet. I'll go ahead and guess that this alleged problem is because of flawed presuppositions that this person is bringing to the table and not actually due to a real problem within Christianity.

Okay? Who's with me on this one? All right. Who? Am I right in my prediction? Let me know in the comments. I mean, unless you've seen this video already, in which case, I don't know. Don't spoil it for us.

But here we go. Look at the Bible for just a moment and pretend that you're in a hypothetical alternative universe with a different Omnigod. If this deity is all-loving, all-knowing, omnipresent, and all-powerful, and is trying to communicate the most important message in the universe to his or her children, how would they communicate this vital message?

And conversely, if this God either didn't exist at all, or turned out to be limited in knowledge, love, power, or locality, what would you expect to see instead? In the first scenario with the Omnigod, you would expect perfect communication.

Any decent newspaper editor knows that the average person reads at or below the 8th grade level, and they tailor their paper accordingly, so as to be widely accessible and easily understood. They avoid technical jargon and ambiguous words as much as they possibly can, and they provide clarification and define and explain what they mean when they need to.

We should expect that an all-knowing God of the universe who created the brains of their target audience would know this, would know our cognitive and linguistic shortcomings, and would craft this critical message with similar precision.

Now, there's—. Okay. But what is this critical message? Right? Define that for us, please. You know? I mean, that would be the first question, in a series of questions. The second question is, in what way is this message not being engaged?

You know what I mean? Is this a message that requires some kind of intellectual enlightenment, that is impossible without clear communication from God? So, in other words, this is some kind of secret knowledge more akin to Gnosticism or something?

Or is this a message that is more readily available to people without any kind of intellectual enlightenment, right? Those questions need to be answered to some degree. See, notice already, the way that this is being framed, it's just—it's incredibly important.

Because, depending on what this message is, and what the answers to the questions that I've just posed are, you're either going to have a great challenge to Christianity, a fatal error, as this person calls it, or this is going to turn out to be a huge nothingburger.

So, let's find out. A number of reliable ways that this message could be perfectly transmitted. At first, I thought maybe God could place enormous divinely protected plaques all over the world with very literal, extremely clear instructions on them.

But these plaques would be indestructible and tamper-proof, since what good is a divinely inspired message without divine preservation? As society and language change, the messages could update to ensure maximal clarity, keep up with current events, and meet the needs and answer the questions of God's children.

Sort of like God's message board. Or he could write a message for all of us to see in the sky, or even on the moon. But then I thought, not everyone's literate, or speaks the same language, some people are blind, etc.

But, remember, no challenge is too big for an all-powerful God, and an all-loving God would care enough to overcome this challenge. If God is everywhere at once, he could just tell us his message in person and coach us directly.

But some people might argue that his presence would overwhelm us. And while I think that's kind of a cop-out, I do acknowledge the objection. So what if instead, each person received God's message in their own language, hand-tailored for them, such that it's perfectly communicated in a way that everyone would understand and reach the same conclusion?

A message preloaded into everyone's brains. I love it, you know? You know, the irony of this is so rich, you know? It's so not lost on me at all. I wonder if you're thinking what I'm thinking, right? Because Christianity has a clear category for what this person is reaching for.

And I'm surprised that they're actually not aware of it, or maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I'm gonna, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna let him finish his thought. And then I'll jump back in and I'll explain.

Mental firmware that we're all born with. It would come straight from God, not through human authors. It would be directed to all mankind from the get-go, not just to a tiny handful of self-proclaimed chosen people.

And there would be no internal inconsistencies in the message, no historical contradictions or scientific inaccuracies. And unlike with a conscience, what we deem as right and wrong wouldn't change from culture to culture.

And you wouldn't have psychopaths who lack one altogether. This would be a ubiquitous, accessible, clear, and perfect message. Because the communication of a perfect God should be perfect. But what if the alternate...

Conscience, Romans 2, and the Law Written on the Heart

Okay, so he already mentioned it, you know? He said the word. He talked about conscience. That's precisely what Christianity says is the thing that this person wishes God would have implanted in us all.

Take a look at this. So I got my good old trusty Logos Bible software up and ready. Logos is a game changer for the serious student of scripture. Not only do I use it to read the Bible with you all on this channel, I also use it every morning in my personal study of the scripture, and it will bless you as well.

Take a look at the free book that Logos is offering this month, as well as the discounts over at my Logos page. Check out logos .com forward slash wise disciple. All right. Take a look at Romans chapter two.

For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. Imagine what this person just said, the challenge they're trying to set up here.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So in other words, all people have a conscience that has been placed there by God that aligns to the law that he has revealed to the Israelites, right? These are the oracles of God that Paul talks about.

Now does it align to our conscience? Does it align to every letter that was given at Sinai? No, but see, why is that necessary? That's the question. So that's what I meant a moment ago at the outset when I said all of the presuppositions that go into framing the issue in such a manner where there appears to be a challenge or an error when there really isn't right.

Here's another question that needs to be answered by this person. Why is perfect communication necessary? Perfect communication through conscience or some other means, right? This reveals one of the problems, although there's more than one here, with this person's particular challenge, right?

And I think it comes down to this. They want the information without the relationship. They don't understand the whole point of being created in the first place. And so in order to refute a God they do not understand, they complain that he's not obvious enough for them.

He's not, you know, loud enough when he communicates. And then we as Christians respond by pointing to a person's conscience, literally what this person is reaching for and saying, you know, that it's evidence that a God of moral order exists and then he put that in you and they dismiss it.

People like this dismiss it. They say, oh, I can't be conscience. That's not loud enough for us. That's not obvious enough for us. Okay. Why does it need to be though? Why does it need to be obvious for you?

And the answer is because I don't want to know God. See the Christian understands that God has already made himself obvious to us. Take a look at this. This is one chapter previous in the same letter to the Romans chapter 1 verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them 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. God exists. And that's obvious. It's amazing because atheists are still like what 4 of the population of this country. According to Pew Research. I mean globally, it's I don't know hard to tell what the number actually is, but it can't be much greater than that.

So you have to wonder like, why is it that atheists are so few in number? Why is that the case? Now their answer probably is and I've heard these answers. Well, we're smarter. I mean, that's what it boils down to, right?

You know, we're smarter, which is incredibly arrogant to say, but our answer is because the fact that there is a God is obvious to most people. That's why you find belief in God all over the world. Whether Jew or Gentile, Romans chapter 1 says God's attributes have been clearly perceived since the creation of the world.

And so mankind is without excuse. The issue is God is not visible to the naked eye. In spite of the evidence for God, he is not visible to our physical eyes. Why? What is the answer for this? Well, if you pay close attention to God's word, the answer is sin.

Sin not only has an effect on your relationship with God, it also affects your guess what your conscience. Watch this. 1st Timothy 4 verse 1. Now, the spirit expressly says that in later time, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars.

Here it is, whose consciences are seared. They're seared. They're cauterized. In other words, they no longer have the ability to make good moral decisions. Why? Well, because they have departed from the faith.

Which, by the way, trades on having a relationship with your creator. Eternal life, according to John 17 3, is very simply and profoundly knowing God intimately in Jesus Christ whom he has sent. So that's what it really comes down to.

That's what it means. The fundamental message of God that runs like a consistent thread throughout the entire Bible centers on this one principle. Have a relationship with God and know him intimately.

That's the message, you know, that runs throughout the entire Bible. That's how the story started in the garden. That's why people encounter God throughout history. And that's why the story culminates with the garden again in Revelation.

That's what the message is from a Christian perspective. And this person has no idea about that. Their issue is God's message is not obvious. That's because they can't see the connection between the message about God and God himself.

Again, I ask, what do they think the message is, though? Is it a list of rules? It seems like that when they did a little graphic there earlier, that's where they're going with this, right? Is that what they think God is doing in history by interacting with mankind?

Just giving a laundry list of do's and don'ts? Or is the message the gospel? See, that's what a Christian would say the message is. But then again, wait, what is the gospel, right? It's the message of reconciliation between God and man.

This is a relationship that God is after with his own creatures. But wait, that requires, if you really sit here and think about it, it requires a person to pursue relationship with God, which is clearly not what this person is seeking at all.

Human Rejection, Paganism, and a Materialist Account of Morality

Amazing. Alternative was true. What if there's no God at all, or the God-slash-gods who do exist aren't omnigods like the God of the Bible? Well, we'd expect to see a very, very different result. We would expect to find wildly different religions popping up all over the world, written by scientifically ignorant ancient authors desperately trying to make sense of their tiny, myopic view of the universe around them.

You wouldn't expect to find any supernatural insights about germs, neurochemistry, and galaxies or any information not already available to their primitive cultures. At best, you might occasionally just get a few lucky guesses here and there.

Many, if not most of these holy books would place humanity at the center and contain stories about human experiences of violent warlords, superstitions, wild legends, human heroes, and unseen monsters lurking in the dark.

Morality would vary. Well, that's certainly one way to describe it. Another way would be to describe a God who created mankind, but they refused relationship with him and so they chose to follow after the other created beings that God made.

These other beings led the nations to worship them, which explains ancient pagan mythologies. And it led to the wars and the battles that this person has quickly brushed over. But wait a second, this also explains your conscience, which is something that can become much more pure if it is properly oriented on the God who made you.

Like, think about that for a moment. If you properly orient your mind to the God who made you, keep it focused there. Your conscience can become more pure. Take a look at this. This is Hebrews chapter 9 verse 13.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons, keyword, defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

So your conscience can either be purified, cleansed, or defiled based on whether or not you have a relationship with God and with Jesus Christ. And that's the whole point. Romans chapter 2, right? The law that God has placed on even a Gentile's heart aligns to his own law.

If you have the eyes to see it, if you are keeping your focus on God and striving to remain in that relational dynamic with your creator. Now, here's a question that this person is not answering. What is the sufficient explanation for your conscience?

Like from a materialist point of view, particularly an altruistic one, a conscience that strives towards self-sacrifice and altruism. I mean, by the way, that's what the Bible pushes you towards. But what is the explanation?

If you're a materialist, if you reject the Bible, these people have tried, believe me, to give an answer to this question. And the best that they can come up with is that altruism is just another form of selfishness that underneath what appears to be altruism, that at base, it's really selfishness.

That's about the best you can do if you start off by saying there is no God. Again, this person is trying to claim that Christianity's fatal error is a God who does not communicate clearly enough. Not only is that not what the Bible teaches, it's not even commensurate with the experience of most people on the planet.

Only an atheist in the West could try to get away with making these kinds of claims. From my perspective, it's a childish challenge from someone who has clearly not wrestled with the more robust claims of Christianity.

Christianity’s Public Evidence, Meaning, and Final Appeal

All right. I mean, look, is there more? I think I've seen enough here. Here's the bottom line. There is a reason why more and more people are turning to Christianity these days. Even folks who famously rejected the idea of the Christian God are now embracing Christ and his teachings.

And the question is why? Because Christianity is the best explanation for the way things are. The challenges have come over the years, but the fact remains the historicity of the scripture, the historicity of Jesus Christ holds up.

The evidence for God is sufficient and the explanatory scope of the worldview shaped by the Bible provides more than mere answers to questions. It more than just answers. It provides objective meaning and value and purpose.

That's why Christianity has spread throughout the world since the time of Christ. And that's why it's going to outlive people like this and their attempts to challenge it. All right, that's enough out of me.

Okay, look, we don't need to get up in arms about these kinds of challenges. The reality is God does not need us to defend him. He can take it. So, you know, let's not get offended by this man. I actually sounded a lot like him when I was his age.

So let's take this as just another opportunity to pray for him and to ask God to change his heart and to help him see what billions of us around the world also see. Amen. Okay. Well now it's your turn.

What do you think of this communication challenge? Is this Christianity's fatal error? Let me know in the comments below. I'd love to get your thoughts. As always, hey, if you made it this far, get yourself on over to the Patreon community.

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