Atheism Question and Answer by Albert Mohler @ U of A

Albert Mohler (president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) giving a Q & A regarding atheism (given at the U of A).

Questions directed to Dr. Mohler [and the time they appear in the video]

1 [0:00] “Do you believe Christianity must change or die? If so, how must it change?” (referencing Bishop John Shelby Spong’s book – Why Christianity Must Change or Die)

2 [4:47] “How do you reconcile the existence of evil with an omnipotent, omniscient, holy, good God?”

3 [13:49] “What high profile theologians can you point to who oppose atheism from a creationist perspective? Do you think evangelicals can hold to theistic evolution consistently?” (regarding Mohler in his book (Atheism Remix) faulting two opponents of new atheism, theologian Alister McGrath and philosopher Alvin Plantinga, for being open to theistic evolution)

4 [18:03] “If the rise of atheism is fueled by more intellectual, new scientific theories coming along, [and it being a] more socially acceptable form of atheism, what is your standing on the argument of the burden of proof [being on theism's side]?”

5 [20:32] “I’m an atheist and I respect your right and others' right to believe whatever they believe. I fought a war back in the 90’s to give you that right. If Dr. Albert Mohler becomes king Albert Mohler tomorrow will he extend me that same right?” [Military Veteran speaking]

6 [23:55] “God ordered Joshua, after Moses, to kill men, women, innocent kids, cows, cats, and dogs. Why? If the answer is “there are some things done by God that we cannot understand,” then how do you respond to a Muslim with the same argument?"

7 [29:15] – What do you say to the person who says there are so many stars in the universe and we’ve been around for so long that life can’t help but exist? Therefore, by Occam’s Razor, since the idea of God is so complicated, we shouldn’t believe it because there is a much simpler and logical explanation for the existence of life in the universe.” [Occam’s Razor – a principle used in logic and problem solving that states - among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be selected (wikipedia)]

8a [32:52] “If you read through Judges 19, there is a verse that says God was with His people, and they were driving out the people out of their land. But they weren’t able to drive a certain people out because they had iron chariots. [If]… they were not able to defeat the people, even though God was with them, God isn’t all-powerful.” Is God Omnipotent?

 8b [36:10] Why do Christians strive to follow the 10 commandments but not follow the other laws of the Old Testament?

9 [39:04] “Is it really true that a person who dies apart from Jesus Christ will go to hell as the Christian world claims? And can you address the Christian view of heaven and getting there?