God : "This last sin of despair is graver to me than all the other sins. Souls guilty of despair judge their misery greater than my mercy. (they are assuming Gods unforgiveness) The despair of Judas displeased me more and was more grave to my Son than was his betrayal of Him." Evil spirits of despair and infirmity want to inflict souls & trick them into believing in an unforgiving God. No repentant person will be turned away from God Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena - catholic mystic. Last segment of clip - as per timestamp 16:34 from KZfaq video “What the Exorcists shared: Demons Masking as gods." From the channel Armor of God: Spiritual Warfare

A Devout Client of Mary Shall Never Suffer the Loss of His Soul There was a certain man who was religious in name only, but, wherever true religion was concerned, hard-hearted and careless. He was, however, in the habit of praying to the Blessed Virgin and saying once everyday a hundred “Hail, Mary’s.” Coming near his end, he was caught away in an ecstasy, and devils charged him before the Great Judge seeking a sentence that would adjudge him to be theirs. God, therefore, knowing his manifold sins, said that he must be condemned. Meantime the Blessed Virgin came offering schedules in which were contained all the “Hail Mary’s,” and begging her Son to allow him to receive a milder sentence. But the devils brought many books full of his sins. ‘The books on both sides were put into the scales, but the sins weighed most. Then the Blessed Virgin, seeing She was doing no good, earnestly besought her Son, saying: “Remember, Beloved, that Thou didst receive of my substance, visible, tangible and sensible substance; give to me one drop of Thy blood shed for sinners in Thy passion.” And he replied: “It is impossible to deny thee anything. Yet know that one drop of my blood weighs heavier than all the sins of the whole world. Receive therefore thy request.” Receiving it, She placed it in the scales, and all those sins of the religious weighed against it as light as ashes.‘Then the devils departed in confusion, crying out and saying: “The Lady is too merciful to Christians; we fail as often as She comes to contend with us.” And so the man’s spirit returned to his body, and on recovery he related the whole tale and became a true monk. Taken From The Glories of Mary By Saint Alphonsus Liguori ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Lady explains the Hail Mary to Saint Mechtilde of Helfta (1241-1298): “My daughter, I want you to know that no one can please me more than by saying Rosary. The salutation which the Most Adorable Trinity sent to me, and by which He raised me to the dignity of Mother of God. By the word 'Ave' (which is the name Eve, Eva), I learned that in His infinite power God had preserved me from all sin and its misery, which the first woman had brought upon herself. The name ‘Mary’ which means ‘Lady of Light’ shows that God has filled me with wisdom and light, like a shining star, to light up Heaven and Earth. The words ‘full of grace’ remind me that the Holy Spirit has showered so many graces upon me that I am able to give these graces in abundance to those who ask for them through me as Mediatrix. When people say the ‘Lord is with thee,’ they give to me again the indescribable joy that I received when the Eternal Word became incarnate in my womb. When you say to me ‘blessed art thou among women,’ I praise Almighty God’s Divine mercy which raised me to this exalted level of happiness. And at the words, ‘blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus,’ the whole of Heaven rejoices with me to see my Son Jesus Christ adored and glorified for having saved mankind.”

Just like Alex too he likes the fruits but hates the tree.

7:15 This guy alex is acting like an extraordinary smart person ever born on this planet... Alex were you there that time when that happen?? Can you tell me then what made these people to go away after Jesus had said something??? Dear alex the smartest guy please tell me what did Jesus said then that caused all these angry croud to turn away one by one????? His confidence of something not seen not heard by himself shames himself. Do you think alex these people carried a high-tech recorder to record everything????? Don't you know Alex that these are also humen beings?? Don't you know they started writing the Bible after a long time? Don't you know devine intervention was also there as well as human???

26:45 Alex you can't interpret or fram a religion based on what people do. That is silly to even think about. Do you depict and potray parents by what children are doing??? 😂😂😂😂😂

Long money's on convert.

Neither. He'll be another atheist YTer. A good one, but that's it.

@@miketrotman9720 I agree; I think there's a chance he'll convert at some point. I've seen a few videos like this with him and I do think he's more open to Christianity than he used to be, at least as I see it. I've noticed him almost arguing in favour of Jesus/Christianity and then kind of "correcting" himself with a dismissal of the underlying principles

Atheist is the default position. As comprehension grows, the likelihood of converting grows. Christ already lives rent free in his head. He’s close.

He’s just a poser. I found him quite interesting in the past but now I find him utterly tiring. Just another boring vaccous engagement farmer.

I watch every podcast lol

It’s cringe and gay tbh

@@beansdestroyerhaving friends is cringe and gay what 💀

The whole interview should have ended with a kiss.

Fellas, is it gay to have friends?

You're spot on, I think. This is a very recent attitude towards Christianity among secularists.

@@Bornstella 🙏🏼

I bet that the Viking wannabe that is Rationality Rules is silently fuming at the "soft touch" his atheist bestie is giving to Christianity. Alex isnt too far off heretic status among the anti-theists. 😜 Yeah...he gives it loads in debates, I feel to try to stick it to the fundamentalist in the US but he rather cosys up to his Catholic and Anglican brothers on this side of the pond. 😎

@@Bornstella when trump has us in his evangelical theocracy, they’ll swing the other way. Just watch.

Lol good point

How ? I was never scared of life

Scary? The safest countries on the planet are completely secular... it's religion that makes countries scary

It's true that nihilism is bleak in many ways, and can be difficult to accept. But once accepted it works out fine.

@@dodumichalcevskiI think it’s death/finality and the meaninglessness that scares people

@@travist2339 Yeah but doenst make it true 🤷

Was about to write a comment to this effect but you put it perfectly.

Too scared of words to write sexualized correctly

@@matjaz5684 it's because of YT censoring, and out of respect for his channel.

Yes we have lost our compass

stability, safety and morals....religion isn't necessary to satiate these needs.

Agreed. He is a respectful, articulate and intelligent non believer. He gets the value of the Good News, even if he lacks faith in it. That's how we draw them in. Come for the cultural Christianity, stay for the salvation.

Please don’t approach us we aren’t interested

@@Twittchyy Peace be with you

@@Twittchyy I will and you can't stop me. Lol

​@@Twittchyy You approached

Check out Jay Dyer

I'd love that but I think fear still rules the decisions of most people and, even worse perhaps, people who are in denial that they are ruled by fear. Basically animals with weapons of mass destruction. But did Jesus not say, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness..." He did NOT say, "Blessed are those *who persecute others* because of righteousness..."

@@CartoonistDaveso you believe in a guy that is against the rights and freedoms you have today?

@@louisdeniau8571 dont believe in him, i believe in Jesus Christ. But Jay makes great content that defends and explains orthodoxy. What rights does he want to take away again?

Chris and Alex the most interesting people on the planet? You have my sympathies, sir 😂

It's sad cuz most brits know next to nothing about what it's like living as an American. Let alone a Christian.

​​@@CloudWithoutASkyYeah, an Oxford theology-graduate knows next to nothing about Christianity

Why does shia does not cut the mustard seeds anymore for them?

Honestly , Shia are not Muslim. There is no following one the Quran. So I would not consider them Muslim I would rather refer to them as Christianity 2.0. As they worship religious figures which are not god.

@@aks1521 Can you prove that God exists by chance?

@@goarmysleepinthemud. I don’t understand the question. I can only share what I believe. My belief in a creator is due to the beautiful designs of animals and different/distinct beautiful designs of humans and many things that suggests to me that we are designed but not by chance. I believe life is a test so that is why there is evil and good. These are some verses from the Quran about the tests of life and the purpose of creation. 1. **Surah Al-Baqarah (2:155-157)**: - "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided." 2. **Surah Al-Imran (3:186)**: - "You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much abuse. But if you are patient and fear Allah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination." 3. **Surah Al-Ankabut (29:2-3)**: - "Do the people think that they will be left to say, 'We believe' and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars." 4. **Surah Al-Mulk (67:2)**: - "[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving." 5. **Surah Al-Insan (76:2-3)**: - "Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing. Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful."

These are some verses from the Quran about the tests of life and the purpose of creation. 1. **Surah Al-Baqarah (2:155-157)**: - "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided." 2. **Surah Al-Imran (3:186)**: - "You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much abuse. But if you are patient and fear Allah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination." 3. **Surah Al-Ankabut (29:2-3)**: - "Do the people think that they will be left to say, 'We believe' and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars." 4. **Surah Al-Mulk (67:2)**: - "[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving." 5. **Surah Al-Insan (76:2-3)**: - "Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing. Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful."

It is, but he took that from other scholars. It's a pretty common way to compare the two.

@@chellya2004 Wanting to be sure if you were right, I looked it up. Apparently, Kenneth Cragg, an Anglican bishop and scholar, in his 1956 book, "The Call of the Minaret," made this description of the two. Now I know.

@@stevesmith4901 Theodore Noldeke pointed to this distinction between the two religions 150 years ago. Scholastic philosopher Thomas Aquinas comes pretty close too,almost 800 years ago.

That’s not a point against Alex though, it just means he is well read and agrees with key thinkers throughout history. So he’s probably right on the point.

@@wessjr08 True, but if this had been an original observation by Alex, it would have been phenomenal. I was under the impression that it was. So, I'm just slightly disappointed, that's all. Regardless, Alex is still pretty insightful on religion.

Odd, I had the exact opposite experience: born and raised in a SUPER Catholic family, went faithfully to church every weekend for 27 years, and prayed to God and JC. I left my home town, went to college, moved outta state, started traveling the world, and moved to Europe all the while staying religious. Then came trump. I watched in absolute horror as the VAST majority of my "good Christian" family turned into a pack of hateful monsters who STILL worship the "God chosen" orange sociopath to this day. That cracked my religious foundation. I started to question it all. I started to read more into the history of the church and the very idea of religion itself. I thought logically and used reason to try to make sense of it all. Tried to understand how God could allow such an EVIL man to corrupt and brainwash my loved ones. I prayed A LOT. And at the end of it all, after 3 years of questioning, learning, praying, making the ultimatum to God and Jesus to simply reveal themselves to me as they both did MULTIPLE times in the Old and New Testaments, I finally let it all go. I finally realized that there simply is no god. There is no unseen mystical/magically/spirtiual power controlling the world around me. That was over 6 years ago and I have not had a single sign from God. Nothing. Been atheist ever since. On the bright side of it all, I have never felt more free and happy in my entire life! I am truly my own self. A massive weight has been lifted and I can look confidently at the world around me and truly uderstand how it works. Without any kind of god, everything makes sense. I have become a better man in the sense that I now look at all the problems of the world and instead of just dismissing them as "God's plan", I actually accept them and try to learn how and why they happen so that I can try to do my own personal little part in trying to fix them. I take on full responsibily for my actions in this ONE AND ONLY life without selfishly thinking that I don't need to care about this world because there's a better afterlife waiting for me. Ironically, I have become more "Christ-like" because I actually care and TAKE ACTION to help the poor, the neady, and the sick. People need to realize that they don't need religion to be a good person. We are our own beings.

@@TheAmericanAmerican Thanks for replying, I'm glad you've found more happiness in your life. It's definitely an interesting notion, to have the two of us have similar epiphanies with opposing results. For me, I think my advice isn't to be religious, or not- rather it's to make your own decisions rather than relying on the normal people prescribe for you without individual verification. I don't think religion, or a lack of religion, makes any guarantee on people being good. People are inherently flawed, and religion doesn't remove the propensity of people to hate. Lack of religion doesn't either. I certainly didn't read any prescriptions to hate in the new testament, but people can interpret things a variety of ways. The history of the church is rife with the same class of mistakes. If people are imperfect, so are religious institutions (and all institutions for that matter.) My belief is that our past shouldn't necessarily dictate the totality of how our existence is defined. Humans will make mistakes and do evils, so will human institutions, but this doesn't imply an incapability to do good, or more good than evil. It does imply that humans and organizations need to continually analyze what they're doing from external perspectives in order to minimize the evil they commit. I don't believe people require religion to be good. My wife, for example, is agnostic; but I believe her to be a very good person. My hope isn't that all become religious, but I also hope people don't purposefully devalue religion and hope for others to lose that value set in their life, when it's done them good. Not everyone has the same value sets, not everyone has the same perspective. There is a set of people for which religion has done harm to their life, and there is a set of people for which the absence of religion has done harm in their life. It's hard to find universal outcomes with regard to humans. My hope is people make their own decisions, rather than trust the opinions already formed by those around them. In my case, the opinion pushed on me was that religious people are dumb and naive. I never read anything since my return to the church that gave me any sense of causality between stupidity and faith. In your case it sounds like the opinion was that religion is required to be good and things were the result of gods plan and may not merit an attempt at comprehension or action. You've come to your own conclusions about the truth of that opinion, rather than trust it, and it's led to your happiness. Even if our outcomes are the same, I think the values ascribed to our happiness are the same; form your own opinions and find your own happiness.

It's a if the bible's accurate and the great tribulation, is coming, even naturalists, like Alex will likely soon be on board with christian morality. That's how stark the difference between good and bad is going to become.

You have seemed to conflate faith and politics in much the same way that you accuse your family of. If Trump is uniquely evil in your mind (the Devil if you will) and a messianic figure to your family, you are both making the same mistake. Voting for Trump doesn’t make you evil, irreligious or an heretic any more than voting Biden does. Politics isn’t God.

@@TheAmericanAmerican, I am just interested to know what terrible beliefs your family had that drove you away from the Catholic faith?

Did you mean Chris or Christ? 😂

@@coreyjury6587😅

They do seem interested in truth, such a rare quality these days. What if Jesus was right, "The truth will set you free", but so many of us would much rather be comfortable, and some even love the comfort so much they willing to kill for it. Maybe, truly "narrow is the path…"?

@@coreyjury6587 I missed that. The spell corrector in YT is appalling. Thanks.

Definitely

That would be almost uncomfortably based in the best way possible

💯

Bishop Barron would be amazing.

Bishop Barron!

I’m talking as a Christian and Christianity was never meant to be a governing rule or law. Jesus even said that: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s” or when He said: “My sovereignty is not of this world.”

​@@BroJo676of course it was. That's the sole point of religion. Especially monotheistic ones. From your own version of the supernatural, tell me about the doctrine of 2 swords in the garden of Gethsemane.

You've used the term religion and religious multiple times and I get the impression they have slightly different meanings depending on the context. What do YOU mean by religion and religious?

@@guywilletts2804 History also shows quite the contrary to what you’re saying. Christianity became a major religion from the moment on which it became the state religion of the Roman Empire back in 380 through the Edict of Thessaloniki. Before that, even when Christianity no longer was forbidden in the Roman Empire, all the Roman rulers, from the very first August to the very last in 376, were required to also act as the Roman religious leader aka Pontifex Maximus (the Greatest Priest in Latin). The Christianity adoption put an end to that because it’s legitimately understood that Jesus was not searching for and uninterested in gaining some form of political power. Now, I’m not denying there could be some influence from religious institutions but the absolute power never belonged to the Church and history clearly shows it.

I need it but I don't believe it.. I'm in denial lol

😂

I can see the appeal, though personally it never gets far since I'm like "Oh wait... I'd have to suspend my critical-thinking and disbelief to do that."

@@robbie3719 You would need to try to use your left brain a little more. Some christians are the most thourough critical thinkers I know. And how will critical thinking help you after death?

I was an atheist for 20 years, if I can do it then so can you. I pray that God will reveal himself to you fully that you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind in Christ. 🙏🏻✝️♥️

Check out the Didache. I am on a similar path as you but decided to go back to 33AD-300AD Christianity before Constantine and Europe and Calvin scrambled it.

It’s not hard to be an expert on Christianity being false tbf

@@undiscoveredstars1002 you can say the same about being an expert on it being true.

That would be an epic interview. I hope it happens.

Thankfully Christians believe in the new covenant and would consider the Old Testament non moral laws as for a specific time in the past, given in a corrupt culture. One can be a follower of Jesus and yet not affirm that all the Old Testament laws came from God word for word. Much of it reflects the authors of that time’s views. The likes of Pete Enns and Gregory Boyd are good writers to go to on the trouble of the Old Testament. Also, you can read Origen of Alexandria in the early church work’s who said that Christians should take a deeper, spiritual understanding of all scripture and where possible a literal understanding.

And the masses are always amazed when they arent used to it swinging

but there is a reason for said swinging. it doesnt just occur

@@harrywatson2694 yes, cause and effect, amazing

The rise to Christ and Islamism in the west will push the minority atheist movement off the cliff

Atheism is not a pendulum, it’s an anomaly in history that has utterly failed. The people have awoken to the realization that with the removal of God from society, the downfall of society simultaneously occurs because they are inextricably linked, and more importantly it is a false belief. It now faces disintegration, for it offers society nothing but lies and ruin. The future is Theist. ❤

Leaving a comment so the future replies will remind me to look this up

@@The_Red_Off_Road just go search for it and save it to your "watch later" bucket. 🖖

Look it up

just remember, the biological underpinnings of a materialist worldview are that we are meat computers and nothing matters, which ofc isn't actually truly believed by anyone but it sounds sophisticated and calculated.

​@@rdptll ​ There's a middle ground between a nihilistic meat computer and a biblical literalist... in that middle ground, we have a spectrum of values and ideas that can resemble a form of spirituality. A good example of that middle ground is stoicism which has become fairly popular

Yes! He will clear up a lot of Catholic misconceptions quite nicely

I hope not. I actually enjoy these podcasts and would like to continue doing so. (A bit facetious and Chris can obviously bring on whoever he wants but it wouldn’t be an episode I’d watch)

It’s atheists realizing Islam has a huge growth and wanting to make Christianity rival Islam. Choosing teams basically. But how would that help Christian’s when fake Christian’s join while Islam requires actual thought and dedication to chose Islam. Islam will continue to grow the more people open their eyes

@@abdiahmed1371 The thing is that cultural Christianity cannot help actual believers regardless of how much they engage in wishful thinking. The moment the trans-ideology and wokism go down (assuming they will, which I am not sure about) the old things that drove people away from Christianity in the first place (the stance on homosexuality & abortion, purity culture, mental gymnastics to justify biblical claims etc.,) will cause all those self-proclaimed cultural Christians to move away as quickly as they joined. And yes, Islam will continue to grow as long as countries don't change their immigration policies and don't adopt integration-first approach. I doubt that this will happen as such stance requires the acknowledgment that cultures are not equal.

@@three_owl_night I agree with all that u said except Islam will continue to grow whether immigration/integration is managed or not. The reason why is because Islam teaches that devotion and morals is for God and from God. Everything a Muslim does is with the belief that God will judge them on it and will either reward them or punish them and that this life that last less than a 100 years is not greater than the next life that last forever. Paradise is worth the struggle and is motivation to do good in this life so that you live there best life in the next

Not in the US. In the US, immigration makes us more Christian, not less.

Except that in this particular case, Jesus actually demanded belief (faith - they are the same word in Greek). The gospel of John could not be more explicit, it states multiple times that the purpose of the whole piece is that you believe in Jesus and Jesus says that that's what you need to do repeatedly. "That all who believe may not perish". "No one comes to the Father except through me". Etc.

​@@SeanusAurelius I understand your point, and you can see similar cases in other religions. The Jews demanded Samuel unite all tribes under one kingdom and find a king, so no one came to God except through Saul. From an unreligious perspective, this is a smart strategy. By telling people they must come to you first, you gain control over the chain that connects humanity to God. This is why Muhammad claimed to be the last true prophet, to gain power over that chain. The Old Testament opens with Genesis, telling two different creation stories. Which one should we believe? Or perhaps it's simply a good, nonliteral story. Maybe God wanted to share values, morals, and rules to help us become better people, and the best way to do that is by mixing parts of history with good storytelling.

The point of Christianity is that you are saved by faith, the thief being crucified performed no works and followed no specific morals of Jesus. Yet Jesus says he will go to heaven. These people and their fruit are closer to atheists or Jews than Christians.

@@yanivhadar4489 The morals Jesus taught isn't just to be "good" in this life, but to have a personal relationship with him and be with him forever in the next life though. And it's not about gaining power- many of the early Christians were persecuted and killed for being Christians. Even Jesus himself was tortured and crucified, and said his followers shouldn't be surprised if the world hates us for following him.

Except Jesus was gay and had 12 boyfriends

Such diversity!

​@Mountainimtheclouds You can still care about humanity as an atheist. First, you could care from a position of empathy. Second, from self-interest. It benefits me to have society flourish and prosper. And, if I want to stretch it further, a highly technological future civilisation is my best bet at immortality. So even as a nihilist it makes sense for me to desire the flourishing of humanity.

You MUST CHOOSE to believe. The Gospels were eye witness accounts; they told stories of what was seen; Jesus’ followers were prisoner/tortured/killed for telling His story; thousands of people suddenly went from being Jewish to believing in Christ. You don’t have to believe, many who saw Jesus miracles didn’t believe, so you must CHOOSE to believe based on the evidence we have on hand. Based on the evidence, it’s certainly not irrational to choose to believe.

​​@@Lorenzo1972.But is the evidence trustworthy? Is it real evidence, or fabrications?

​@@someonesomeone25 before any religion ,human beings had empathy and had a mutual interest in seeing their communities flourish. The fact we existed to the point religions were created would show this. As without religions we woukd ahve destroyed ourselves.The idea across religions that human beings needed a set of rules as a guide not to hurt each other not only fell on deaf ears- as religions went to break its commandments by going to war in "the name of god". But also insults the human condition of that we are caring by nature ,but are also contradictory.

Thats a great question. I don't believe that people suspend their belief when they try to prove or invent something but perform tests,experiments or explore to come to a plausible and explainable conclusion. The ideas/events of religions are not plausible or explainable. Nor have they been repeated in history. The people who told these stories are saying they really happened. Recently there have been stuides to show that a type of fungi has been found in archaelogical sites that drinking pots etc had signs of having hallucinogenic properties which would be plausible to explain peoples claims but disprove them as extraordinary,just a damn good trip 😂.

It's more because they don't care nor find the need to. They just like to play pretend to be part of the group.

🙏

Yes brother! You nailed it perfectly. ✝️❤️

Amen brother

I'm Catholic from France, I offer my blessings to you, my Orthodox brother. I have immense respect for the Russian and Greek Eastern Orthodox traditions, as well as the Oriental Orthodox communities in Ethiopia, Armenia, Syria, and Egypt.

@@PierreJJ. Orthodox Christians love Jesus just like Protestants. We differ in style, but we all know who saved our souls by dying on that cross.

Doesn’t seem like that to me tbf

I recoil automatically as soon as a ‘movement’ starts to feel like a dogma…. And I suspect Hitchens would have too.

I don’t get why people are blaming the new atheists for all the progressive ideologies. Seems more a product of postmodernism

By progressive do you mean let the gays be? Or healthcare is a right not a privilege? Or something else?

I feel that the cause and effect is the other way around. People will rationally change their belief based on what they see is more convenient to act on, and very few people actually have the meta-cognitive ability to see what they are doing. I think that the reality hits first before beliefs, not the other way around. People are blindly following this cult of ridiculous progressiveness not because they decided not to believe in Christianity but because what they want in their life is against the teaching of Christianity. I see them as "atheist by convenience". And I actually do not like these progressive political ideologies, despite being an atheist myself. I'm an atheist not because it's convenient for me, but because I think it's just the right answer. Political ideologies has nothing to do with my reason for being atheist. And people who are, in my opinion, is just an opportunist than anything else.

Why don't you try and choose to believe allah split the moon.

Truth, beauty, and goodness, the three transcendentals, lead many to God.

I don't understand how you find it a choice to believe. Can you believe there is no gravity? Can you go up a very tall tower and decide that you can fly?

It sounds you’re choosing to believe the good stuff in the Bible and maybe choosing to ignore some of the not-so-good stuff. Which is fine, those are the best kinds of Christians.

@@markallen8022because the existence of God can neither be proven nor disproven; it’s a choice each of us has to make, and reasonable minds can and have disagreed.

The lesson right after the parable is that Jesus speaks in parables for the explicit purpose of people having a hard time understanding him my dude.

We no longer buy that excuse. Just admit what we already know about such an aweful self-righteous people.

In your photo, you look pretty much like the rest of us. I can't imagine how you can hope to spread your "message" if you doggedly refuse to "act, look, or talk like the rest of the world".

@@Trumpulator Christians are often on the receiving end of criticism- as your comment displays lol

Amen! My grandson, at age 13, claimed to be an atheist. His father is a professor at an Ivy League where quite a few of the students are atheists, and they live on campus. I think he thought it was cool and made him look smarter. Now, at 15, he has softened a bit. When they visited me at Christmas, he offered to go to Church with me, which was a surprise. When he came home, he told his parents that Christians are nicer people than his atheist friends, and then he told them I think I want to marry a Christian girl. What a delight to hear. One of the top scientists in the U.S., Dr. Francis Collins, was an atheist. He has a PhD in chemistry from Yale and then decided to get an M.D. He was the director of NIH and worked under three presidents. He was the lead scientist of the Human Genome Project, which saved millions of people. After noticing his religious patients lived better, were healthier, and handled serious illness better, he looked into Christianity at the advice of his patient. He became a Christian and has written several books on God. I love his book, "A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, The Language of God." He takes it from a scientific viewpoint why belief in God is reasonable and why the Christian God makes sense.

@@tomcoop9750 Christians are often on the deserving end of criticism

So you love the fruit but hate the tree? I see.

God is as real as it gets, my bro. Do you think atoms spontaneously appeared and randomly collided till we have humans with eyes and brains with consciousness? Intelligent design is obvious.

@@patrick9445 If God has the power to create the universe and all life, why children with cancer my bro?

@@patrick9445 that's a nice straw man of naturalism.

@@Maxfox11 Search 'Apologetics' on KZfaq. There are many eloquent answers to that question. A common view is that life is a very short test and suffering is part of existence for all people before we spend eternity in bliss. That is an excellent deal on balance. During our time on Earth, man has free will and he is free to make life awful for other people. Additionally, as mortal beings, we will all get sick, suffer and die. This will happen at different times for different people for different reasons. Cancer as a child. Parkinson's at 80. Christians don't pretend to know why people die. We just try to accept it and appreciate the time we have. Having gratitude for life and stoic acceptance of suffering are just some of the gifts that come from Christianity.

That would be watchable.

Fellow Australian, we are actually more Christian then you think. 30% of parents and rising use fee charging Christian schools. Christianity is still the majority religion at about 50%, in the UK it is a minority. Was it Kevin Rudd?

@@grannyannie2948that’s a shame

@@undiscoveredstars1002 Why?

“Continues to grow amongst the younger generations.” Of course! In underdeveloped countries which aren’t well educated… In developed countries, that can’t be said.

@@theinvestingpalace4710 I would argue that if the underdeveloped countries are uneducated academically, the developed countries are miseducated spiritually, morally or ethically, take your pick of what suits your fancy.

@@thomaslacroix6011 lmao, no. Smarter people see the foolishness in religion.

​@@theinvestingpalace4710Totally ridiculous statement. Smart people are just easily fooled by themselves. The echo chamber of a smart man's mind is often inescapable. When you've convinced yourself of a falsehood, such as "there is no god", you're often trapped by your own hubris.

@@theinvestingpalace4710 So you believe that the developed countries have, right now, a healthy understanding of morality?

Yup thats exactly what I was thinking.

Exactly. It’s not new.

It's a new term for it. I assume because people today are too afraid to call them "fake Christians"

It's more like it used to be something really taboo back in the day. Nowadays it seems like it's more accepted, specially because a lot of religious institutions feel threatened so they are now kind of forced to try and welcome those people who don't really believe but want to play pretend.

Everyone likes a fairytale

😂

Agreed. Well worded. People have tried finding solace in the logic of new atheism but like all movements, it was destined to have a deadline to its popularity. It alienated a lot of people and the pendulum is swinging back to a mean position and in some parts of the world, to the other extreme as well.

@@alinachrist8416 for sure. I think there is a spacious meeting ground for all of us. Assuming there will be a perfectly harmonious future one day can also mislead us. Peace and love are a means, not an eventual end. Aka I don’t think unity=final same thinking for everyone, but unity= an effort to collaborate despite not thinking the same. Our diversity/collaboration, once you accept it’s gonna always be that way, is actually pretty fun! :)

That is very well articulated. My husbands side of the family is very religious, and all their testimonies share those elements you mentioned; some of them are obvious and on the surface, others are less articulated but still clearly observable from someone on the outside like myself. The obvious ones are the hope of salvation (eternal life after death which makes everything that happens in life bearable) and knowledge that everything is God's will (which is order, regardless of whether one likes that order or not). The less obvious one is the in/out group dynamics.

I agree with you, but religion is much more susceptible than other identity groups at being weaponized. Fanaticism is much easier when you literally believe that God is on your side.

Islam is the exception to the rule that the villainy of any religion is in the misappropriation by its adherents. Islam is the religion of peace in the same way that the ministry of truth is a ministry for truth.

These kinds of comments always try and fail to create a false equivalence between the Abrahamic faiths. Few people want to pin their names to the belief that Islam, of the three, is demonstrably worse and substantially more dangerous. Christianity's problem is its adherents, Islam's problem is the faith.

​@@ZyroZoro What bout communism? Is communism not an weaponizable identity group? Did it not cause even more harm than what Christianity ever did?

What I've found is very often the case, is that while the Christian calling is to emulate Christ (serving the least of these, putting their sins on the cross, and so on), there are many who are Christians in name only. They like the idea of Jesus, but to follow his teachings would mean to give up their self serving passions. And while the standard for priests and bishops is so much higher because they're meant to be representing Christ here on Earth, they're still mere mortals, who are still subjects to the same desires as the rest of us. And some of them simply don't want to let go of their sin, plus the occasional wolf in sheep's clothing. With a high role in the church comes a degree of power. And as the saying goes, power corrupts.

You are wrong... He knows that Eastern Philosophy of "finding God inside yourself" is one of the worst possible Philosophical ideas. Love the God inside yourself is to Love yourself. Finding Peace inside you is to ignore all those who need help outside you. You can understand it better from a Slavoj Zizek book called "Christian Atheism". PS: There are many Christian books better than this one, criticizing Buddhism for example, but I am not going to recommend it.... I know you wouldn't read them just because they are Christian books .... Better recommend a Left wing Atheist book to explain what I am trying to say.

@@alextyze I can appreciate your comment. Not sure you understand eastern concepts well but you had limited space to explain. It's not about finding god within yourself or to love yourself, and if it was that would still not negate helping others suffering. It's difficult to liberate others from suffering if you are suffering yourself internally. I was a Christian for over 30 years and spent 7 years of it in a theological seminary. Most likely a lot of what you've read and found helpful I might have read or approached from a different writer or perspective. Nevertheless, I still hold that Alex' discussions will be greater once he begins to look at and incorporate more eastern approaches but his audience, like yourself, likely would find it to different an environment to comprehend and incorporate easily.

How can you be both sacred and profane at the same time? To be sacred it to be set apart for a specific purpose. It's impossible to be set apart and also adulterated with that which is NOT sacred.

why do you call them things sacred and profane if they are the same?

​@@corygiesbrecht9133I wouldn't necessarily say that it's because the environment would be too different to comprehend (though it may be part of it). But it's mostly about relevance, most of his audience is not interested in eastern religion which is why he doesn't talk about it much.

Let me guess, "spiritual but not religious"? Or maybe My guess is, it seems like you were raised in a strict fundamentalist situation, and experienced a lot of trauma, and not a lot of real Christianity. Unfortunately your situation is not unique. I think it's incredibly hard to be raised that way growing up, trying to live to these impossible standards, while watching the people around you live 2 separate lives. The public perfect life, and the actual real life of sinners. Some people have a very hard time getting past that.

I don't know if you are in the States or elsewhere. I grew up Catholic and lapsed for many years, before realizing how ugly and evil a world without Christ and Christianity actually is. Unfortunately, much of American Christianity is impotent and effeminate and false.

Religion can't replace the medication you actually need. The irony when an atheist claims a Christian needs to be medicated, not God. But an Atheist can say they need to not have God, when in reality.... you just need to be medicated. Just like us.

@@legion9396 i remember this quote from a hindu master: "There are many paths to climb the mountain, the only one losing time is he who goes from path to path yelling to others their path is wrong". I was an atheist that thought religion should be outright banned from existence, now am a revert muslim, not only i gain love to my faith but also love to the christians that i grew up with and that used to despise. This thing called life its weird and can make people take different paths with both good and evil in those, but nobody will be judged unfairly in the hereafter.

It’s extremely common for people to ‘find themselves’ by rejecting the belief structures in which they were raised. Doesn’t matter what that belief system was. Example: Christians becoming atheists and atheists becoming Christians.

Jesus was gay

Mega church’s are money siphons for poor people

Isaiah teaches a false gospel. All the deliverance ministries are deceiving people. Revealing Truth youtube channel shows many examples of Isaiah's false teachings.

No such thing as a convinced Christian

@@undiscoveredstars1002 okay then a real Christian

You can't be objectively decent.

In the west dislike of islam is certainly right wing. Left wingers are more prone to see muslims as an oppressed minority and racism victims so they'll be unable to dislike it for those reasons

100%. There are many reasons to dislike the practices of Islam. Of course, this does not mean that we have to dislike muslims as people. Oftentimes they are the ones that bear most of the consequences of certain beliefs put into practice. For example, long-term consequences that Ramadan has on children developing in the womb should make us consider the extent to which dogma/tradition/religion can affect individuals. Obviously, not all religions are the same, but I find that each has it’s own disagreeable portion of dogma that more often contributes more pain to the world than not. Hinduism would be another example of a set of ideas that lead to stagnation. I got this from Rumi Hasan’s “Religion and Development in the Global South” where he develops this more thoroughly.

In America, any religion that isn’t Christianity has traditionally been seen as a threat. Different religion is a different voting bloc for one thing, and Islam was seen as the religion of foreigners and people of color. And therefore a threat. Might be shifting a bit now, but that was the status quo for decades at least.

Yeah, yet its the left that allows it to enter West and seems to promote it. Just like in Iran.

I don't think it's a shallow idea that's the right wing is opposed to Islam when you consider that the right ring is pro-israel and pro-Christianity. The only religion that Christians partially respect is Judaism

I agree. I was raised theological and my family is really strict and conservative. They are so firm that Peterson sometimes puts them off because he hasn’t made the full leap into believing the fundamentals we believe. I am of the sort that I think a lot of these folks are getting there but it’s a full commitment and one can’t just take part of being a Christian and leave the parts they don’t like behind. As a Christian myself I have a lot of work to do and we all fall short of the kingdom of God. My reasoning for the revival we are seeing is because our foundation was shaken so badly in the west that we are crying out for the solid ground that was crumbled by the enlightenment and now the far left throwing it all away. That’s why we have climate emergencies and trust the science and longevity as a health trend. We want to preserve this present state as best we can because society doesn’t believe there is more than the physical being. But there is. Oh yes there is and I pray every day for guidance and believe Jesus is God. I see Gods work every day I go out and photograph birds in nature. Beauty is all around us and is from His hands. ❤

​@@gary_michael_flanagan_wildlifeBeautifully put my brother.

@@gary_michael_flanagan_wildlife thank you for such a thoughtful response. Absolutely agree with you.

@@DaniShugs yw!! We are in very trying times and a lot of people are lost. We do our best to be humble and open to helping as a guiding light!

I like Cliffe but it seems a more scientific approach is what these viewers woud listen to. I would recommend someone like Dr. Hugh Ross (Astrophysicist) for that.

That's what I tried to say on the snippet they released a few days ago too.

Lol

Yea cause it never went anywhere.

​@@Dontdoit_what? Christian populations are decreasing... and they're decreasing everywhere

Can you elaborate?

I went to a Unitarian Universalist church a few times. They did some semblance of worship, but if any of them believed in God they definitely didn’t talk about it.

Dunno man, family and friends are pretty cool.

Considering both Alex and Chris have no idea what the Bible actually means or what faith or spirituality is, their conversation reveals they know next to nothing about what’s happening

@@JaniceThompson228 Alex has probably read the Bible back to front more times than you lol. You’re upset bc of what he has to say it’s ok

Also, mass sport has replaced worshipping the Word with a ball.

What? That has nothing to do with secularism, the United States is extremely consumerist and has been religious to a fault for most of its history

Correlation does not mean causation... Just because consumerism went up at the same time as secularism doesn't mean that one is causing the other. And who exactly would be doing this? What atheist has enough power in the U.S. (which is more consumerist than the other less religious western countries) to decide that we will now replace religion with consumerism. Please think about things like this a bit longer before so confidently stating a hypothesis that you won't be able to prove.

Conversely, many religious people are specifically the consumers who keep buying items of "religious significance"

No one hates Christianity tho.

Does that still apply when people do not like Christianity because of the acts of Christians?

@@Toanleigh Yes, essentially what it means is that when you make being a Christian so easy that it is as simple as a cultural phenomena, then the risk and radical calling that Jesus truly calls his followers to is lost. If people ACTUALLY acted out what Jesus taught, it wouldn't be as culturally popular as it has been. The reason it is popular and loved in the world is because we have made it so easy to call yourself a Christian.

That is definitely untrue. A bunch of prominent KZfaq atheists -- Paul Ens (Paulogia), Bart Ehrman, Matt Dillahunty, Kristi Burke, Prophet of Zod, Viced Rhino, Seth Andrews (The Thinking Atheist) -- spent years activity participating in conservative Christian church ministries, either doing pastoral work, or in some other leadership role. And that's just those I follow. There are many more, including former pastors, who were steeped in Christian theology before they left.

@EnglishMike I would agree but almost all (not familiar with some of them) show so much disdain, disrespect, and bad faith when arguing I don't think they'd be able to pretend to be Christians.

@@Jerh1985 "a lot of people need the leash it provides"....I agree with that. Unfortunately the Christian Nationalist movement sees the need for a longer leash. Or leash adjacent.

The problem is that conservatives will stop at nothing to have the bible dictate law. Which is absolutely far worse than what's going on in society right now. Nothing will ruin America faster than religious nationalism and theocracy

Leash? Weird way of conceptualizing choosing Order, Logos: order of the cosmos, order of the creator. I use my "Liberty" and free will to choose and serve that order instead of not as a limitation of my unfettered "Liberty" and fallen nature passions described as sins, some that cry out to heaven for Justice, if true, would then the "reap what you sow" and "get leaders you deserve" hold new meanings, symbolism?

its not a leash

Ah, yes, the insistence of control over the "other." I'm sure that won't backfire. Honestly, I'm not buying that society is so much more depraved and degenerate than ever. I think we can see more of it now and everyone is panicking because the thin veneer of perceived order that was the unknown is gone now.

Not really until 100 years ago everyone knew that Christ walked this earth. That’s why it’s the year 2024. These guys are lost, but I once was too till I was outside my physical body and now am not a believer but a knower.

Not my church. We get new visitors all the time. It depends on the denomination.

A lot of people pretending.

@@Fernando-ek8jp I used to think like that too till I was outside my physical body

@@RichardTavilla That is completely irrelevant. Even if I were to agree that the supernatural is real, it wouldn't change the fact that a lot of people that go to church are just pretending that they believe

People who convert for political reasons, at least to more "traditional" Christianity, burn out in two ways: they either burn off their political view and move away from worldly ideas, or burn out of the church. Can't speak for protestant churches, but that's what I've seen in my Orthodox parish especially among young men.

And now many Christians just want to burn the whole field, it seems.

Our founding fathers wanted a separations of church and state They did not like the church 😂 Kinda of a misnomer there

Foundation? Anything related to democracy or human rights comes either from pre-christian era or enlightenment period.

@@milansvancarathe idea that every human being has a sense of dignity is a fundamentally Christian idea. There is absolutely no human rights without it.

@@willhedges6639 What a bs

Congrats you joined the atheist religion

Wait till you see the negative in the atheist group...

Define "them." When I go to church, it's nothing but a positive experience. Even if you're an adamant atheist and went to my church, you may be weirded out by the worship, but you'd feel nothing but love and kindness from the people there.

God was truly cruel to put you in such a situation...to create your entire seeing around him being the only route to relief...sounds like an abusive relationship

@@warbler1984 it’s abusive to study the Bible and theology for several years, come to believe God and then through Jesus I’ve began to transform my life and everyone around me is noticing? God didn’t put myself in that situation, I did. With my free will and bad decisions I ended up where I was. What are you even saying? It’s not “relief” either. It’s helping me overcome ACTUAL abusive relationships with addiction and substances. Do you know anything about Christianity? If someone finds meaning in things, that’s an abusive relationship to you? I’m sorry you grew up that way, that must be very difficult. Good luck man, I wish you the best

@@henryconner780 I think what he's saying is that its kinda fucked up to put someone in that situation in the first place knowing that such a life would lead to despair and agony, and god "did nothing until you believed." Its not like a person came into your life and made a change with their presence. Its a supposed god who knows and plans your whole life supposedly before your born. If gods were real then they would make sure there are ways to ensure someone will have a happy life and not lose their free will doing it. But no, he intentionally made the events of your life lead to drugs addictions and feelings of suicide. Also God didn't give you strength at all you found the strength within yourself to overcome those obstacles. Stories like yours are great but when i hear people not give themselves the credit they deserve and give it to some god, its just frustrating. Also Grew up Baptist and reading the bible was ONE of the things that lead to my deconstruction....Hell i think it single handedly started me to question my birth religion in the first place. Its a pretty fucked up book all through, but especially the old testament. Definitely not for children. believe or don't believe, its clearly helped you, but the fact i can go to india and find people saying the same thing about hinduism, and Saudi Arabia with Islam, is pretty damning for any religion

@@XxUSAF1RExX… jesus christ wishes he was you. Can i pray to you? Cuz GODDAMN that shit was impressive. I literally could not have said it better myself. Like do you have any other comments to people i can read, cuz that shit made my whole day… and i just woke up. Live Long Legend

@@XxUSAF1RExX I’m Christian Orthodox. We believe free will, I had thought my responsibility was implied through my free will. It seems you don’t understand Orthodox theology, that’s perfectly fine, you have never been exposed to it maybe. We believe God knows our lives and how they would unfold in every scenario. So it’s not Orthodox to believe God made me do evil, that’s heretical. I chose to do evil, I chose to let temptations control my life, and I chose to ignore the good. I chose to be weak hearted and let worldly pleasures destroy me. The Father most certainly gave me strength through Jesus Christ, and his teachings has given me profound strength in my life. We Orthodox truly believe that suffering and going through what I did for example, is in many ways a gift from God. For it makes man holy to go through suffering, it makes man have love and humility in his heart. That’s a serious blessing. You contradict yourself, you claim God is the one who made me do evil things, but yet, when I mention the strength and courage I’ve gotten through God, you easily dismiss God for being the one to help me. It’s contradictory at its core, and lacks logical cohesion. Of course, I understand I chose to start doing good. I also think your broad parallels to other religions is dishonest and vague I’ve studied world religions in college at University of Michigan, while there may be some parallels it really isn’t the same.

nothing is ever enough

These podcasts don't pay for themselves. Studios, equipment, office, fees, airfares, and there are editors, managers and families to feed. Too lazy to click forward but will take the time to complain and be a keyboard warrior. Don't watch then. Unsubscribe. Bye. I doubt Chris would care.

What does that cross mean?

Except there you want to argue that Christianity is the most popular religion worldwide. Lol

Humans and primates aren't the same thing either... because humans are a type of primate like Catholicism is a type of Christianity.