"I don't know what it would take to convince me that God exists. But if God does exist, then He would know what it takes to convince me of His existence (and He should also be capable of accomplishing this task). And the fact that He has failed to do so at this time means only one of two things: He truly does not exist, or He doesn't want me to know that He exists (or He simply doesn't care)."1
I myself have heard the popular atheist Matt Dillahunty make similar statements.2
Dr. Craig's response was as follows:
"Notice that the objector assumes that God has middle knowledge: 'if God does exist, then He would know what it takes to convince me of His existence.' But then the objection is undone by such knowledge: for in that case God may have known that no matter what evidence He provided, the hardened heart of the excuse-maker would have resisted it and failed to come to love and serve God. Recall that God isn’t interested in merely convincing people to add another item (God) to their ontological inventory. Rather He wants each person to come into a love relationship of worshiping and knowing God. Even if He supplied coercive evidence of His existence, that is no guarantee that the excuse-maker would freely come to love and worship the being whose existence he has been forced to acknowledge. Hence, God is under no obligation to provide greater evidence that He has, since He knew that it wouldn’t do any good.
The conclusion of the objection 'The fact that He has failed to do so at this time means only one of two things: He truly does not exist, or He doesn't want me to know that He exists (or He simply doesn't care)' is a non-sequitur. For another explanation is that God knew that providing more evidence wouldn’t do any good. Yet another explanation, however, is that God will provide such evidence to our buck-passing friend in the future once his heart has softened and is more open to God’s overtures. Either way the blame, for now, falls on the unbeliever himself, not on God."3
What do you think of WLC's response? How would you answer this popular atheist response? Please share in the comments!
Courage and Godspeed,
Chad
Footnotes:
1. Dr. William Lane Craig, #753 A New Atheist Cop-Out?, Oct. 10, 2021.
2. For an example, see Dillahunty's debate with Trent Horn here.
3. Craig, Ibid.
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1. Dr. William Lane Craig, #753 A New Atheist Cop-Out?, Oct. 10, 2021.
2. For an example, see Dillahunty's debate with Trent Horn here.
3. Craig, Ibid.
Related Posts
Common Objection - "If your God really existed, you wouldn't need arguments."
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The "Who Made God?" Question as a Logical Fallacy
Comments
"I've been searching and praying for many many years, yet God still hasn't reveal Himself to me. Guess He doesn't exist, after all."
How should we properly respond to that?
That is a good question. I suppose their is a beginning of a possible answer in WLC's response:
God will provide such evidence...in the future once his heart has softened and is more open to God’s overtures.
However, perhaps the skeptic believes that his heart is softened and he really is just waiting for God to reveal Himself. Here, I can only speculate, but it could be that God knows the skeptic is learning something in the seeking that will eventually be part of a powerful testimony when he does come to believe. Or, perhaps, the seeking needs to happen to fully open/soften the heart of the unbeliever.
Ultimately, because we have good reasons to believe that Christianity is true, we can trust that when God reveals Himself to the skeptic, if the skeptic indeed is opened to Him, it will be at just the right time.
Godspeed and thank you for reading!