Does God Exist? - Debate - Matt Dillahunty vs. Cliffe Knechtle

Debate - Matt Dillahunty vs. Cliffe Knechtle

[atheistrex]

This isn't really a debate. Cliff is just preaching.

[morphicsm]

I found Cliffe to be disingenuous, consistently misrepresenting both the bible and Matt's position. I was hoping for some deep arguments from the Christian perspective, but instead Cliffe flowed anecdotes and built straw men enough to fill all the fields of England.

[griffisjm]

I really hate it because I was enjoying this debate but I've lost all respect for Matt here towards the end. His lies have reached a point that I just can't overlook. I think he's absolutely wrong on his ideas about the Bible. He clearly lacks understanding of the scriptures and is mixing the actions of people with the will of God. His assertion that Mother Teresa was some horrible Masochist Tyrant, and I'm not saying she is perfect, because a man that has a complete disdain for and an unobjective view of anything religious to the point that he said if God was real he'd rather curse God to his face instead of respecting him said so. All that is bad enough, but to make the ridiculous claim that Hitler was a Christian is just so incredibly stupid and disingenuous I must conclude he knows he's wrong and is attempting to smear both cliff and any believer. There have been both academic papers and books and lectures on the subject. Hitler WAS NOT a Christian. Hitler despised jews and was well aware that the origin of both the protestant and Catholic churches was with Jesus a jew, and that the God of the Bible had Jews as his chosen people. Hitler was a devout believer in Nature and Darwinism/pantheism. His idea that Humans are just evolved was LITERALLY what led to the idea that the Aryan race was superior, that the jews/gypsies/African races were inherently inferior and not deserving of life. He was a strong believer in eugenics and that people with disabilities were a courage on society and should not be allowed to live or reproduce. A simple read through historic scholars or even his own words in books such as table talk without a doubt demonstrates this. Matt's claims are patently false and despicable. Matt is not a dumb or ignorant person, I have heard too many of his talks to believe that for a second therefore I can only assume he was trying to make Cliff and Christains look bad which is why he said such Crap.

[zakariyarazi]

I am an ex-Muslim. It was very hard to leave Islam. Many years of struggle to leave the faith I was born into. However, now I know it is Jesus the Christ who chose me. I am happy for those days of pain. I like to watch debates on God's existence but never debate with anyone. It is useless according to me. Someone who is looking for God will only find Him. And also, if Jesus does not select someone he can't have faith. Many people who only debate about God's existence are not seeking truth. But I like honesty of some Atheists. Matt is one of them. At least he is far far better than a hypocrite who calls himself Christian for convenience but has not denied himself yet and not carrying his cross and following Christ. Cliffe has patience like a tortoise. I love him. May "Abba" bless him and his family. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Christ and He is the King.

[johnnymanhands]

Respect to Cliffe for keeping comments open.

[regigarza]

I used to be agnostic, until one day I started to think what’s the meaning of it all? Work, make money, having a family, kids, death, for what? A limited time. Then I became so scared of life after death and for the first time ever I prayed to God that if he was real he would send someone to guide me towards him because doing it alone was too hard. Months later, I met someone in college from Chi Alpha, and they introduced me to the Bible. I Did my research, read and investigated the chronological timeline, authors, time, and the word of God. As I read through the book of John, my heart was being transformed in a way that I can’t explain.... I was filled with the Holy Spirit and repented of my sins and even though I don’t understand everything; I accept it because Christ died for me.
He set me free of my sins, and transformed my heart. Thank you God for changing my stubborn, and prideful self.


I pray for you, that you will seek the truth and find out that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life✨💖
Take your time, God is so patient and loving.

[borbafatt]

I can’t count how many times Cliff says follow the evidence. Which is hilarious because all of his claims have zero evidence. Thanks for the advice Cliff.

[clearascrystal]

As an ex-atheist, what I did was read the gospels and left out whether it all happened or not, and simply came to the conclusion that if Jesus were real, I would want to know Him. Well that is exactly what God did.

[ryangray]

He also seems like he is purposefully distorting the truth when he says his atheist friends live for money. That is complete bullshit. This is nasty ugly fallacy (Dicto simpliciter). That frankly disgusts me in how he uses it. Trying to make it seem as if atheist are greedy people. I think most humans live for the experience. That entails everything our experience comes with. If you live in a society where money is necessity for food and needed resources then you do "need" money in that sense. Especially as a means of promoting philanthropy (charity organizations). He doesn't make this distinction. He continues by saying pleasure is what they live for. As if god isn't just an opiate for the people who fear death. He says many people do like money... its beneficial. Its so sad he generalizes people who cant defend themselves to make other people who are watching think the wrong things... this is dishonesty. I cant understand why people are saying they admire his honesty. All he did the whole time was appeal to emotion and fallacies. And then in his own words passed it off as "logic/ clear thinking" and "truth". 

[judithsanders]

Children can't understand the concept of a god until they're at least 3 or 4. And yet, they are born with the capacity to love. Animals never know anything about god, and yet they love.

[zacrl]

As an atheist, it's pretty clear that Mr. Knechtle was not talking to me...

[gregm]

I actually couldn't watch this whole video. The Atheist's argument are so full of straw men that it's too painful to listen to. That said, I would challenge Matt Dillahunty to disassemble his wristwatch completely, then throw all the pieces into the air non-stop until they become anything functional. Any intellectually honest person knows that it would never happen (and that is with pieces already designed by an intellect to be functional) -- he would simply go to his grave trying to prove his hypothesis that all the functional order and fine tuning in the Universe came about by accident.
The second point is that I hear this atheist and others talk about how belief in God is not necessary for people to lead 'good' lives. The terms 'good' and 'evil' only have meaning in reference to a moral law giver -- without God there is no objective basis for 'good' and 'evil'. The fact is that those who reject God tend to be very self interested, and in actual practice they may be polite, law abiding, etc., but in regard to sacrificial giving of resources and time to help fellow humans, their walk does not equal their talk -- when was the last time you saw and 'American Atheists' 18 wheeler pulling into a tornado ravaged town with medical supplies, food, and volunteer workers -- none that I am aware of.
And lastly, the logical societal conclusion of Atheism is simply dictatorial rule by whoever has the biggest club. The Bible declares that such a world leader will ultimately declare total power and demand devotion -- and it won't be a picnic when it happens. Praise God that rule will only last for 3.5 Yrs. before Jesus returns.

[shanebakke]

45 minutes in...  is Cliffe actually going to make real points... or just preach?  EVERYTHING he is saying is just a sermon with fluffy thoughts and wishful thinking.  This guy doesn't actually know how to debate....  kind of sad really.  At least Matt is addressing the points very clearly and not with tales of yore, and excepts from the bible that are subject to interpretation. 
Cliffe pretty much proves my point in his response to life after death...  wishful thinking.  He is clearly being intellectually dishonest.  Appeals to claims with no proof and asserting that it is true.  Matt already rebutted that with the alien analogy.  You have thousands of people alive today that "claim" aliens, why shouldn't I believe them, but believe a 2000 year old account in a book that has been translated and rewritten many times. 

[UpTheHarbour]

the emotional appeals are strong with this one ounce of evidence towards his wold view...just faith

[Exceltrainingvideos]

A fascinating debate! I think that God is a concept to help us humans live within certain boundaries and avoid becoming monsters. Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Mohammad were all great human beings and wanted to give our lives a certain direction according to their ideas and concepts prevalent in their times. Unfortunately in the name of God humanity has done a lot of wrong things - just to prove my God is better than yours. The situation has become alarming today. Muslims and Christians are out o destroy the world - each religious community assuming that they have been wrongly hurt by the other. Based on just this fact and that science has provided many solutions for the benefit of human-kind, I tend to agree with Matt. Let's keep our God love or Christ love private. Let's be secular. Let our laws be secular. Let's love each other not because we are Muslims or Christians or Hindus but because love makes a lot of sense - economically or otherwise.

[mikhailyaremkiv]

Matt sounds like the "use my pronoun"/white supremacy/ social justice warriors of 2022 🤣

[alwaysthinkforyourself]

I'm sorry Cliffe, but your attitude pushes myself and others I know away from being able to listen to a word you are saying.  Very difficult trying to understand that you actually believe what you are saying, due to the edge in your voice.

[ryanuttley]

I laughed out loud when Matt was introduced as the PRESIDENT of atheism 😂

[jail]

all these people critical of Cliff, wouldn't talk like this in public or in any serious forum. typical keyboard warriors that get no respect here or in open, honest discussions.

[ChipFox]

Cliff uses so many tired old arguments from Christian apologetics that have already been shelved while ignoring everything Matt says... so much #Facepalm