Dr. William Lane Craig Reveals the Best Ways to Debate Atheists

In this clip, Christian philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig reveals the best ways to win debates with atheists.

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#WilliamLaneCraig #Apologetics #Debates

[josh_d_w____]

Does being married for two decades count for debate training? Asking for a friend

[flyguy]

The best way to “argue” with anyone is to:
1. Have a civil dialogue

2. Don’t assume ill intentions

3. Don’t assume their beliefs

4. Don’t assume their history

5. Be opened minded enough to assume YOU could be wrong.

6. Be clear on definitions.

7. Lastly, no one is above or below a discussion. It isn’t necessary to have a doctorate or degree of any variant to have a productive conversation. Everyone is worth discussion

[jgnichol]

Remember the goal of a Christian debate with non-believers is not to win the debate but rather to win souls. If you keep this in mind you will not loose your composure and you will utimately plants seeds of Truth and gain a victories for God. Amen!

[erichan]

“they wanna be Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens . You gotta earn that .” W. Lane Craig

[bentonvillefamily]

The title of this should have been “how to prepare for a debate” (in general)

[dohpamne]

"For anyone who wants to have this kind of ministry, preparation is going to be critical, and then what they need to do as well is they need to get some experience; they need to take a course on debating techniques, and then they need to do mock debates before they ever go into a public debate. Otherwise they risk losing and dishonoring the Gospel."


Very illuminating that this is how Craig sees debates.

[affinity]

Is William Lane Craig dishonest?

TL;DR: No.

Internet atheists may have a low opinion of him in terms of honesty or intelligence, but thankfully, this opinion is largely NOT shared by his atheist peers in philosophy and other academic atheists. Academics respect Craig as a serious philosopher and credit his work.

Is he intelligent?

He's a respected philosopher, yes. Quentin Smith writes, "a count of the articles in the philosophy journals shows that more articles have been published about Craig’s defense of the Kalam argument than have been published about any other philosopher’s contemporary formulation of an argument for God’s existence."

In atheist philosopher Graham Oppy's "Arguing About Gods", Craig is cited 23 times in the references; more times than anyone save Oppy himself.

He has a huge section in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy dedicated to his KCA (about a 4th of the article on the cosmological argument).

Dishonest?

(Atheists academics who say Dr. Craig is NOT dishonest)

- Lawrence Krauss (Atheist Physicist) -

At first we can notice the very reason that Krauss went to Australia and had the “discussions” was to expose William Lane Craig as dishonest. In an interview before the event, he is asked the question, “What’s the point of debates like this?” Here is part of his reply:

“In this particular case, I also do it because I happen to think William Lane Craig abuses science and says many, many, many things that are not only disingenuous but untruthful, but recognizes that his audience won’t know that. So one of the reasons I like to do these, and certainly why I agreed to allow the first one to be videotaped, is to demonstrate explicitly examples of where he says things that he knows to be manifestly wrong, but also knows that the audience won’t have access to the information.”

But after more discussion with Craig, surprisingly Krauss changes his mind. He says, “I’ve listened to Dr. Craig over the days, and I’ve changed my opinion. I’m much more charitable. I came here convinced, based on my past interactions and his writings, that Dr. Craig is a dishonest charlatan. But I don’t believe that. I think Dr. Craig earnestly believes deeply, in the issues he is talking about -- so deeply, and as a man of great intelligence, he is convinced that there must be a reason"

- Christopher Hitchens (Atheist Journalist) -

“But I can tell you that my brothers and sisters and co-thinkers in the unbelieving community take him [Dr. Craig] very seriously. He’s thought of as a very tough guy -- very rigorous, very scholarly, very formidable. And I say that without reserve; I don’t say that because I’m here.”

- Daniel Dennett, (Atheist Philosopher) -

After he heard Craig speak, said "That was a virtuoso job! A stunning amount of careful articulation and structure of some dauntingly difficult issues."

- Quentin Smith (Atheist Philosopher) -

On Time and Eternity, “William Lane Craig is one the leading philosophers of religion and one of the leading philosophers of time…It is a rewarding experience to read through this brilliant and well-researched book by one of the most learned and creative thinkers of our era.”to believe that way…”

- Michael Ruse, (Agnostic Philosopher) -

On his book debate with Walter Sinott Armstrong "This is a wonderful exchange about the existence of God--fast, fair, informative, intelligent, sincere, and above all terrific fun."

- Jeff Jay Lowder (Well known, Atheist Blogger) -

“As a freethinker, I think it’s important to follow the evidence wherever it leads and avoid sloppy thinking….I take the charge of dishonesty extremely seriously. Anyone who levels the accusation of dishonesty has the burden of proof, and they had better make sure they attempt to get the other person’s side of the story before publicly concluding that dishonesty is the best explanation. If Craig has been dishonest, I have yet to see any evidence of that.”

“A second allegation is that Craig is dishonest in his public debates because he uses arguments which he “knows” are false. Really? I do wonder how these people “know” what Craig thinks.”

- John W. Loftus (Atheist Blogger with a Master’s in Theology, plus some PhD level study) -

“From personal knowledge my testimony is that Bill sincerely believes and is not being dishonest with himself. Unless someone knows him better than I do then my testimony should be taken seriously. He does not think he is wrong even though he is.”

This is emphatically not the case as much as some atheists would like to think. He is delusionally dead wrong. But he sincerely believes. I know him personally and have talked with him on several occasions even after deconverting.”

- Keith Parsons (Atheist Philosopher) -

“Having debated Craig twice face to face and once in print (in the Dallas Morning News, of all places, June 13, 1998) let me weigh in on Jeff [Jay Lowder]'s side. In these debates only once did I feel that Craig said anything that even sounded like a cheap shot. This was at the debate at Prestonwood Baptist Church near Dallas with 4500 people in attendance, about 4450 of whom were on Craig's side. Craig asked whether anything would convince me that he was right. I responded, as Norwood Russell Hanson did in "What I do not Believe" that some huge display that everyone would see would convince me. Earlier, I had rejected Craig's appeal to the "500" witnesses mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians XV and noted that mass hallucinations do sometimes occur. Craig then asked whether I would not also dismiss ANY display as a hallucination, prompting much braying laughter from the highly partisan audience.

Now whether Craig was intentionally playing to the audience or not, I don't know, but this was a legitimate question and I obviously had left myself open to the rejoinder. When the laughter died I explained...Craig had no response, so I think I took the point.”

“Now if you are looking for nasty, there are people like Steve Hays, Holding/Turkel, and Ed Feser. Ad hominem, character assassination, straw man, and vituperation are their stock-in-trade. I would not at all put Craig in their sleazy category.”

- Kevin Scharp (Atheist Philosopher) -

"In assessing his arguments, I will talk as I would to any other professional philosopher whose system I’ve managed to work my way into. That is, I don’t pull punches, but I also never attack character, so it isn’t personal. Professor Craig knows this; I know this; I’m saying it for the benefit of the audience. In part, because I respect the guy. He’s got some great philosophical skills, he’s a talented system builder, which I admire, and he’s done a tremendous service to the atheist movement by trouncing most of our heroes and raising the bar on both sides. [Audience laughter] I’m serious! That’s a major benefit, a major thing that we can say thank you for."

- Peter Milican (Atheist Philosopher) -"'The Cosmological Argument for Plato to Leibniz' - that's actually my own copy, dated 1980. I got it when I when studying the B Phil here [Oxford], studying philosophy of religion under Bazil Mitchell. And it was clear, even then, that Bill's book was a new landmark in the discussion of the cosmological argument."

[Beastinvader]

He probably had The Amazing Atheist in mind.

[sisgp]

I know how he feels I would rather debate a Dawkins than my family members who are so ignorant on very basic concepts.

[filipedias]

_Atheists:_ **want to be Richard Dawkins so they can debate Lane Craig*
_Richard Dawkins:_ **is Richard Dawkins and still didn't debate Lane Craig*

[Clefme]

The first half sounds like a rationalization on how to avoid debating Matt Dillahunty.

[festushaggen]

The most important rule is to know what you’re talking about first. It’s foolish to jump into deep water with the sharks before you know how to swim.

[jrivera]

HOST: Majority of people agree you have won these debates."
mean other Christians think he won? Same way other Atheists think he lost. How is it determined that he won any of these debates? Did he convert more Atheists to Christianity? Or did the Atheists do more of the converting? Again, how do you know?

[vladmir_gladmir]

Trying everything you can to win will leave you close minded, not actually listening to the opponent, just blindly rejecting their arguments.

[wax]

Somewhere along the way we forgot what the nature of having discussions and debates was and replaced it with crass discussions that go for shock value and winning internet points.

[ShellacScrubber]

I'm sure Dr. Craig is most grateful to Kevin for allowing him to pass on these tips on this channel.

[rickintexas]

Dr. Craig is a brilliant scholar, brilliant debater, brilliant philosopher, and brilliant Christian. Thank God for William Lane Craig.

[naturalisted]

No one can decide what convinces them. You're either convinced or you're not.

[oluwafebblawrence]

This man is the greatest Christian defender ever, God bless his soul and his family abundantly with grace 🙏🏽❤️

[ryanwestler]

I'd say this guy is a master debater!