A Christian Response to CosmicSkeptic, JaclynGlenn, Penn Jillette, & Matt Dillahunty

Does atheist Penn Jillette pray? In this episode, Braxton Hunter responds to four well-known atheists as they approach the topic of prayer in varying ways.

[peli_candude]

When I was an atheist I was practicing Martial Arts and did exactly what Penn Jillettte described as a reflection at the end of the day. I did it many times during the day also when I was practicing or sparring with someone because it was simply replaying my life to mold it into something better. It worked fine for that but it fell short where all atheists will eventually find it falling short: true forgiveness.


It is only the acceptance that God exists that allows us to seek that outsider help to be forgiven and no matter how hard I tried I could not forgive myself for every thing I had done in my life that either resulted in hurting someone emotionally or physically or seeing that my actions and wishes were not in the best interest of anyone but myself.


Some people simply think they don't have to be forgiven for their actions and can go about their life merrily indulging themselves in the best of the best and thinking they are entitled to it because they somehow earned it. That says nothing about helping everyone they can help through generosity and they feel no responsibility to help them because they think they are the smart ones and figured it all out or they are incredibly fortunate and that is just their luck so screw the rest of the world.


Of course anyone who believes there is a God can identify those weaknesses that others seem to think are strengths and they wonder why society is falling apart.

[LoveYourNeighbour.]

I find your Atheist response videos SO beneficial and respectfully presented! I've literally gone through ALL of them since discovering your channel, and have made sure to share them with others. I haven't listened to this one yet (you just posted it this hour), but judging by your PREVIOUS ones, I know it's gonna be good!

[goldenalt]

In medicine, when a pill works just as well when it contains the ingredient and when it doesn't, it is considered ineffective. You just put god into that category.

[goldenalt]

What a great description of confirmation bias. These are the exact same things that conspiracy theorists and numerology proponents and every religion claims. Are they all true?

[ronaldmendonca]

Hey, mate. Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it. Here comes the but:
1) I think you missed the point of "prayer failure." I think the atheist is asking, "Can GOD change his or her mind WHEN you pray for something?" And, I don't think you answered that. You went on about free will for us humans, but the question isn't about us humans. The question is about an all-knowing god changing its mind. In other words, if your prayer CAN change god's mind, your god is not all-knowing. If your prayer CANNOT change his mind, then what's the use of praying?

2) Atheists throw out your god because HE is hateful and evil as shown in his own (supposed) words and actions in the STORIES of the Bible.

3) If you have evidence, then what do you need faith for? Accepting a proposition by faith is admitting you have no evidence. Otherwise, you'd just call it evidence.

4) All of those stories about getting the right numbers, etc are all just that-stories. Those are perfect examples of coincidences (if they even happened). How many of you Christians have heard the story of a friend of a friend who was diagnosed with cancer, then they prayed, and they came back with no cancer on the x-ray? C'mon, be honest. And what about the billions of instances where NOTHING happened? Why do you not count those AGAINST prayer working? What about Muslim prayers?

Thanks for your time.

[paradisecityX]

The most cringeworthy response to the "yes, no, or wait" answer to God's response is "well, that's like praying to a milk jug (or garbage can when village-Atheists are trying to be extra edgy)"

[TaylorWalston]

So essentially.. if there is not a god.. everything you are saying you "know" is not knowledge. it fits because you live in a culture that emphasizes certain feelings MUST be this. And it feels good because you reinforce feel good receptors in community members that agree. But recognizing that this could not be false does not mean that we "Pretend" these things are doing something, its acknowledging what they really are. I think the rush to assert this is some kind of "god given" drive to seek god is obviated by the simple fact that a single god could create this without any need for this confusion. But men can't invent god stories without this inconsistency.. thus there are so many gods that just make so much sense to so many people that we are happy to say are man made... The Kalam sucks because I could grant you every premise, there could be another god and nothing about your assertions will help us find the correct god if it is indeed not Yahweh. So we still suffer from a proof problem. The disconnect is that you continue to overstate how good the case and arguments you are making are. The problem is that there is not a complete picture anybody can give and saying we must accept claims that are not properly demonstrated is unwarranted.

[shnobo]

I have been praying for almost seven years for a woman that loved God and after praying and praying and praying and even being willing to give up this dream of mine to have a family who loves God. God worked everything out and I am happy to be engaged to my wonderful fiancé who loves God.

[frankwhelan]

But if he KNOWS what you will freely do he creates some people with the certainity they would suffer for eternity, how could
anyone with any empathy or morals be ok with a god like that? obviously some are ok with it as long as it's OK with God.

[kaoko]

There's at least one serious scientific study about how effective is praying. Guess what? Doesn't work... So we put that with the other theistic lies?

[jarednel]

Ah Braxton, I absolutely love this video. 💛

Personally, I love the way you do things on this channel - it's seriously refreshing! 💦😎

I appreciate the genuine heart, the respectful dialogue, dealing with the arguments, and staying relevant. 🎯

Your heart and approach reflects mine a lot and inspires me to do even better - which is far easier said than done in the current online climate - but the challenge and encouragement is there and so I greatly appreciate you, what you're doing, and how you're reaching people. 👏 🌎

Thanks again and keep up the great work. Blessings! 💛👑

[tonyburton]

The huge lengths theists go to try and explain away beliefs which a) they were (often, not always - but especially in parts of the USA) indoctrinated with from a young age b) provides comfort from existential dread c) provides a comforting cosmic meaning system. Listening to you, - a pleasant guy, - leaves me having an even more of an atheist position. Thankfully I live in the UK. There are studies that when someone knows they are being prayed for - actually has detrimental effects.

[edcroteau]

I agree with you, Braxton, on the evidences that we can boldly say are VERY close to "proofs".... Cosmological argument for sure... but my second, and possibly my #1, is Fine Tuning, because as a statistician I think we can demonstrate you cannot get fine tuning (precision within a standard or target) without a designer!

[jimthompson]

First we need define this god you pray to.
I don’t think you have any proof of his existence much less all of these attributes you’ve assigned to this god

[philippbrogli]

"If you want to be a good leader do the opposite of Trump".
If I heard that correctly, he is somewhat sucessful with what he wants, he is liked by his employees and befor he ran for president he was liked by the media. I might be wrong but I claim that some things he does is good.
Unless of course his tactics only work for a person like Trump and if you are not like him you will fail.

[jeffphelps]

it's impossible to claim
that prayers does not work, thats is a ignorant statement. they should have to provide alternate answers to those of us who have God answer prayer or a miracle. That's impossible to do. It's a very arrogant statement.

[blargo]

"[prayer] serves as evidence to the believer as confirmation of what they already believe." That's it in a nutshell. Supposedly answered prayer serves as confirmation; supposedly unanswered prayer is ignored or used as indication the believer isn't persistent enough. Heads I win; tails you lose.

I play a game when I'm sitting at a traffic light. I snap my fingers to try and make the light turn from red to green. Maybe one time in 10 I hit it exactly, and it still gives a small bit of enjoyment even through I know it's a trick. The other 9/10 where I miss, I quickly put out of my mind. This is the type of bias the persistent knocking on the door analogy brings to mind.

[DanielApologetics]

Great video, Braxton - BUT ALSO: The full message from Brett Nicholson, wow! Worth checking out!

[williamwrightjr.]

Great response video. I agree with your attitude of respect and love towards the Atheist's you are responding to because you are resembling our Lord. As He says in Matthew 5:42-45: “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven."

[stevenroberson]

I agree with all the atheists. I believe in the truth. If you can't prove God then I can't belief. I won't have faith in a God. Faith means I should believe something that can't be proven and goes against my common sense. Faith is not a way to find the truth.