Is Agnosticism Tenable?

Over the years, I’ve encountered a few friends that have subscribed to agnosticism because they concluded that there is no way to possibly know whether or not there is a God. According to Oxford Dictionaries, agnostic is defined as, “a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God”.[1] I’ve heard prominent atheist Michael Shermer express his admiration during a debate for the bumper sticker that states, “Militant Agnostic: I Don’t Know and You Don’t Either”. Since many non-believers have chosen to take this stance, I thought it would be a good idea to further examine the tenability of such a position as it is comfortably placed between theism and atheism.

As proclaimed by Christopher Hitchens during his debate with Dr. William Lane Craig at Biola University, he feels “agnosticism is evasive”.[2] Does this claim against agnosticism by the late Christopher Hitchens, one of the four housemen of the New Athiesm, hold any credibility? I would venture to say that it does. I’ve included a video of William Lane Craig discussing agnosticism and how it is “practically untenable”. The reasoning for why agnosticism is “practically untenable” is because a true agnostic would have to have the evidence for atheism and theism be perfectly balanced on both sides in order to genuinely hold it for an entire lifetime if one chooses to be a long-term agnostic. While this possibility may be “theoretically possible” it is “impossible practically”.

Later in the video, Craig asked an analogous question of a chicken laying an egg on the peak of a barn roof, “which side would the egg fall?” One side of the roof would represent “theism” and the other side would represent “atheism”. The agnostic would have to perfectly balance their “philosophical egg” on the peak of the roof without having it fall to one side or the other. This analogy effectively represents how untenable agnosticism truly is when looking at the evidence in its entirety for both positions. Keep in mind; you don’t have to have 100% empirical proof for one position or the other in order to hold to that particular position. You can believe in something without knowing it absolutely. I’ve heard many theologians use the analogy of a marriage. You have no way of absolutely knowing whether your marriage will endure prior to marrying your spouse-to-be. That is a reality for everyone. You have to take all the information you have about your spouse and make the best decision. If that information leads you to the conclusion that this person is worth the risk, it may be best to make the decision to marry him/her which will hopefully result in much happiness. If you remain an agnostic about this spouse-to-be, you could potentially pass up what could have been an excellent opportunity for happiness and companionship. You’ll never get married because you are unable to commit due to your hyper-skepticism which has led to the inability to make decision. The point is that despite whether you know with 100% certainty that your marriage will be successful shouldn’t prevent you from making a decision. The same can be said about atheism and theism. There is enough information out there to make a decision if one is truly searching for answers. As Hitchens rightly said, “agnosticism is evasive”.

For agnostics, it is appropriate to ask whether they have been skeptical of their skepticism. Have they looked at the evidence enough to make an informed opinion on the matter? Don’t get me wrong, skepticism can be a very healthy thing when investigating a matter that that you are unfamiliar with. It assists in the avoidance of accepting information as truth too hastily. It allows us to check out all perspectives before making a determination on how you feel on the matter. However, becoming skeptical to the point of intellectually refusing to make a decision because you’ve submitted to be a “Militant Agnostic: I Don’t Know and You Don’t Either” only evades the question at hand.

In the video below, prominent Christian apologist Greg Koukl highlights the problematic nature of some forms of agnosticism. When speaking with an agnostic, he suggests evaluating the reasons for their skepticism and see if there are any underlying presuppositions that are leading them to this skepticism. The very reason for their skepticism could be that they’re not being critical enough of their own skepticism to have a genuine understanding of why they are skeptical in the first place.

---

[1] Oxford Dictionaries. Definition of “agnostic”, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/agnostic

[2] Debate between William Lane Craig and Christopher Hitchens at Biola University in 2009, “Does God Exist?”

Dr. Craig Hazen Lecture Reviews

In full support of my friend and fellow apologist Mikel Del Rosario (AKA Apologetics Guy), I’ve reviewed two lectures that he is selling on his website, http://www.apologeticsguy.com/, that were given by Dr. Craig Hazen at a Christian apologetics conference. These lectures are being sold for $1.99/each. I would strongly encourage everyone to consider purchasing these lectures as they contain valuable information for a deeper insight into the Christian worldview and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The two lectures I reviewed are titled, “The Certainty of Christ in an Age of Unbelief” and “The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus”. I’ve included them below along with their respective URLs.

“The Certainty of Christ in an Age of Unbelief” – Review

http://www.apologeticsguy.com/shop/certainty-of-christ-in-an-age-of-unbelief-lecture-craig-hazen-biola/

This topic is very important in a modern day secular society because many skeptics are under the false impression that NO faith is founded in any objective evidence. While this may be the impression among society, Dr. Hazen is acutely in tune with the fact that it is a completely invalid assertion without any evidential basis. 

Dr. Hazen has earned his doctorate from the University of California in religious studies. That essentially means that he has a vast amount of knowledge on Christianity as well most other religions around the globe. His knowledge on topics of religion contains the solid foundation of scholarship necessary to validate the claim that you can be “certain of Christ in an age of unbelief”.

 While I want to review the lecture, not summarize it, I do want to bring to attention some of the key points that I found to be the most beneficial for a listener of belief or of non-belief.  Anyone who is planning on listening to this lecture can be certain that they’re going to be entertained.  Dr. Hazen is not only informative but also an entertaining speaker.  During the lecture, he has multiple stories that are comical and really keep your attention while maintaining focused on the topic of the lecture.  Dr. Hazen is certainly a breath of fresh air in comparison to many other academics.

While the lecture was entertaining and comical, Dr. Hazen has a passion for Christ that is exemplified through his delivery and speech.  It shows that he loves Christ and that he has spent his entire life examining this subject matter in order to know Christ at a deeper level.  When he was reflecting on the solid evidence for Christianity, he said, “I can’t NOT believe in God”.  His certainty in the fact that Jesus Christ existed, died, and resurrected for our sins is without dispute.  However, he doesn’t do so on blind faith.  He gives the reasons for how Christians can know with certainty that Christianity is the right answer that makes the best sense out of the information that we have today.

In conclusion, I would encourage anyone to listen to this lecture from Dr. Hazen because he provides a perspective that is rather unique because he is speaking from a “world religions” perspective.  He has investigated religion thoroughly and has the qualifications necessary to make a reliable judgment on their historicity.  In addition, I'd like to make a note for those on a spiritual journey; this lecture is particularly aimed at you.  Personally, Dr. Hazen is the guy I would want to sit down and speak with if I was an individual searching for Christ.

"Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus" – Review

http://www.apologeticsguy.com/shop/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection-jesus-christ-craig-hazen-mp3/

If you’ve never been presented with factual evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is an excellent introduction. Dr. Craig Hazen is one of the best Christian apologists when it comes to speaking to the average layperson. He speaks in a manner that anyone can understand and he does so in a humorous and informative manner. When listening to this lecture, I would venture to say that you’ll be both informed and entertained.

Dr. Hazen tells stories of his past experiences in dealing with secular students and how they react once presented with objective evidence of the resurrection hypothesis. He told a story about giving a lecture on the evidence for the resurrection of Christ to UCLA medical students that was hysterical. His delivery is impeccable. However, more importantly, he described how receptive these medical students were to hearing the evidentially based argument for the resurrection.

He uses a method of communicating the evidence for the resurrection called “the side door”, and he described it as taking accepted truths from the harshest critics of the resurrection and evidentially supporting the resurrection by using this information acquired by skeptics to combat their own skepticism. He did so by gathering twelve facts that are accepted by believer and non-believer alike and uses them to build the case for the resurrection. Below are the twelve facts:

1)     Jesus died by crucifixion

2)     Jesus was buried

3)     Jesus’ death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope under the belief that their leader was dead

4)     The tomb was discovered empty a few days later

5)     The disciples had experiences that are believed to be experiences  of Jesus alive

6)     The disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify with Jesus to bold proclaimers of Jesus’ death and resurrection

7)     The resurrection message was the center of preaching in the early church

8)     This resurrection message was proclaimed in Jerusalem where Jesus died and was buried

9)     As a result of this preaching, the church was born and grew

10) Sunday became the primary day of worship

11) James, a skeptic, converted to Christianity

12) Paul, a skeptic and persecutor of Christianity, converted to Christianity

What theory best fits the cumulative data?  Dr. Hazen does an amazing job of communicating how the resurrection hypothesis is the best hypothesis that makes the most sense out of the 12 facts that are believed by a majority of all scholars. I would strongly encourage the purchase of this lecture to get a deeper look into what Dr. Hazen says regarding each of these points.

Dr. Hazen highlights why this topic is so important by having us view 1 Corinthians 15, “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith”. Our faith is useless without the resurrection of Jesus.

I’d encourage anyone to purchase this lecture as it will be a valuable resource for those that want a deeper understanding of the resurrection of Christ. Of all the apologists that I know of, I can say that Dr. Hazen communicates the most effectively to those wanting to become familiarized with Christ at a lay level because of his comedic and comfortable style of communication and his abundant knowledge and love of God. To all who seek God shall find him. Let this lecture help you in your path to a greater understanding of our Lord.