Spiritual Atheism: TikTok Deconstruction AMS TV 408

Alex breaks down some common arguments of many atheists who have combined Darwin’s theory of evolution with a spiritual higher consciousness that does not involve the personal God of the Bible or any unscientific religious doctrine.

Original Airdate: 10-23-2023
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Alex McFarland Website
https://alexmcfarland.com

My Relationship with God Free e-book
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Book Alex
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125
DOVE_AMS_408.mpg
NRTNGS0160.mp4
Alex McFarland Show
Spiritual Atheism
TRT: 28:15
Alex breaks down some common arguments of many atheists who have combined Darwin’s theory of evolution with a spiritual higher consciousness that does not involve the personal God of the Bible or any unscientific religious doctrine.

Airdate: 10-23-2023
DOVE Airdate: 10-28-2023
Due Date: 10-06-2023
Shoot Date: 09-12-2023
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
God, atheist, Bible, word, Hitchens, hell, eternity, books, life, talk, universe, atheism, called, exist, deism, Darwin, truth, fallacies
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SPEAKERS
Alex (95%)
Charis (2%)
The Cove (2%)
Brittney Hartley (1%)
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SUMMARY
Hell and eternity based on a social media video. (0:02)
Hell and eternal destiny. (4:31)
The validity of the Bible and Christianity. (10:29)
Atheism, morality, and the existence of God. (16:45)
Atheism, evolution, and Christianity. (22:10)
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Alex 0:02
Why would anyone say that they want to go to hell? Studies show that many people do believe there is divine judgment, there’s a hell. And surprisingly, some people even say, that’s where they want to spend eternity, heaven or hell, we’ve got to choose carefully. We’ll talk about this in more on this edition of the Alex McFarland program.

Alex 0:55
Hi, Alex McFarland here, welcome to the program, we’re going to talk about the subject of hell, and the destination of the soul. And we’re going to do something we’ve never done on this program before, we’re going to really spend the majority of the program line by line deconstructing a popular social media video put out by Brittney Hartley, and she is a 20, something articulate, intelligent, but surprisingly, says she wants to go to hell. And she says, Please, Christians, leave me alone, but I want to go to hell. And then she makes a lot of very popular, common arguments about Christianity. And we’re going to talk about in the next segment, some of the fallacies that she makes, and you might wonder, why would we would devote a whole show to talking about one person’s video, but Brittney’s sentiments reflect a lot of what I hear among people that I speak with around the country.

Alex 1:59
Another thing that has prompted me to want to do this is that suddenly, my inbox has been filled with short videos from the deceased atheist Christopher Hitchens. I knew Hitchens, he, I think he would say we were friends. We emailed back and forth, I debated him. I had him on the radio several times and I moderated a debate or two for him, he debated Dinesh D’Souza. And Hitchens shortly before he died in 2011. He thanked me in an email for praying for him. But it’s interesting. He is kind of this patron saint of the brazen, bold atheist of 15 years ago, and today, but the fact is, it does make my heart heavy, that they are so enamored with Hitchens, he had a lovely British accent this wonderful brogue, but he was not a terribly intelligent person. He just would make these sweeping generalizations and logical fallacies. And I see the Brittney’s of the world who embrace those fallacies and yet they’re even weaker than Hitchen’s arguments. And they’re glibly in a cavalier way, talking about eternity. And they’re, they’re not reaching valid conclusions at all. So when we come back, we’ll talk about the atheism of the day and respond to some of these common objections.

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Alex 3:36
100 Bible questions and answers for families. That’s the newest book that Burt Harper and I Alex McFarland have put together from hundreds of questions from actual radio listeners to our nationally syndicated radio show exploring the word published by Broad Street publishing 100 Bible questions and answers for families. Ask questions like How are children a gift from God? How can I build my family around the teachings of God’s Word and Jesus Christ, so many dozens of questions that we think will encourage and equip you in your walk and witness? It’s available everywhere books are sold online, your favorite local Christian bookstore, Barnes and Noble on Amazon, I encourage you to please check it out and tell your friends about 100 Bible questions and answers for families. Enjoy reading. Thanks for reading and may God bless you.
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Alex 4:39
Few words in the English language are as powerful and laden with implications as the word hell. Hi, Alex McFarland. Welcome back to the program. You know, this is probably the most significant segment of our shows that I think I’ve ever prayed about and prepared for And we’re going to play you a clip in a moment that I really want to think about. And I’m not playing it because it shocks me or scares me or anything like that. But I am playing this clip and talking about this subject because there are a lot of people and they just really, they’re they’re glibly talking about the state of their soul, and their eternal destiny. And they really don’t, I believe they don’t realize the gravity of what they’re talking about.

Alex 5:24
But I want to begin by reading from Luke 16 in the Bible. We’ve talked about this hundreds of times that we believe compelling lines of evidence point to the reality of the Bible, of Jesus Christ. And in Luke chapter 16, Jesus talks about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Now, the rich man wasn’t in hell because he was rich. And Lazarus wasn’t in heaven, because he was poor, the rich man was lost. And it says, The rich man died and opened his eyes, and was in hell. And he called out looking across this great canyon separating the two eternities. And he called out to Abraham. And he said, Help me just dip your finger in a drop of water. I am tormented in this flame. Now it’s interesting, the word for fire is a Greek word per pay you are. And it’s the same word in Acts 28, when Paul throws a snake into a bonfire, and in the book of Revelation, throughout the New Testament, the word for fire, surprise, surprise means fire. So Hill, when you read what the Bible says about the state of those that reject God, it’s very frightening. Dante wrote in his inferna, some incredibly unsettling images, and CS Lewis, in his book of the great divorce, in other words, an individual being divorced from God, the idea of the isolation, the aloneness, the pain of the punishment for the sin that we deserve. Judgment for it is very frightening indeed. So that makes makes it surprising when you see the sentiment of the clip that I’m about to show. Now we’ll talk about this but right now, you’re about to see a clip that’s on TikTok from Brittney Hartley, Brittney, let’s talk please. But in the meantime, folks, listen to this.

Brittney Hartley 7:39
Please let me go to hell. This is a message to all the Christians on this app on behalf of all the heathens, please just let us go to hell like just let us go there. And we are asking you to let us go there. So you don’t have to worry about saving us anymore. You don’t have to comment on everything anymore. You can let us go there, we want to go there.

Alex 7:55
Okay, wow, I get it you Brittney. And like so many you don’t want some Christian badgering you and pestering you. And you know, in sharing the Gospel and trying to talk to people about the Lord, you know, that’s not our approach. But I want to talk about some things that are present in this video, because she says she wants to go to hell. It reminds me of many people that I’ve talked to who say, hey, hell is going to be like a party. That’s where my friends will be. Richard Dawkins, who is an Oxford PhD biologist, Richard Dawkins is one of the modern atheist and he wrote the book, The God Delusion. And it’s interesting how even the most brazen self conned, confident atheist are not completely convinced of the truth of their position, because Dawkins not long ago, reflecting on the death of his atheist colleague, Christopher Hitchens, Dawkins said, If I die, and it turns out that there is an afterlife, he said, and I quote, as I’m writing that long shoot down to the lake of fire and brimstone, I know that when I reach the bottom, Hitchens will meet me there with a mixed drink, and we’ll have a drink and a cigarette together. Now think about that. From an ostensibly educated individual, like you ride this sliding board down, and hey, I’ll be there and it’s a cocktail lounge with Christopher Hitchens and a mixed drink and a cigarette. That That’s ludicrous, pathetic, tragic, but when I was with Hitchens at a debate, I will tell you this I don’t really take any joy in this, but he was as nervous as a cat. Now on stage there’s a lot of swagger and braggadocious brazen Wow when the fan base by I his public blasphemy of the God, he says doesn’t exist.

Alex 10:04
But when Angie and I were alone in the greenroom, and after the debate, he wouldn’t look me in the eye. And he was just so nervous. It was it was very sad, because, and even there were times when he would say, if, if there is a God, I’ll say this. And if I die, and there’s the Almighty, then I’ll ask him that. Look, one thing about being a Christian is that we have the confidence, the knowledge, not only because of what the Bible says, but because Jesus Christ is a reality of personal reality in our life.

Alex 10:51
Now, when a Brittney Hartley says that she wants to go to hell, that’s sad in itself. But what’s doubly sad is that she bases her worldview on some absolutely vacuous and fallacious arguments. Let’s talk about some of these. She says, at the 52 second mark, she says, Why can’t the universe just exist? And Christians, you can’t prove deism? Or she says, even if you do prove deism, okay, first of all, she’s conflating a steady state eternal universe theory with deism. Now, we know and by the way, I’ve got to say, there’s a reason that a lot of secularists nowadays are really quiet about Einstein and the Big Bang, because Einstein, among other things, prove that the universe had a beginning. And if it had a beginning, there had to be a cause for that beginning. You know, I tell people as a Christian, you know, like my friend, Frank Turk says, I do believe in the Big Bang, I just know who the banger was, the universe had a beginning. And that affect how to cause the cause of the universe had to be beyond time and space, in material powerful wise, when you look at what pre seeded the singularity, that infinite, infinitely dense matter in energy that exploded out and we have the galaxies redshift, the universe had to have a beginning. Whatever, preceded the beginning of the universe. You don’t have to go forward to you’re talking about the attributes of the biblical God. But then she goes on And surprisingly, she equates the universe being eternal. With deism. Well, deism is the belief that God created there was a Creator God, but he walked away and he’s a laissez faire landlord. He doesn’t interact with the universe he created. So that just really doesn’t follow at all. And then she goes, and there is what’s called chronological snobbery, and very dismissively, Brittney says, First Century Palestine, they Palestinians, they didn’t even know about germs. Okay, well, first of all, to say, if it’s not new, it isn’t true.

Alex 13:30
So let me say this, she commits a fallacy that we call chronological snobbery. She says, Why should we believe something that was taught by first century Palestinians, they didn’t even know that germs exist? Okay, first of all, the posture to say, if it isn’t new, it isn’t true. That doesn’t follow at all. And by the way, the Jewish people in the first century had been in the Holy Land for 3000 years. And the term Palestinian is a 20th century term. So they wouldn’t have been called Palestinians, they would have the non Jews in the Middle East would have been known as Philistines, Brittney, but here’s the thing. The Jews absolutely knew that germs existed, and that germs could make us sick, because you read in the Old Testament in the Pentateuch, God told Israel don’t dig your well near where you go to the bathroom. In fact, personal hygiene and the prohibitions against toxins and things that would be, you know, impure. Not only human rights we get from the Word of God, but we get just the basics of sanitation. So it doesn’t follow at all that the Bible is somehow are not credible? Because Absolutely, they knew about germs. And then you go on and she commits what we call, appeal to authority. She says, I’ve got a master’s degree in theology, and studied medieval exegesis. And ostensibly that qualifies you to refute the Bible, God logical truth, and you choose hell for your eternal destiny. Now, let’s talk about appeal to authority. Because I think it’s wonderful to get a high, you know, education. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life in higher education, but a degree in theology. Okay, what kind of theology, feminist theology, Marxist theology? Critical Theory. I mean, the fact that you have a master’s degree, that’s great. The fact that you say that you studied medieval exegesis. Okay, exegesis is what words mean? Okay, medieval Chaucer, Shakespeare, you know, Aquinas, that’s great. But don’t folks, don’t be swayed. Just because somebody says, Well, you know, I have blank, a lot of money, a doctorate, that says nothing as to the truth or falsity of the Bible. The evidence for the Bible must be examined on its own, just don’t think because somebody has this or that degree, that they are in a position to say something is or isn’t true. And that even goes for me. I mean, don’t take my word for it, I could trot out my resume, but that’s irrelevant. Look at the evidence for what it says. And then one other thing that is worth pointing out, she says, I’m a spiritual atheist. That reminds me of what CS Lewis said, CS Lewis said that shortly before he became a believer, he said, my life at that time was like that of so many atheists, a whirlwind of contradictions. He said, on the one hand, I maintained that God didn’t exist. And on the other hand, I was mad at him for not existing. And then I didn’t want him to exist. And yet I knew life was empty if he didn’t exist. So a spiritual atheists, by definition, atheism is materialism, secularism, strict empiricism, no life beyond this one. In fact, shortly after Darwin published on the Origin of Species, and I’ve got a few things I want to show you here in a moment. But throughout the world of academia in the late 19th century, they did argue Darwinism is atheism. And finally, Brittney says, I try to be good. And she says, I live a moral life as best I can. And then she says, quote, that she doesn’t believe in an immoral God, because it doesn’t need to be worshipped, okay?

Alex 18:23
The measuring stick for eternity is not whether or not you and I have lived, quote, a moral life as best we can. Because even the best, I mean, put in the name of your choice, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, your saintly grandmother, that’s not the standard. The standard is, are you as righteous as Jesus, and none of us are. And then in arguing for yourself to be moral, as best you can, and then God is immoral. That’s like, judging God who’s righteous, and it goes on and she says, it doesn’t need to be worshipped. God is not an IT. God is a who, a personal God. The Kalam argument. And what that is, is another story, William Lane, Craig and JP Moreland, very compellingly unpack that, but the kalam argument says God must be personal, because he created persons. If God is impersonal, he’s less developed than we are. So what did we say? Creation had to have a creator. The moral law came from a moral lawgiver. Everybody knows these things. But then in vivid, specific terms with unmistakable clarity. We read from the Bible, who God is and how we can know God. He’s a personal God. And so by it eat, it’s very sad. I don’t want you to go to hell, you shouldn’t want you to go to hell. But most importantly, the God that you’re in a struggle against right now, he doesn’t want you to go to hell. And I’m hoping for the millions that maybe have similar sentiments that we can talk, and that we can converse, because there’s no more important issue nothing more consequential than where you’ll spend eternity. Now, when we come back, I’ll explain what these are. So stay tuned Truth for a New Generation is back after this.

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Speaker 3 20:43
Well, I cannot say enough about the Charis experience. This is the best decision of my life.

Speaker 3 20:48
God is calling you here. He’s going to help you. He’s going to lead you in the right direction.

Speaker 3 21:09
You’ll see the heart of Andrew, you’ll see the heart of all the instructors, and the Lord will speak to you if you come if you are desiring to come to Bible college that you have a word from the Lord. God has something for you here.

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Alex 21:13
Welcome back, Alex McFarland here, you know, somebody once asked me, What is the second worst thing that ever befell the human race after the fall of Genesis three, because Genesis three talks about sin and separation from God? Well, you know, I think there are two or three contenders for the second worst thing that ever be felled the human race after the fall.

Alex 21:35
But on the table, I’ve got two books, and they’re old books, and they’re very worn. This is second edition from that 1861 of the origin of species. This is Darwin’s great book, great in the sense of infamous, really the Origin of Species by means of natural selection or the preservation of Favoured Races in the struggle for life. Now, obviously, this is the big juggernaut that started belief in evolution. And the idea that we don’t need God. As one person said, in the 19th century, Darwin made it possible for people to be intellectually fulfilled atheists. In other words, reject God. As you know, Invictus says it matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments, the scroll. In other words, we don’t have to worry about Jesus and the narrow path. We don’t have to fear the Bible, because we have an alibi. We have evolution, a sophisticated sounding intellectual, very lofty way of trying to believe that life came about without a creator. Then here is a sixth edition 1872 The Descent of Man and selection in relation to in relation to sex. So life came from nothing. Darwin had, quote, a warm little pond, and we evolved, and we’re simply sophisticated primates. I really do think that this might be the advent of atheism, and secular thought might be the second worst thing that ever developed the human race. And I think about the millions and millions of people that lived and died, rejecting the idea of a creator and the possibility of a related relationship with God, because they assumed the truth of Darwinism.

Alex 23:43
Now, here’s a book from 1966 situation ethics, the new morality, Joseph Fletcher, folks, the breakdown of the family abortion on demand, lawlessness defund the police, BLM transgenderism. I mean, so many of the pathologies that threatened to destroy our world were intellectually legitimized by the idea that there is no moral standard, and people are not accountable. And do you understand how the atheism suggested by Darwin, and the relativism insisted upon by Fletcher and his work disciples that would follow rather than setting us free? They’ve made us slaves. We’ve dehumanized ourselves, we really have and it’s bad enough to think of the problems and the poverty and just the the lower standard of life here on Earth. But what about eternity? Like those who say, Oh, just let me die and go to Hell was very sad.

Alex 24:54
So what’s the challenge? What’s the challenge? Well, if you are a Christian, to you care enough about people to be equipped to dialogue, and to build relationships and let people know that you care and let people know that the Gospel is credible. But if you’re not a Christian, and you think this is just a bunch of hokum, and preachers that just want to get in your wallet, it’s not Look, folks, even if all the Christians in the world were ignorant and malicious, that doesn’t detract from the reality that there was a man who went into the grave came out again, and he tells us eternity exists, and we can be ready by a relationship with Him. The Gospel is real, the Gospel is relevant. I hope you’ve responded to it.

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The Cove 25:45
I just returned from a conference at the Cove. And it was absolutely breathtaking in every way. The mountain views the tranquil areas within the woods and just being alone with God. Morning spent watching the sunrise from a rocking chair with coffee in one hand and my Bible in the other evening spent reflecting on the incredible spiritual teaching. It’s the embodiment of peacefulness. Come and experience the cove for yourself.
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Alex 26:17
We’ve got a lot going on at Alex McFarland Ministries, our camps, our conferences, already preparing for the summer of 2024. And folks, I want to ask you to stand with us and support financially, as we’re winning people to Christ, a lot of young people. And so go to my website, which is alexmcfarland.com, you’ll see our tour schedule, the website, viral truth.com, our clubs that we’re starting.

Alex 26:46
And I want to send something to not only say thank you, but to equip you. I’ve got two books right here. 10 answers for atheist and 10 answers for skeptics, these are two books, it was going to be one book, and I interviewed 32 of the world’s top atheists. And in the conversations, whether people were atheist and rejected God, agnostics weren’t sure about God. We ended up writing two books, one on skeptics, one on atheist, and there is a lot of information to help you truly know how to respond to any and every objection, I’m going to send you these two books, if you would send a gift of at least $50.

Alex 27:29
And you can go online and give securely at alexmcfarland.com. Or you can mail a check and just make it to T N G, as in Truth for a New Generation, a gift of at least $50 or more. And please, the most generous gift you can send mail it to PO Box 10231 Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 PO Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. And please know that it’s our job to send you these resources. They will help you in your walk and your witness. Or maybe God will use them to persuade someone who needs to understand the reality of the Gospel. May God bless you.

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NOTES
Video referred
https://www.tiktok.com/@nononsensespirituality/video/7272870955276406059

https://www.tiktok.com/@nononsensespirituality

https://nononsensespirituality.com

No Videos
https://www.youtube.com/@nononsensespirituality4668/

Founding Fathers and Christianity
Interesting video on Founding Fathers future religion, chatgpt
https://www.tiktok.com/@/video/7269462230968634667

CS Lewis “The Great Divorce” Book

With Christopher Hitchens at debate
Richard Dawkins

Christopher Hitchens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens

William Lane Craig
Kalam cosmological argument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument

What Is a Spiritual Atheist and What It Means to Be One
https://www.learning-mind.com/spiritual-atheist-meaning/

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SUMMARY EXPANDED

Hell and eternity based on a social media video. (0:02)
Alex McFarland discusses a social media video by Brittney Hartley, who says she wants to go to hell despite being an atheist, and addresses common arguments against Christianity.
Alex McFarland reflects on Christopher Hitchens’ intelligence and argumentative fallacies.
Hell and eternal destiny. (4:31)
Jesus teaches on the reality of hell in Luke 16, using the stories of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus.
Alex is surprised by a TikTok video where Brittney Hartley says she wants to go to hell.
Alex reflects on the contradictions of atheists, including Dawkins’ nervousness and Hitchens’ mixed drink request in the afterlife.
The validity of the Bible and Christianity. (10:29)
Alex argues that the universe had a beginning and requires a cause beyond time and space, citing Einstein and the Big Bang.
Alex criticizes Brittney’s argument that ancient beliefs are invalid due to a lack of knowledge about germs, citing the Jewish people’s 3000-year history in the Holy Land.
Alex argues that education and degrees don’t make someone an authority on the Bible’s truth.
Atheism, morality, and the existence of God. (16:45)
Alex argues that atheism is not just a lack of belief in God, but a belief system with its own moral standards.
Alex McFarland argues for the personal nature of God based on creation and the moral law.
Atheism, evolution, and Christianity. (22:10)
Alex argues that Darwin’s theory of evolution and Joseph Fletcher’s relativism have led to a breakdown of morality and a rejection of the idea of a moral standard, resulting in problems such as abortion and dehumanization.
Alex believes that Christians should care enough about people to share the Gospel and build relationships, while those who are not Christians should consider the reality of eternity and the possibility of a relationship with God.
Alex McFarland encourages listeners to support his ministry financially to continue winning people to Christ, particularly young people.
Alex offers two books, "10 Answers for Atheist" and "10 Answers for Skeptics," as a gift to those who donate $50 or more to his ministry.