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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1)

February 6, 2025 | S25:E64

Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1)
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know There Is A God? (Part 1) | February 6, 2025
  • ♪ music ♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
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  • Robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
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  • Again to "pathway to victory."
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  • In the opening verses of the bible, we read, "in the
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  • Beginning god created the heavens and the earth."
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  • But outside of the bible, is there any tangible evidence to
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  • Prove that god exists?
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  • It's an honest question that many people may not vocalize but
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  • They harbor in their own hearts.
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  • So today i'm going to address several of the greatest doubts
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  • People wrestle with regarding the existence of god.
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  • We're answering the question, "how can i know there is a god?"
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  • On today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪ music ♪
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  • ♪ there is a day coming ♪
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  • ♪ when the old will pass away ♪
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  • ♪ and every wrong will be made right, ♪
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  • ♪ no darkness, no night. ♪
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  • ♪ the sun will light the way. ♪
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  • ♪ there is a king coming, ♪
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  • ♪ the one who conquered death and grave, ♪
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  • ♪ no more pain and no more sorrow. ♪
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  • ♪ this hope for tomorrow is our hope for today. ♪
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  • ♪ he who was, he who is, he who was, ♪
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  • ♪ he who is, he who is to ♪
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  • ♪ come is christ the son of man. ♪
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  • ♪ he's riding on the clouds ♪
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  • ♪ with a crown upon his head. ♪
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  • ♪ every eye will see him ♪
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  • ♪ with the nail scars in his hands. ♪
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  • ♪ sing hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ he who is to come ♪
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  • ♪ is christ the son of man. ♪
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  • ♪ he's riding on the clouds ♪
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  • ♪ with a crown upon his head. ♪
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  • ♪ every eye will see him ♪
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  • ♪ with the nail scars in his hands. ♪
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  • ♪ sing hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ yes hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ he's coming back again. ♪
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  • ♪ hallelujah. ♪
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  • ♪ yeah hallelujah. ♪
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  • Announcer: it's okay to have questions about your faith, but
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  • You need answers you can trust.
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  • In his book, "how can i know," dr. robert jeffress addresses
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  • Seven of life's most important questions.
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  • If you've ever wondered how you can know the bible is true or
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  • How you can know if you're going to heaven, this book makes a
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  • Compelling case for answers you can embrace with confidence.
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  • Request your copy of "how can i know?"
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  • When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of "pathway
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  • To victory."
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  • ♪ music ♪
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  • Jeffress: i was saved by god when i was five years old.
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  • I was called to the ministry by god when i was 15.
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  • I serve god by pastoring a church.
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  • I write books and preach sermons to teach other people about god.
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  • I can't go through a few hours a day without talking to god.
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  • But occasionally, i have doubts that god exists, and i imagine
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  • If you were truthful, most of you would say the same thing
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  • As well.
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  • You know, polls show that an overwhelming number of americans
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  • Believe in god.
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  • George gallup claims nine out of ten americans believe that god
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  • Exists, but i'm not sure people are really as confident in their
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  • Belief about god as they claim to be.
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  • Daniel dennett is one of the so-called new atheists, and he's
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  • Written a book called "darwin's dangerous idea."
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  • I disagree with everything in that book.
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  • It's an attack against theism, about belief in god.
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  • But i do agree with one thing dennett says: "there's a
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  • Difference between belief in god and belief in your beliefs.
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  • A lot of people confuse their beliefs in their beliefs with
  • 00:05:23.045 --> 00:05:26.883
  • The belief in god," they believe in a god that they've created in
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  • Their own mind.
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  • Dennett says something very profound.
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  • He said, "if as many people really believed in god as they
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  • Say they do, then certainly they would conduct
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  • Their lives differently."
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  • Whether we're willing to admit it or not, most
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  • Of us have doubts about god.
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  • In fact, i've become convinced that the only people who never
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  • Doubt are those who never think.
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  • Today we're beginning with that most basic question: how do i
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  • Know there is a god?
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  • I want to speak for a moment about five reasons people doubt
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  • The existence of god.
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  • There are five major sources of doubt about god.
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  • First of all, there's natural doubts.
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  • By that i mean it's very natural to doubt what you can't see.
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  • Every parent knows that.
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  • It's hard not to doubt what you can't see.
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  • You know, we spend, as parents, a lot of time teaching our
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  • Children about the tooth fairy.
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  • And we can teach them about the tooth fairy.
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  • We can describe the kindness, the beauty, the generosity of
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  • The tooth fairy.
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  • We can even leave evidences of a tooth fairy's existence under
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  • Our child's pillow when they lose a tooth.
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  • But sooner or later, our child comes to understand there's no
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  • Such thing as the tooth fairy, and it's only a short journey
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  • From there to doubts about the big man up there.
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  • I'm talking about santa claus.
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  • Secondly, there are philosophical doubts that lead
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  • Some people to question the existence of god, and the most
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  • Cited philosophical argument against god is the reality of
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  • Suffering and evil in the world.
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  • The 18th century philosopher david hume, attempted to
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  • Discredit christianity by his famous trilemma about suffering
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  • And evil.
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  • Hume said, "is god willing to prevent evil but not able?
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  • Then god is impotent.
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  • Is god able but not willing?
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  • Then he's malevolent," evil.
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  • "is god both willing and able to prevent evil?
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  • Then where's evil?"
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  • In other words, what hume was saying was,
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  • When you look at evil in the world, is god willing to stop
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  • It, but he just can't pull it off, he's not able?
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  • Then he's an impotent god.
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  • On the other hand, if god is able to stop suffering, if he
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  • Could have stopped the holocaust, if he could have
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  • Stopped the disaster you're facing in your life, but chose
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  • Not to do so, then he must be evil.
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  • If he's both willing and able to stop suffering, then where
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  • Is evil?
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  • In other words, there must not be a god.
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  • Actually, there is a 4th explanation that hume
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  • Doesn't offer.
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  • It's one that we're going to explore in the message, how can
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  • I know god is good with all of the suffering in the world?
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  • But many times, it's a philosophical argument that
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  • Keeps people from god.
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  • Thirdly, there are experiential doubts.
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  • You know, we're all prisoners of our experience?
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  • If you grew up in a home that didn't believe in god, you're
  • 00:08:51.153 --> 00:08:54.123
  • Inclined, perhaps, not to believe in god.
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  • Sometimes god intervenes miraculously in that situation.
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  • I remember in the first church i pastored, i invited william
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  • Murray to come share his testimony.
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  • William murray was the son of famed atheist, madalyn
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  • Murray o'hair.
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  • And he talked about in his testimony how he observed the
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  • Misery, the unhappiness, the discontent of his mother
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  • About life.
  • 00:09:20.549 --> 00:09:21.917
  • She was so unhappy that he decided to reject her belief
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  • System, which was an unbelief system in god, and that's how he
  • 00:09:25.855 --> 00:09:30.526
  • Became a christian.
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  • But the one thing that causes most people to deny the
  • 00:09:32.028 --> 00:09:35.731
  • Existence of god is being disappointed by god.
  • 00:09:35.731 --> 00:09:39.835
  • That's the experience that causes people to question god.
  • 00:09:39.835 --> 00:09:43.606
  • The loss of a child, the betrayal of a mate, the abuse of
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  • A parent, unanswered prayer all cause people to be profoundly
  • 00:09:47.910 --> 00:09:54.417
  • Disappointed in god and come to the conclusion there must not be
  • 00:09:54.417 --> 00:09:58.788
  • A god.
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  • You know, evolution is man's attempt to create an alternate
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  • Explanation for the origin of life, the origin of
  • 00:10:04.827 --> 00:10:08.564
  • The universe.
  • 00:10:08.564 --> 00:10:09.899
  • And by the way, it is a faith-based explanation for
  • 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:14.203
  • The world.
  • 00:10:14.203 --> 00:10:15.538
  • You never thought that evolution was faith-based.
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  • It is.
  • 00:10:17.573 --> 00:10:19.008
  • Both evolution and creationism have something to say about god.
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  • The evolutionist comes through to question, to answer the
  • 00:10:24.213 --> 00:10:27.850
  • Question, where did everything come from, with an assumption
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  • That there is no god, that there is no god, at least, who
  • 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.191
  • Exercises any control over the origin of life.
  • 00:10:35.191 --> 00:10:37.927
  • By definition, evolution says, "life came into existence by
  • 00:10:37.927 --> 00:10:41.964
  • Chance, not by design."
  • 00:10:41.964 --> 00:10:44.533
  • It is by chance that the right molecules got together and
  • 00:10:44.533 --> 00:10:48.037
  • Formed the first cell after billions of years, and that
  • 00:10:48.037 --> 00:10:50.639
  • First cell became a multi-cell creature and on and on.
  • 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.043
  • But it has something to say about god: god is not involved
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  • In creation.
  • 00:10:56.946 --> 00:10:58.314
  • The creationist comes to the table with an idea that in the
  • 00:10:58.314 --> 00:11:01.951
  • Beginning god created the heavens and the earth, but both
  • 00:11:01.951 --> 00:11:05.221
  • Are faith-based.
  • 00:11:05.221 --> 00:11:06.956
  • The atheist either rejects god or at least attempts to
  • 00:11:06.956 --> 00:11:11.327
  • Refashion god.
  • 00:11:11.327 --> 00:11:13.062
  • Many so-called people of faith do that.
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  • I think about harold kushner, who, years ago, the rabbi wrote
  • 00:11:16.098 --> 00:11:20.002
  • The book, "when bad things happen to good people."
  • 00:11:20.002 --> 00:11:23.105
  • He wrote the book after experiencing the death of his
  • 00:11:23.105 --> 00:11:25.608
  • Young son to a terrible disease.
  • 00:11:25.608 --> 00:11:28.377
  • Rabbi kushner claimed that, quote, "even god has a hard time
  • 00:11:28.377 --> 00:11:32.681
  • Keeping chaos in check."
  • 00:11:32.681 --> 00:11:35.084
  • And then he came to the conclusion
  • 00:11:35.084 --> 00:11:36.886
  • That, quote, "god is a god of justice, but not of power."
  • 00:11:36.886 --> 00:11:42.191
  • Another rabbi who read that said, "if that's who god is, he
  • 00:11:42.191 --> 00:11:46.662
  • Needs to resign today and let somebody more confident
  • 00:11:46.662 --> 00:11:49.031
  • Take over."
  • 00:11:49.031 --> 00:11:50.533
  • But that's what an unbeliever does.
  • 00:11:50.533 --> 00:11:52.301
  • They try to refashion god.
  • 00:11:52.301 --> 00:11:55.204
  • One wag said it this way: "in the beginning, god created man
  • 00:11:55.204 --> 00:11:58.874
  • In his own image, and ever since that time, man has tried to
  • 00:11:58.874 --> 00:12:02.444
  • Return the favor."
  • 00:12:02.444 --> 00:12:04.480
  • This idea that you can't reconcile a
  • 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.616
  • Belief in god with a belief in science is based on
  • 00:12:07.616 --> 00:12:11.453
  • Circular reasoning.
  • 00:12:11.453 --> 00:12:13.189
  • Let me explain what i mean by that.
  • 00:12:13.189 --> 00:12:15.357
  • Everybody who's been to a basic science class in school knows
  • 00:12:15.357 --> 00:12:19.295
  • About the scientific method.
  • 00:12:19.295 --> 00:12:21.330
  • We're taught that the only way you can have a reasonable
  • 00:12:21.330 --> 00:12:25.401
  • Explanation for a hypothesis, the only way you can prove a
  • 00:12:25.401 --> 00:12:29.305
  • Hypothesis, a statement of why something happened, it has to be
  • 00:12:29.305 --> 00:12:34.877
  • Based in observation of that which is visible over a long
  • 00:12:34.877 --> 00:12:39.448
  • Period of time.
  • 00:12:39.448 --> 00:12:41.016
  • If you're gonna be scientific, you have to be rooted
  • 00:12:41.016 --> 00:12:44.286
  • In naturalism.
  • 00:12:44.286 --> 00:12:45.754
  • What is naturalism?
  • 00:12:45.754 --> 00:12:47.189
  • Naturalism says nature is all that there is.
  • 00:12:47.189 --> 00:12:50.826
  • Alvin plantinga is a philosopher, and he nails it
  • 00:12:50.826 --> 00:12:54.530
  • Perfectly when he talks about the absurdity of such a
  • 00:12:54.530 --> 00:12:57.867
  • Circular argument.
  • 00:12:57.867 --> 00:12:59.401
  • He said, "it's like the drunk who insisted on looking for his
  • 00:12:59.401 --> 00:13:04.073
  • Lost car keys only under the streetlight on the grounds that
  • 00:13:04.073 --> 00:13:08.911
  • The light was better there.
  • 00:13:08.911 --> 00:13:10.946
  • In fact, it goes to the drunk one better.
  • 00:13:10.946 --> 00:13:13.482
  • It would insist that because the keys would be hard to find in
  • 00:13:13.482 --> 00:13:17.386
  • The dark, they must be under the light."
  • 00:13:17.386 --> 00:13:21.056
  • To limit our search for
  • 00:13:21.056 --> 00:13:22.892
  • The origin of the universe by only that which is under the
  • 00:13:22.892 --> 00:13:26.362
  • Light, that which can be seen, is to limit an honest
  • 00:13:26.362 --> 00:13:31.333
  • Exploration for the truth.
  • 00:13:31.333 --> 00:13:33.869
  • Now, that leads us to a question: can we prove the
  • 00:13:33.869 --> 00:13:38.107
  • Existence of god?
  • 00:13:38.107 --> 00:13:39.942
  • And the answer is no.
  • 00:13:39.942 --> 00:13:42.011
  • You can't prove the existence of a supernatural, invisible being.
  • 00:13:42.011 --> 00:13:47.683
  • But there's a difference between proof and evidence.
  • 00:13:47.683 --> 00:13:51.754
  • We're going to look at four powerful arguments for the
  • 00:13:51.754 --> 00:13:55.658
  • Existence of god.
  • 00:13:55.658 --> 00:13:57.159
  • Today, we're gonna look at just the first one, and it's the
  • 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.562
  • Cosmological evidence.
  • 00:14:00.562 --> 00:14:02.631
  • I could summarize this argument this way: why is there something
  • 00:14:02.631 --> 00:14:08.203
  • Instead of nothing?
  • 00:14:08.203 --> 00:14:10.572
  • Why is there something instead of nothing?
  • 00:14:10.572 --> 00:14:13.642
  • Look around you right now.
  • 00:14:13.642 --> 00:14:15.444
  • Look up from your notes.
  • 00:14:15.444 --> 00:14:16.946
  • Look around.
  • 00:14:16.946 --> 00:14:18.814
  • Why is there a pulpit?
  • 00:14:18.814 --> 00:14:23.085
  • Why is there a pastor?
  • 00:14:23.085 --> 00:14:25.955
  • Why is there somebody sitting next to me?
  • 00:14:25.955 --> 00:14:28.924
  • If we could look above, why is there a sun, and moon,
  • 00:14:28.924 --> 00:14:32.094
  • And stars?
  • 00:14:32.094 --> 00:14:33.429
  • Why is there something rather than nothing at all?
  • 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:38.534
  • Second question you ought to ask yourself is why do i see
  • 00:14:38.534 --> 00:14:42.137
  • Anything at all?
  • 00:14:42.137 --> 00:14:43.472
  • Why is there something rather than nothing?
  • 00:14:43.472 --> 00:14:45.874
  • Why do i see anything at all?
  • 00:14:45.874 --> 00:14:48.544
  • And if you really want to blow your mind, ask yourself the
  • 00:14:48.544 --> 00:14:50.913
  • Question, why am i asking this question?
  • 00:14:50.913 --> 00:14:55.584
  • How do you explain everything that we see or feel?
  • 00:14:55.584 --> 00:14:59.621
  • Now, here's the atheist explanation for why we see
  • 00:14:59.621 --> 00:15:03.425
  • Something instead of nothing.
  • 00:15:03.425 --> 00:15:05.327
  • The atheist says the answer is no one times nothing
  • 00:15:05.327 --> 00:15:10.632
  • Equals everything.
  • 00:15:10.632 --> 00:15:13.268
  • No one times nothing equals everything.
  • 00:15:13.268 --> 00:15:17.339
  • Out of nothing because of no one comes everything we have.
  • 00:15:17.339 --> 00:15:21.710
  • Now think of what a silly argument that is.
  • 00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:25.014
  • Look at the cosmos, the cosmos, the universe.
  • 00:15:25.014 --> 00:15:29.385
  • Think for just a moment about the immensity of the cosmos.
  • 00:15:29.385 --> 00:15:33.322
  • This is gonna blow your mind.
  • 00:15:33.322 --> 00:15:35.958
  • We live in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:35.958 --> 00:15:38.794
  • Everybody knows that.
  • 00:15:38.794 --> 00:15:40.129
  • We're in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:40.129 --> 00:15:42.031
  • There are over 100 billion stars in the milky way galaxy.
  • 00:15:42.031 --> 00:15:48.203
  • The average distance, and i looked this up last night to be
  • 00:15:48.203 --> 00:15:51.373
  • Sure, the average distance from one star to the next star in our
  • 00:15:51.373 --> 00:15:55.310
  • Galaxy is 30 trillion miles.
  • 00:15:55.310 --> 00:16:00.215
  • Now to give you an idea how far 30 trillion miles is, just
  • 00:16:00.215 --> 00:16:06.422
  • Imagine getting one of the decommissioned space shuttles.
  • 00:16:06.422 --> 00:16:09.625
  • They're gonna loan it to you for a little while to take a journey
  • 00:16:09.625 --> 00:16:12.728
  • By space.
  • 00:16:12.728 --> 00:16:14.329
  • The space shuttle travels at 17,000 miles an hour, 5 miles
  • 00:16:14.329 --> 00:16:19.601
  • A second.
  • 00:16:19.601 --> 00:16:20.936
  • If you were to get in that space shuttle, and take off, and go to
  • 00:16:20.936 --> 00:16:25.340
  • The next star 30 trillion miles away, it would take you 201,000
  • 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:32.181
  • Years to get there, traveling at 17,000 miles an hour.
  • 00:16:32.181 --> 00:16:37.486
  • To put it another way, let's say that you were to take off in the
  • 00:16:37.486 --> 00:16:42.391
  • Space shuttle on the day christ was born in bethlehem.
  • 00:16:42.391 --> 00:16:46.962
  • From then until now, you've been traveling at 17,000 miles
  • 00:16:46.962 --> 00:16:51.166
  • An hour.
  • 00:16:51.166 --> 00:16:52.568
  • You would have only completed 1% of your trip toward that star
  • 00:16:52.568 --> 00:16:57.439
  • By today.
  • 00:16:57.439 --> 00:16:58.807
  • You would still have 99% more of the trip to go.
  • 00:16:58.807 --> 00:17:02.244
  • That would be to get you to the next star.
  • 00:17:02.244 --> 00:17:05.481
  • How do you explain that?
  • 00:17:05.481 --> 00:17:08.717
  • Well, you know what the atheist says?
  • 00:17:07.382 --> 00:17:10.152
  • The atheist says, "there is no explanation.
  • 00:17:10.152 --> 00:17:13.255
  • There doesn't need to be an explanation, because the
  • 00:17:13.255 --> 00:17:15.958
  • Universe is eternal, and whatever is eternal doesn't need
  • 00:17:15.958 --> 00:17:21.430
  • A beginning."
  • 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:22.798
  • And that's true.
  • 00:17:22.798 --> 00:17:24.133
  • If it's eternal, it doesn't need a beginning.
  • 00:17:24.133 --> 00:17:26.602
  • But guess what scientists have discovered?
  • 00:17:26.602 --> 00:17:29.371
  • We have a beginning to our universe.
  • 00:17:29.371 --> 00:17:33.075
  • The second law of thermodynamics says that the universe is
  • 00:17:33.075 --> 00:17:38.647
  • Running out of energy.
  • 00:17:38.647 --> 00:17:40.015
  • It's winding down.
  • 00:17:40.015 --> 00:17:41.683
  • Now think about this.
  • 00:17:41.683 --> 00:17:43.018
  • If the universe is eternal, it has an eternal past.
  • 00:17:43.018 --> 00:17:47.022
  • And if it has an eternal past, then it would have already run
  • 00:17:47.022 --> 00:17:49.758
  • Out of energy by now, and more and more scientists are coming
  • 00:17:49.758 --> 00:17:53.695
  • To see that.
  • 00:17:53.695 --> 00:17:55.030
  • In the 1930s, there was a belgian priest who became an
  • 00:17:55.030 --> 00:17:58.567
  • Astronomer named georges lemaitre, and he theorized that
  • 00:17:58.567 --> 00:18:03.205
  • The entire universe had been packed in a dense collection of
  • 00:18:03.205 --> 00:18:07.576
  • Matter that existed at temperatures of trillion of
  • 00:18:07.576 --> 00:18:11.280
  • Degrees, and then about 13.7 billion years ago, there was
  • 00:18:11.280 --> 00:18:16.151
  • An explosion.
  • 00:18:16.151 --> 00:18:17.653
  • He called it the cosmic egg that exploded the moment of creation.
  • 00:18:17.653 --> 00:18:23.158
  • Sir frederick coyle later changed that to the big bang.
  • 00:18:23.158 --> 00:18:27.262
  • It was the same theory, that there was a massive matter that
  • 00:18:27.262 --> 00:18:30.666
  • Suddenly exploded and became the universe.
  • 00:18:30.666 --> 00:18:34.570
  • Respected astronomers, like edwin hubble, for whom the
  • 00:18:34.570 --> 00:18:37.873
  • Hubble telescope was named, confirmed that there had been a
  • 00:18:37.873 --> 00:18:42.110
  • Myriad of galaxies beyond our galaxy, the universe is
  • 00:18:42.110 --> 00:18:46.081
  • Expanding, therefore, it had a beginning as well.
  • 00:18:46.081 --> 00:18:50.085
  • Interestingly, on april the 23rd of 1992, a team of scientists
  • 00:18:50.085 --> 00:18:55.424
  • Released the findings from the cosmic background explorer
  • 00:18:55.424 --> 00:18:59.394
  • Satellite, cobe, that confirmed what hubble and lemaitre said,
  • 00:18:59.394 --> 00:19:03.665
  • That there had to be a beginning of the universe.
  • 00:19:03.665 --> 00:19:07.769
  • Can i add something here?
  • 00:19:07.769 --> 00:19:10.505
  • Science is not the enemy of christianity as long as it's
  • 00:19:10.505 --> 00:19:14.710
  • True science.
  • 00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:16.411
  • True science will always lead you to the truth.
  • 00:19:16.411 --> 00:19:19.982
  • Scientists have discovered there had to be a beginning of
  • 00:19:19.982 --> 00:19:23.986
  • Our universe.
  • 00:19:23.986 --> 00:19:25.887
  • Interestingly, even atheists are willing to concede that.
  • 00:19:25.887 --> 00:19:30.959
  • David hume, the scottish philosopher that i told you
  • 00:19:30.959 --> 00:19:34.162
  • About, an atheist, said, quote, "but allow me to tell you that i
  • 00:19:34.162 --> 00:19:38.934
  • Never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything
  • 00:19:38.934 --> 00:19:44.973
  • Might arise without a cause."
  • 00:19:44.973 --> 00:19:48.110
  • Ladies and gentlemen, it is a
  • 00:19:48.110 --> 00:19:49.878
  • Simple but profound truth, out of nothing comes nothing.
  • 00:19:49.878 --> 00:19:56.618
  • Richard dawkins, who wrote "the god delusion," concedes very
  • 00:19:56.618 --> 00:20:00.656
  • Much there could be a first cause.
  • 00:20:00.656 --> 00:20:03.825
  • In an interview with "time magazine," dawkins said, quote,
  • 00:20:03.825 --> 00:20:07.729
  • "there could be something incredibly grand and
  • 00:20:07.729 --> 00:20:11.300
  • Incomprehensible and beyond our present understanding."
  • 00:20:11.300 --> 00:20:15.871
  • When the reporter asked him if that something could be
  • 00:20:15.871 --> 00:20:20.842
  • God, dawkins replied, "yes.
  • 00:20:20.842 --> 00:20:25.047
  • But it also could be any of a billion gods.
  • 00:20:25.047 --> 00:20:29.084
  • It could be the god of the martians, or the inhabitants of
  • 00:20:29.084 --> 00:20:32.621
  • Alpha centauri.
  • 00:20:32.621 --> 00:20:34.456
  • The chance of it being a particular god, yahweh, the god
  • 00:20:34.456 --> 00:20:38.694
  • Of jesus, is banishingly small."
  • 00:20:38.694 --> 00:20:43.231
  • I love author mark mittelberg's rejoinder
  • 00:20:43.231 --> 00:20:46.735
  • To dawkins's statement.
  • 00:20:46.735 --> 00:20:48.070
  • He said, "you can call him what you want.
  • 00:20:48.070 --> 00:20:50.972
  • But the evidence from the origin of the universe tells us a lot
  • 00:20:50.972 --> 00:20:54.409
  • About what he is like; and the description sounds amazingly
  • 00:20:54.409 --> 00:20:59.147
  • Similar to what the bible tells us about one particular god who
  • 00:20:59.147 --> 00:21:03.885
  • Actually is called yahweh, the god of jesus, the
  • 00:21:03.885 --> 00:21:07.456
  • Creator of the world."
  • 00:21:07.456 --> 00:21:10.292
  • The often asked question, "and if there's a god,
  • 00:21:10.292 --> 00:21:12.260
  • Why hasn't he revealed himself?" fails to take into account all
  • 00:21:12.260 --> 00:21:16.665
  • The ways he has revealed himself, starting with the
  • 00:21:16.665 --> 00:21:19.701
  • Cosmos with nature.
  • 00:21:19.701 --> 00:21:21.703
  • The psalmist declared in psalm 19:1, "the heavens declare the
  • 00:21:21.703 --> 00:21:26.074
  • Glory of god; and the skies proclaimed the work
  • 00:21:26.074 --> 00:21:29.678
  • Of his hand."
  • 00:21:29.678 --> 00:21:31.546
  • When famed astronaut, john glenn, was given permission
  • 00:21:31.546 --> 00:21:35.484
  • At age 77 to fly on the space shuttle, on that flight, he
  • 00:21:35.484 --> 00:21:41.623
  • Looked out the window and remarked, "to look out at this
  • 00:21:41.623 --> 00:21:45.560
  • Kind of creation and not believe in god is, to me, impossible."
  • 00:21:45.560 --> 00:21:53.702
  • Now, let's concede one thing atheist richard dawkins said.
  • 00:21:53.702 --> 00:21:58.206
  • It's a giant leap from a first cause of creation to the god of
  • 00:21:58.206 --> 00:22:04.446
  • Abraham, isaac, and jacob.
  • 00:22:04.446 --> 00:22:06.815
  • It's hard to get that out of the cosmological argument.
  • 00:22:06.815 --> 00:22:10.986
  • But fortunately, that's not the only evidence god has left.
  • 00:22:10.986 --> 00:22:14.790
  • There are three other sets of god's fingerprints we're going
  • 00:22:14.790 --> 00:22:20.095
  • To look at next time that help us answer the question,
  • 00:22:20.095 --> 00:22:24.699
  • "how can i know there is a god?"
  • 00:22:24.699 --> 00:22:27.436
  • ♪ music ♪
  • 00:22:27.436 --> 00:22:32.407
  • Jeffress: the psalmist said, "the heavens declare the
  • 00:22:32.407 --> 00:22:35.076
  • Glory of god.
  • 00:22:35.076 --> 00:22:36.478
  • The skies proclaim the work of his hands."
  • 00:22:36.478 --> 00:22:39.748
  • And i hope you'll make plans to join us again next time, because
  • 00:22:39.748 --> 00:22:43.185
  • We're going to continue addressing this important
  • 00:22:43.185 --> 00:22:45.554
  • Question: "how can i know there is a god?"
  • 00:22:45.554 --> 00:22:49.191
  • Let me conclude today's program by thanking you
  • 00:22:49.191 --> 00:22:51.960
  • For placing your confidence in "pathway to victory."
  • 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.430
  • The impact we're seeing
  • 00:22:55.430 --> 00:22:56.731
  • Through this ministry is truly remarkable.
  • 00:22:56.731 --> 00:22:59.468
  • Together we've been able to turn hearts toward jesus christ
  • 00:22:59.468 --> 00:23:03.071
  • And share the freedom that comes through faith in him.
  • 00:23:03.071 --> 00:23:06.408
  • For example, myra from washington wrote to us
  • 00:23:06.408 --> 00:23:09.244
  • And said, "i have to live on my social security check,
  • 00:23:09.244 --> 00:23:13.215
  • But i just wanted you to know there are people listening
  • 00:23:13.215 --> 00:23:16.384
  • Who are moved by your teaching."
  • 00:23:16.384 --> 00:23:18.854
  • It's testimonies like these
  • 00:23:18.854 --> 00:23:20.589
  • That show how god is bringing hope
  • 00:23:20.589 --> 00:23:22.624
  • And light to people who are starving to hear the truth.
  • 00:23:22.624 --> 00:23:26.528
  • Thank you so much for partnering with us.
  • 00:23:26.528 --> 00:23:29.097
  • Now, stay right there.
  • 00:23:29.097 --> 00:23:30.499
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory"
  • 00:23:30.499 --> 00:23:32.968
  • In just a moment.
  • 00:23:32.968 --> 00:23:34.302
  • [announcer] if a friend or one of your children came up
  • 00:23:35.403 --> 00:23:37.706
  • To you and asked, "how do you know christianity
  • 00:23:37.706 --> 00:23:40.242
  • Is the right religion?"
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  • Could you give a clear and credible answer?
  • 00:23:41.643 --> 00:23:44.379
  • We'd like to send you a book
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  • From dr. robert jeffress containing answers
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  • To life's seven most important questions.
  • 00:23:48.350 --> 00:23:51.086
  • It's titled, "how can i know?"
  • 00:23:51.086 --> 00:23:53.288
  • If we're honest, every one of us has questions
  • 00:23:53.288 --> 00:23:55.991
  • About our faith, questions like,
  • 00:23:55.991 --> 00:23:57.959
  • "how can i know the bible is true?"
  • 00:23:57.959 --> 00:24:00.228
  • Or, "how can i know god exists?"
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  • In my book "how can i know?"
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  • I tackle seven important questions
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  • And provide biblically based answers you can embrace
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  • With confidence.
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  • [announcer] seven straightforward answers
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  • To seven pressing questions.
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  • The book, "how can i know?" is yours today
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  • When you give a generous gift
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  • And when your gift is $75 or more,
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  • It's not a sin to have doubts.
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  • Sometimes doubt is a prerequisite to genuine faith.
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  • [announcer] thank you for investing financially
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  • In "pathway to victory."
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  • Biblical teaching of god's word.
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  • ♪ music ♪
  • 00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:05.527
  • Even the staunchest atheist
  • 00:25:05.527 --> 00:25:07.395
  • Must concede there really could be a god.
  • 00:25:07.395 --> 00:25:10.932
  • The existence of the universe is too hard
  • 00:25:10.932 --> 00:25:13.168
  • To explain otherwise.
  • 00:25:13.168 --> 00:25:15.303
  • But while the cosmological evidence is powerful
  • 00:25:15.303 --> 00:25:18.907
  • And an argument for the existence of god,
  • 00:25:18.907 --> 00:25:21.576
  • The atheist is right when he says it's a giant leap of faith
  • 00:25:21.576 --> 00:25:25.680
  • To go from a first cause to the personal god of the bible.
  • 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:30.118
  • Gratefully, god has left some other fingerprints
  • 00:25:30.118 --> 00:25:32.721
  • In the universe that tell us even more about himself,
  • 00:25:32.721 --> 00:25:36.091
  • And next time we're going to look
  • 00:25:36.091 --> 00:25:37.592
  • At three more powerful arguments for the existence of god.
  • 00:25:37.592 --> 00:25:42.397
  • Stay tuned for a preview
  • 00:25:42.397 --> 00:25:43.932
  • Of what's coming up next in our series "how can i know?"
  • 00:25:43.932 --> 00:25:48.336
  • Where does the evidence lead you?
  • 00:25:49.070 --> 00:25:51.640
  • What decision are you going to make?
  • 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:54.909
  • To ignore the evidence that we've looked at today
  • 00:25:55.910 --> 00:25:58.580
  • For the existence of god is to, like one person said,
  • 00:25:58.580 --> 00:26:03.284
  • "slide into eternity with your fingers crossed,
  • 00:26:03.284 --> 00:26:08.556
  • Hoping you're right."
  • 00:26:09.057 --> 00:26:11.493
  • [announcer] set your dvr
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  • And join us next time for part two
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  • Of the message "how can i know there is a god?"
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  • Here on "pathway to victory."
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  • If you could go back in time
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  • And walk with the apostle paul
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  • On one of his journeys, would you do it?
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