Shadowing Practice: why I believe in God - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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For those of you who don't know,
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For those of you who don't know,
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I am a firm believing, non-denominational Christian.
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This means that I reject any Christianity that's become perverted with man-made doctrine.
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I don't believe Catholics, Protestants,
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Calvinists, and Jehovah's Witnesses are making it to heaven.
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That's a bold claim, I know,
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and I don't say it to be controversial.
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I'd rather say the truth than let somebody walk into hell.
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Not everyone who says to me,
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Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
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but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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Matthew 7, 21.
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Now, my father is a preacher,
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so I grew up believing in God.
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But in my teen years, I began to doubt.
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I have always been a very skeptical person.
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I won't believe something unless I can be absolutely guaranteed of its certainty.
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So the thought came to my mind,
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wait a second, I don't actually believe in Noah's Flood, do I?
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Those fantastical fairytale-style stories from the Old Testament?
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Do I believe in talking donkeys?
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People coming back from the dead?
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This led me to a very strong fascination with apologetics.
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For those of you who don't know,
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apologetics is the defense of religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse.
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It was going to take some convincing for me to believe in what the Bible claimed.
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I've never been superstitious.
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I'm still not.
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I don't believe in ghosts,
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I don't believe in mythology.
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Here is a big list of everything that made me doubt the existence of God.
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1. There are over a thousand religions,
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and each one believes itself to be correct.
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Maybe Christianity is just a great delusion of the West.
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After all, most Eastern countries don't believe in God.
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Are we arrogant to say that our God is more real than theirs?
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2. It makes sense that humanity would make up a belief in God,
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as our biggest fear is death.
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Most likely it's just a comforting lie we tell ourselves.
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3. Why would God leave a book,
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especially one that runs the risk of being edited,
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lost, or mistranslated by men?
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If he really wanted us to believe in him,
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wouldn't he make it more obvious?
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Four, some of the smartest people in the world believe in evolution.
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They have the science to back it up as well.
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Science beats philosophy, after all,
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at the end of the day.
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Five, there's over 45,000 denominations.
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Clearly it's a confusing doctrine if even Christians can't settle on one idea.
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Six, Christians are clearly delusional.
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Talking about speaking to God,
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being granted revelations, when I,
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who've been a Christian in my whole life have never experienced any of these things.
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7. It's all very convenient.
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Anytime something goes well, we can say,
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that was God, and anytime something goes wrong,
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we can say, that was Satan.
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It's been set up in a way that is unfalsifiable.
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8. Why would God make his initiation rituals so strange?
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Baptism in water?
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Eating the blood and the bread?
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If I were God, I would have made at least some kind of physical glowing happen while doing these rituals,
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so people could tell they were actually working.
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9. The human mind is fallible.
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It can be altered chemically,
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so how can we even trust our own experiences and reasoning?
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10. Would God really let the people who never got the chance to discover him burn in hell?
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There were many other reasons too,
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but those were the main ones.
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So amidst all this doubt,
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how did I find myself where I am now,
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fully convinced in the belief that the Christian God,
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the God of the Bible, exists?
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Let's get into it.
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Chapter 1, The Philosophical Evidence.
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1, The Morality Argument.
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Morality has to come from somewhere.
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We all feel in the back of our minds
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that there are some things that are objectively right and some things that are objectively wrong.
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Without a standard higher than human reasoning, we can't condemn sin.
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Humanity without God collapses to pieces.
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Our whole system of morality in the West is based on the Bible.
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Our legal system wouldn't make sense without God.
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Can we really say that all morality is just the preference of the state or preference of the majority?
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No, because that would justify the Nazi Party.
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The Holocaust was the preference of both the state and the majority,
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yet we know it was wrong.
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As for the morality of God,
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some people would say that he is unjust according to his actions in the Bible,
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who are we to question that.
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Again, everyone has their own idea of morality.
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The objective standard has to come from somewhere,
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and if God writes the standard,
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then what he says goes.
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Simple as that.
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2. Instinct.
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What tells the organisms to keep evolving?
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Why is it taken for granted that even if organisms could evolve, they would?
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Where did the desire to survive come from?
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that matter could come from nothing is one thing.
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To believe that the will to live could come from matter?
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That I could never believe.
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3. Narrative.
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Humanity wouldn't conceive of a saviour like Jesus Christ.
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He just doesn't fit the bill.
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A humble man who turned the other cheek
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and died on a cross doesn't fit with the kind of hero humanity would write for themselves,
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even in the Bible that is reflected on.
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Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel,
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and they said, No, but we will have a king over us,
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that we may be like the other nations,
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and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
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1 Samuel 8, 19-20.
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And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul.
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There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel.
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From his shoulders upward, he was taller than any of the people." 1 Samuel 9, 2.
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4. This is an amazing point from the book,
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I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist.
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If there was an infinite amount of time before the universe began,
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then it never could have began,
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because you can never arrive at a certain point in time in infinity.
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Therefore, something existing infinitely had to create time and make it begin at a certain point.
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5. Absurdity Are the Old Testament stories too far-fetched?
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Have you observed the world that you live in?
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Our Earth is suspended in space by gravity,
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floating in an endless void filled with balls of gas larger than a thousand Earths.
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Humanity has harnessed Wi-Fi
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and can communicate across the globe in a fraction of a second from a device in his pocket
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that is physically connected to nothing.
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If you think Noah's Ark is crazy,
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you haven't seen our world.
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6. Consciousness Try explaining human experience with science.
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There's no way to prove that the human mind exists,
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yet we all have one.
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Think on that for a while,
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you'll give yourself a headache.
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It had to come from somewhere.
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7. Creativity.
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You've heard the design argument a thousand times,
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but why do we notice design?
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Why do we care about it?
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Why do we care about beauty,
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art, art, neatness, and stories.
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Surely that's not something that was necessary to evolve in order for survival.
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So God created mankind in his own image.
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In the image of God, he created them.
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Male and female, he created them.
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Genesis 1, 27.
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8. Calling.
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Every society has religion.
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I don't think that is a coincidence.
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We all have a nagging feeling deep down that there is something higher than ourselves.
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Maybe all of humanity started with one belief,
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but it was lost and confused,
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now every society is trying to find their way back to it.
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Some kind of Babel, perhaps.
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9. Consistency.
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Beyond order, every part of life works,
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and always works in the same way.
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A woman gets pregnant, we know it takes her nine months to give birth.
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I get a cold, I know I need rest.
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The fact you can look up,
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how long do I have to boil an egg in water, is itself crazy.
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Logic is never changing and unalterable.
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It's not just crazy that the universe contains order,
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it's crazy that reality contains order.
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It's crazy that order can even exist.
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10. Lifestyle.
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The Bible would be a strange book to write for yourself.
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No sex until marriage?
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No alcohol?
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No revenge?
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Those who follow the Bible properly live wholesome, productive, virtue-led lives.
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They deny pleasure for a greater good.
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To me, that is an amazing proof of the Bible.
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It doesn't call humanity to do what they want to do.
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It calls humanity to do something they must do.
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11. Separation.
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Humans can betray their instincts,
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to our own detriment and away from our own pleasure.
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That can't be a trait that can evolve,
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because it isn't necessary for survival.
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We have the ability to kill ourselves intentionally, if we wish.
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There is a higher will in humanity.
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12. Result.
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Seeing the way that Christians live and the way that atheists live is proof enough for me.
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And even though there are plenty of atheists who are happy,
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hopeful, moral people, it's only the atheists who don't truly follow their own philosophy.
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They still follow the morality of the West,
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which was built on the Bible.
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Most atheists live subconsciously as if God exists.
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If an atheist really, truly believes that morality and meaning do not exist on an objective level?
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That is a scary thing.
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Chapter 2, The Historical Evidence.
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The articles for all of these will be linked in the description.
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1. The Fall of Tyre.
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In 586 BC, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that the impregnable city of Tyre would not only fall,
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but the rubble would be cast into the sea.
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This came to fruition 250 years later,
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when Alexander the Great destroyed Tyre,
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then used the rubble to make a land bridge to their island fortress.
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The crazy thing about this is
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that the prophecy was fulfilled after the Bible by a character who had no relation to it.
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2. Our calendar is based on the birth of Jesus.
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Just a fact.
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It's been roughly 2,026 years since Jesus was born.
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3. Hezekiah's Tunnel.
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The Bible records an account in 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings where where King Hezekiah digs a tunnel under Jerusalem.
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In 1880, the tunnel was discovered,
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along with an inscription mentioning King Hezekiah by name.
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4. Manuscripts The Bible is 66 books,
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written over a period of 2,000 years by 40 different people,
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and yet it forms a cohesive, uncontradicting narrative.
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Need proof it hasn't been edited over time?
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Quickfire round.
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It records errors that people of God made.
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It includes a lot of strange rules that would have been better to cut out if it were edited.
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And we have enough ancient manuscripts to compare the modern bible to.
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The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors,
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the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning.
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F.F.
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Bruce.
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resources.
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If these interested you and you want to read more,
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here are some great resources for biblical evidence.
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Apologetics Press, Answers in Genesis,
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and honestly, the book, I don't have enough faith to be an atheist while being a denominational book,
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compiles all of the major biblical evidence into one nice package.
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I'd recommend it.
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Chapter 3, Thoughts on Revelation.
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I do not believe that the claims of visions and being spoken to by God are accurate,
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nor do I believe we see miracles to prove God's existence today beyond providence.
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I do believe that people genuinely think they have seen these things,
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but mental delusion is so common these accounts can't be trusted.
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God knew this.
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The Bible is described by God as the perfect,
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or complete, And he said that once it arrives,
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we will no longer require spiritual revelation.
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Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail.
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Whether there be tongues, they shall cease.
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Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
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For we know in part,
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and we prophesy in part.
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But when that which is perfect is come,
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then that which is in part shall be done away." 1 Corinthians 13,
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8-10 Paul is saying that when the Bible is finished,
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the miraculous gifts will cease,
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because they will no longer be needed in order to prove the validity of Christ.
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If you need proof that the perfect is talking about the Bible,
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that is a whole separate video,
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which I'll bring my dad on board for,
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if I ever make it,
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as he explains it really well.
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So, sorry Muhammad, I do not believe your Bible sequel is canon.
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As the Bible says, But even if we,
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or an angel from heaven,
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preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you,
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let him be accursed.
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Galatians 1, 8.
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Thank you so much for watching.
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Have a great rest of your day.
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God bless you.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the video "Why I Believe in God" offers a compelling opportunity for English learners to improve their speaking skills through a real-life context. The speaker navigates complex ideas about belief, skepticism, and apologetics, illustrating how to express nuanced opinions. By practicing shadow speech—repeating the speaker's words as they are articulated—learners can enhance their fluency and intonation. This method builds confidence and emphasizes natural speech patterns, making it an effective approach to learn English with YouTube content. As you shadow the speaker, not only do you sharpen your pronunciation, but you also develop the ability to discuss philosophical concepts articulately and assertively.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the transcript, several key structures and expressions serve as excellent examples for learners:
- "I believe that..." - This phrase is often used to introduce personal beliefs or opinions. It sets the tone for asserting one's viewpoint clearly.
- "It makes sense that..." - This expression is great for forming logical connections and presenting arguments. It helps articulate reasoning effectively.
- "Why would..." - A useful rhetorical question structure that encourages critical thinking. It invites listeners to consider the logic behind beliefs.
- "It was going to take some convincing for me to believe..." - This complex sentence showcases the conditional structure often used to express doubt or require evidence.
Utilizing these phrases in your own speaking practice can enhance your ability to discuss similar topics confidently. Incorporate the shadowing technique to mimic these structures for better retention.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing with this video, pay attention to certain tricky words and phrases that might be prone to mispronunciation:
- "Apologetics" - Many learners may struggle with the placement of the stress. Practice emphasizing the second syllable: a-POL-o-get-ics.
- "Denominations" - This word can be challenging due to its length and multiple syllables. Focus on breaking it down: de-nom-i-na-tions.
- "Evolution" - Make sure to stress the second syllable as well: e-VOL-ution.
Using a shadowing app or shadowing site can help you hear the correct pronunciation of these terms in context, making them easier to master as you repeat after the speaker.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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