A Megachurch Pastor's Eight Reasons for Leaving the Faith & Where They Go Wrong

About this sermon

A former megachurch pastor listed 8 reasons he left the Christian faith. Dr. William Lane Craig responds to each one. Dr. Todd Phillips spent years as a teaching pastor and studied at three seminaries — yet roughly two years ago he announced that he had become an agnostic atheist, publishing a video laying out eight reasons for leaving Christianity. In this episode of the Reasonable Faith Podcast, host Kevin Harris walks philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig through each of Todd's reasons, from the genetic fallacy and divine hiddenness to the historical Adam and the problem of evil. Dr. Craig examines the logic behind each objection and explains where he it breaks down — and points out what's conspicuously missing from the video. Along the way the conversation also touches on the fate of the unevangelized, the unity of core Christian doctrine amid denominational diversity, and the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. About Dr. Todd Phillips: A former teaching pastor at Lakepointe Church in the Dallas area who studied at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary, Todd Phillips publicly announced that he no longer identifies as a Christian. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Meet Dr. Todd Phillips 2:19 Reason #1 — Religion as an Accident of Geography (the Genetic Fallacy) 6:31 Reason #2 — What About Sincere Seekers Who Never Find God? 9:42 Reason #3 — Divine Hiddenness: Why Doesn't God Make Himself Obvious? 19:25 Reason #4 — "The Bible Is Just a Human Book" 22:05 Reason #5 — Why So Many Christian Denominations? 25:34 Reason #6 — No Historical Adam, No Atonement? 29:16 Reason #7 — The Problem of Gratuitous Suffering 32:21 Reason #8 — Is Hell Just Divine Torture? 35:25 Closing Thoughts: The Case Christians Aren't Making Key Links 🌐 Read the full episode summary on reasonablefaith.org — https://www.reasonablefaith.org/media/reasonable-faith-podcast/a-megachurch-pastors-eight-reasons-for-leaving-the-faith-and-where-they-go-wrong/ 📚 Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (3rd ed.) by William Lane Craig — https://www.amazon.com/Reasonable-Faith-Third-Christian-Apologetics/dp/1538450828 📚 Atonement and the Death of Christ by William Lane Craig — https://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Death-Christ-Philosophical-Exploration/dp/1481312049 📚 Hard Questions, Real Answers by William Lane Craig — https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Questions-Answers-William-Craig/dp/1581344872 🎙️ Reasonable Faith Podcast — https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/reasonable-faith-podcast/ 💬 Reasonable Faith Forums — https://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/ 🎥 More short clips with Dr. Craig — https://www.youtube.com/drcraigvideos ❤️ Support this ministry — https://www.reasonablefaith.org/donation Subscribe for weekly conversations on faith and reason, and support this ministry at the link above. Reasonable Faith is a ministry that features the work of philosopher and theologian Dr. William Lane Craig in order to carry out its three-fold mission: 1) to provide an articulate, intelligent voice for biblical Christianity in the public arena; 2) to challenge unbelievers with the truth of biblical Christianity; 3) to train Christians to state and defend Christian truth claims with greater effectiveness. Learn more at https://www.reasonablefaith.org. #Christianity #Apologetics #WilliamLaneCraig #DivineHiddenness #ProblemOfEvil

Topics

• Faith
• Leadership