Spiritual improvement is an important aspect of self-improvement. Even if you aren't religious this discussion is thought provoking. Subscribe for more: ruclips.net/channel/UCzsDdY6NzSJ69WwhWwjZ9KA
No, it isn't... it is mind numbing & delusional. It is also a weak spot in Shap's Harvard armor. A plebeian with rudimentary knowledge could kick his buns in a debate if he went with the religious take on this... it has no merit
There’s nothing thought provoking about this you obviously like Ben & this topic you ate it all up because to you it sounds good but a fool can stay a fool or not be a fool that’s literally religion except you burn if you choose your own path 🤣🤣🤣
@@maryruckman252 Well God creates all things in this world how he wishes to, so I would say I heavily disagree with his decision to create disease and natural disasters that kill thousands indiscriminately every year, which I would find to be a reasonable disagreement to have, although I suppose theoretically I would be wrong in that disagreement due to the premise that if God existed, he would be in the right to kill all the babies he wants on a daily basis
@@mfit7110 This exactly. We could KNOW that God exists and still choose not to follow, obey, or worship Him. There is nothing "well articulated" about this.
The 2 types of "evil" are moral malevolence and natural suffering. Morality has NOTHING to do with natural suffering and it's inequality. Free will is meaningless in a proposed afterlife, and that's based on the assumption that free will actually exists. Good without evil cannot be defined, and thus, omnibelevilence is a false concept. Ben's defined God is a fairy tale. Even Ben's version of a Moral Commander is on the hook for natural suffering, which this God can not reconcile.
Amen to that! My argument from the people who don't believe all the time well why is there not miracles why is it that we don't see these things every single day of our lives and how do you believe in something you can't see. I say to them there are miracles every day small ones not the parting of the red sea or great huge miracles when Jesus was on Earth but miracles people surviving disasters, People coming from poverty and abuse and anguish throughout their lives that are successful, Small insignificant miracles everyday the fact that you get up and breathe air and you are alive is a miracle. I love to say that to people quite often. I think that human beings live in a bubble they don't see what's outside that bubble the good the bad and the ugly. As human beings we need to see it all and we have to have a moral compass no matter what our beliefs are we still have to have that compass that guides us to be good human beings. We don't have to be taught to be bad how many people have children nobody taught them how to lie but they still lie. What you do as a parent to sit down and talk about that with your child and how it's not acceptable and the lesson that they have to learn is how you teach them to be good people. We have to be taught to be good
@@neamia3 If you’re referring to the organized Christian religion, yes, sure. But if you’re talking about Christianity, no. Christianity does not require to bend your will to anything but the teachings of God. You are not required to go to church, to participate in any organized event, or even to follow any religious laws. If you simply want to read the Bible and pray in your own home you can. Actual Christianity is more like Morpheus from the Matrix. “Not everyone believes what you believe Morpheus.” “My beliefs do not require them to.”
so what I'm hearing is it's entirely possible for a person to be shown God and it didn't take away their free will or if it did it didn't bother God. So gods just choosing to let millions of people burn in hell, when they'd gladly have this same conversation with God if he wanted them saved. some people such as myself would not feel like my will to choose is hindered by showing his existence, I could still choose to not be his follower but I am not going to believe this nonsense just cause a cult on earth says its true 🤣🤣 chew on that believers. clearly God can show himself so what's the holdup.
@@kathovik7658 forget miracles, why not just have this talk with the atheists considering his existence is what is questioned and the best absolute way to show it is to have a face to face with anyone that doesn't believe.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. - Isaiah 9:6-7 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. - Isaiah 53:1-6 (This is about Jesus, the Messiah. Therefore, Jesus had to face God's wrath on our behalf, though He went willingly. It shows that the idea of simply being a prophet is nonsense, along with other verses such as Isaiah 9:6.) “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. - Zechariah 12:10 These are all about Jesus.
His second point was literally: it would be too obvious that god was real if he was good. I am absolutely furious with that answer, please someone try and justify that to me because I think that is an atrocious argument
I have never understood the logic behind why it is required to believe. Someone could have gotten for example through awful, unspeakable abuse as a child and gotten dissociative identity disorder, and I feel like I would have serious trouble trusting God's benevolence or his existence after such experiences. Nobody in this video is adressing that 😓 This video didn't clear it up for me, unfortunately.
@@GgFffh-jy3lmbut by proxy thats evil, its conceited. He made the world and allowed cruelty to show grace and kindness to a select few ? Just cause he wants you to know ? That makes no sense
Except it does not clear anything up. The kids in Africa who are dying of starvation and AIDS did not end up in that situation simply because "freewill" exists. And even if that was the case that does not mean those kids shows to be in that situation so either way freewill is irrelevant
If angels have no free will, how did Satan deceive Adam and Eve? God punished the devil for what he had done. Angels therefore have freewill. Have you not heard the devil and a third of all the angels fell from heaven on mount Sinai?
@@InTheNameOfGodIHaveComeAngels perhaps can choose to defy God or obey God. They cannot choose to *love* God in a similar fashion to how God loves us. They have only the option of a professional relationship with the Almighty. God made us for Him to love and to be loved by.
@@Finraen and yet if we die, won’t we become as angels? Serving God in heaven? So then should we seek Life or Death? For what good is it to gain the world if you lose your soul? And what is Life? It comes from within. From your heart and your mind. And from the soul that is responsible for those two. So with all of your getting, get more. Do not be afraid to Live.
No this doesn't even come CLOSE to answering the problem of gratuitous suffering. Which is to say suffering for no good reason. God has demonstrated in the old testament that he is perfectly willing to put thousands of children to death by the sword rather than rapturing them up away from harm. Either you admit that it was fucked up or you admit that he was not omnipotent. This choice ACTUALLY is yours!
@@tteabag91 I dont know the difference between the new and old testament. I am not a religious study whatsoever. So from a minor perspective this brought much to light.
@@tteabag91that’s free will of other humans and if there was no disease in the world then there would be overpopulation and we would run out of resources,and. If you say God could have just made the planet bigger than there would be a lot of gravity and we wouldn’t be able to survive
My question would be why does God hide but then expect to be believed in or else you will burn for eternity even if you lived a kind, humble sin free life..? How does that make any sense ?!
@@mistypedhi overall my question would be which God is "God" because there are so many alternative beliefs. However, I feel like that is a fair question and I have not heard many explanations that aren't more or less faith based and allowance of free will.
Believing is for the weak minded. Being able to accept and even reach for the pure cruel truth of this world, without deluding yourself, that’s strong.
@@user-yc3pb1ij7g Why would overcoming adversity ever be worthless? There is a very inherent worth in achieving your goals after pushing through hard times. I dont see why it has to be related with faith?
@@user-yc3pb1ij7g Achieving your goals IS the purpose. Being happy and fulfilled with what you accomplished in life IS purpose. Dont look for a hidden grandiose purpose thats rectifies your suffering during life. Do it now, do it for yourself, do it for your loved ones, do what makes you happy. Neither God nor the "universe" owes you a purpose. Create your own purpose.
@-Alexander-K My point is/was, in a Richard Dawkins type universe, things like purpose, motivation, goals, happiness, and of course morality have no meaning.
I have been through a lot of tough times in life and I hated experiencing these things but… When I look back I see that they brought me to where I am now… This allows me to accept my past to a large degree. If I could give advice to my younger self I would say that things will not be as bad as I thought they would be 😇
Goodness sakes my sister, that was well said. I also think the same when it comes to this topic. Great job with understanding you’re own pain and what it brings. It make’s beautiful people if you can know why it has to happen. I hate my trauma but I love it so much at the same time. To constantly overcome that much pain and not just give up and die, I know that I’m way stronger than I think I am while I’m suffering. This too shall pass is my best advice to myself. Easier said than done while you’re going through it. Hindsight is 20/20 for real. You’re great and I value human beings such as yourself. Never stop being your awesome self.
I’ve been searching for this answer for the past year, and this is a better answer than anybody I’ve ever asked. I am Christian but for some reason seems like nobody can ever answer this question in a clear way.
However, it’s clear that he can control you if he chooses, as he did with the Egyptian king making him stubborn. Also it’s clear he knows all things past, present, and future. When Abraham asked him to spare sodom and Gomorrah if he could find a number of good people, constantly recanting the deal. Also even with Adam and Eve, he knew what they did, but he asked. With Cain and Abel, he asked Cain what did he do, yet he knew Abel was dead. The choice is yours, the choices are his, but he knows where you will go/do/say.
He didn't explain anything. He essentially just said "god allows suffering (like children dying of cancer) so that you can have faith in him". If that's true he's a cruel narcissist.
@@davidaugustine3686 This presumes you can justify what's right and wrong without God, which I don't believe is even possible on an atheistic view. Ergo, any moral critique is hollow and unjustified.
@@davidaugustine3686you’re misrepresenting and over simplifying what he is saying 😂 the main point of what he was saying is that in order to ensure that freedom, choice, and faith still exist, partial obscurity is necessary.
@@davidaugustine3686cancer wasnt around back then, people lived longer then somewhere along the timeline humans created materials that exposed them to cancer ,same thing with kids ,there are causes of cancer created by man ,and SOME people profit from suffering. I.e. governments,elites...
I read the book of Job in the Old Testament as a pre-teen, back when I was a devout Protestant Christian. At the end of the book, Job finally gets to talk to god in the whirlwind. God’s answer to all of Job’s questions is basically: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Fundamentalist Christians and Jews have both argued before that if someone doesn’t believe the first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1), then those same skeptics are going to have a hard time believing the rest of it. As an atheist, I couldn’t agree more. Judeo-Christian theology is an entire system of thought; and its starting premise is that god created the universe. Why people continue to believe in all of this nonsense is beyond me… “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no god.” ^LOL 😂 Bible = logical fallacy times a million
@justsomeone412 Not even that. The often quoted 2 Timothy ("All scripture is inspired by God" etc.) can't pertain to the Bible as we know it today because the Old Testament was only partly canonized at the time Paul (or somebody else) wrote the letter. And the gospels Matthew, Luke, and John didn't even exist yet.
Props to Ben for taking on one of the most difficult questions that a person of faith could ever be asked. He spoke very clearly and eloquently, so thankful to hear his words!
"Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds." - Dan Millman
@@keed4200 resistance is about control. If it's within your power to change something then change it. If it's beyond your control why fight it? Endure it and learn from it. Nothing is forever.
@@brandtmaxwell8972but it would oh i dont know about whatever crap the op was talking of. But Christianity would comfort her hes. Everyone cries. You made a mundane point of human death. It's almost as if christians didnt suffer being killed. So whats your ultimatum of a point? Who cares.
We don't need faith to help us in suffering and evil times....What we really need in our lives is reality...someone real to be there for us and reach out when we call to him....not some intangible, angry God😢
This is always so interesting about Ben. For someone who is so rooted in facts and logic, he's a big believer in God. But he never debates it because he knows ultimately it comes down to faith, so it no longer becomes a logical debate
Yeah I’m very much the same way different politics but I am Jewish too and in my experience a lot of us Ashkenazi Jews have the same outlook when it comes to things like this I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing just something I’ve noticed as a pattern with me and my family members
@The_m_dude I mean its perfectly fine obviously I meant no offense. I think its honestly smart to just admit that it does require faith. Which is fine when we acknowledge reality. I just appreciate his intellectual consistency. I mean im atheist/agnostic but im not militaristic I simply don't have faith. If I'm honest I wish I did
@@get_lucky6402 Oh i didn't think you meant offense I'm just speaking from my experience as a Jew that that kind of thinking is honestly part of the culture of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish families again in my experience
The Big Bang is Faith. To look around at the complication of life it's clear Creation is the more Logical choice. Plus we get to live forever in paradise.
@@bigzachful big bang isn't based on faith it's based on observable reality. Creation makes less sense. You're in your feelings about your religion and making you sound illogical as hell
The issue with this is that he punishes you for your choice or in cases of having never been exposed to him, your lack of choice. This is not someone who should be praised and worshipped. This is evil
You've been warned about false prophets. You're still not understanding. Do The Work Angles!!! He says we're not Angles, We Are! Wake Up Or You're Not Getting In!
No, he doesn't. I listened to his answer. He didnt explain why God allows children to be raped tortured and murdered. I mean, rather obviously, there is no adequate explanation that any religious person could give. The correct answer, which you wont hear from a theistic sheep, is this. God, if he exists, allows children to be raped and tortured because he is evil and wicked.
That is an answer but not a good answer. In the christian mythos, Satan had absolute knowledge that god existed and yet he STILL had the free will to chose to revel against good. If god was to present himself without a shadow of a doubt, that wouldn't cancel out our free will.
Not really what about animals? They have to be tortured and killed over millions of years? Is that what a perfectly good being would do? I just don't really buy any argument besides that there if god is all powerfu and all good then there is some greater working behind how souls work between hell, earth, and heaven that must ultimately resolve what we perceive as unnecessary torture.
Or in other words what about a small child that was tortured and killed? It's really a ridiculous thing to try and justify obvious atrocities in human terms. Only God could properly explain how all of it is justified. Alas, the bible not only doesn't give us this justification, but the book of job confirms my view.
But not everyone is given the same level of free will. A person born into slavery who dies a slave has no free will to express their time on this earth. How is that moral or just that God allows them to wallow in misery under the guise of protecting their free will?
@@joefuentes2977Judaism affirms reincarnation as is hinted at in Job 33:29-30 "Behold God does all these, twice or thrice with man. To bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of life." The Arizal, one of our holy and eminent sages, wrote books containing the secrets of reincarnation, and described how the souls of humans can be put into the bodies of animals for various temporal atonements, such as serving under someone whom you owe debt to, or being given as a sacrifice within the holy temple. This is relevant because the purpose of this world according to our faith is in uplifting "holy sparks", and enabling God's divine light and presence to dwell within a perfected and uplifted creation, this is why we obey the laws and precepts which God commanded to us. Ultimately, everything is for the sake of unifying the physical and spiritual world, and not to simply pass the test and go to "paradise".
Probably the best answer I’ve heard to this common question. On a smaller scale like why stuff goes wrong for us sometimes is sometimes not only because of those two reasons but also could be because it makes us stronger or rely on Him or look for Him.
Making us stronger and making us look for jim are opposites so which is it? It cant be "no matter what god is good right"? How much stronger do we need to be? And wouldnt the evil HE created be the only thing you need to be stronger for? wow
@@hayatefaith4273 God didn’t “create” evil thats something he states in the Bible that he hates along with sin and wickedness. Bro you gotta understand from what he saying it can be both. God just wants us to love him as much as he loves us
I‘m a medical student. During my Hem and Onc rotation I saw a young girl dying of bone cancer after her whole life suffering from pain. If god is almighty and good, why does he let that happen? That girl herself did not commit no sin whatsoever, she was pure and kind. To test her faith? If god is doing this, he is either not almighty or not good…
Ben is truly gifted. i just realized he just answered that question...beautifully, and he didnt utter a single "um" or "uhh" or pause ...or use a wrong word, and have to correct it. AND he speaks at a blistering pace. hes amazing. EDIT: I feel like i should clarify my original comment. I'm athiest but raised catholic. i thought from a religious persons perspective, he answered the question thoughtfully, and correctly. I may not have faith in religion, but i was raised in a religious environment. so i feel like im qualified to comment on the substance of his answer, but thats not at all what i was doing. My original comment was merely referencing his ability to speak his thoughts flawlessly..his pace is pretty amazing too. I wasnt making an assumption about how his speaking ability relates to his IQ, or if his answer was sound from a practical, religious point of view. sorry i wasnt more clear on that. One thing i will say about Ben, is ..he a man of conscience. No matter which answer he gives, its based on his moral code, no agenda. Television personalities, media ...are mostly disingenuous. They speak out of fear, or compensation, or some other motive. There are far too many schills out there....and theyre wreaking havoc on this country. So i respect Ben for that. Conducting ourselves this way, according to our own moral compass, is maligned as conservativism these days. Which is a shame, because right and wrong shouldnt be politicized. The left uses that tactic to bully and influence people. Hopefully one day this nonsense will end so we can focus on our true enemy.
except he's not talking about scripture. scripture absolutely states that angels can sin. what about Lucifer in the third of the angels that shows with their own free will to sin against God by betraying him and leaving heaven with Lucifer? Lucifer said I will exalt myself above the Throne of God and be like God. That is outright sin. that's why the one thing that God hates above all things out of six things that he hates, that is a proud look. Second is a lying tongue. Third is Strife amongst Christian Brethren. 4th is a false witness telling lies on other people, the fifth thing is murder of the innocent and I can't remember what the sixth is
Ben's explanations are terrible. First, if I prevent child rapist physically from raping, he still has free will, he was just physically stopped. Why can't God physically stop every child rapist? Second, if God doesn't stop natural suffering because he wants to obscure himself, why was there suffering before humans existed (for example, at the time of dinosaurs)?
It's all in our head. The reality outside of us is processed into thought, identified and labelled using man-made language. Do you think in Swahili? Let go, enjoy it as it is or change what it is. A sense of freedom is right there if you stop looking for it. ;)
"For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 There is no TESTIMONY without a TEST! Trust Gods timing, HE will never ever fail you. Stay blessed my brothers and sisters.
Bro, Ben is a jew and they don’t believe in Matthew, let alone Jesus.. matter of fact in the Talmud he is boiling in feces. Christian’s need to wake up to this, like 1000 years ago…
Believing in timing is to justify random events at random times, then picking and choosing what to attribute to God. In other words, you are mind fkng yourself and you are too ignorant to realize this
@@kroolini3678no but giving a person with bad intentions more power than a person with good intentions is a decision by God and that is a wrong decision in itself. So either God is not all good or not all powerful
@@vb2806 God gave us free will. Some use this to gain power and to sin. They are punished in the end. Virtuous people are saved. There is lo contradiction, you think the material has any value, but it doesn’t
It is the divine syzygy, the inseparable pair of the dichotomy of good and evil. the Buddhists understood this when it was said that “form/substance implies void and void implies form” in their ancient sutras. Because *Nothing* can be the only thing to exist, therefore everything exists.
But isn't heaven nothing but good and same with the garden of Eden? So why didn't god just have the universe start where Revelation ends except we are all in heaven because sin and evil never existed in the first place? Where did the devil come from? Why was the tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden? If God is all good, all powerful and all intelligent then by that logic, evil should never even exist. It's called 'the problem of evil'. Look it up.
@@secretagent4610 You are limiting the unlimited power of God.God is All Good; but,also,he is all powerfull; but,also,he has unlimited will. You can't ask God why he does what he does; but God will ask you why you do what you do. Our life began on earth because of a famous event-the event in which humankind was thrown out of the Garden because he failed to pass the test.Yes!it was a test and an inevitable happening. We were supposed to live in this world; produce our species in it; cultivate it; and beautify it. However we will return where our deeds take us- Hell. or Heaven.
@@servantoftheexpander9688 I'm not limiting anything. Why can't I ask God what he does? Who says? God doesn't want us to know answers? Why god give us curiosity and the desire to learn if he doesn't want us to do those very things?
Sure, tell that to children born with cancer or aids. Kids who only know pain and suffering only to die a few short years later. Some good happiness and light seen there.
As a child and in my teens, I was searching for this answer. I grew up in Germany with catholic and protestant background and no one I've ever asked could answer this question. I never got a plausible answer like this, till now. THANK YOU BEN!!!
Amazing. God directly revealed this answer to me a few years ago when I was pondering the question, how to answer that if someone asks me. It's amazing to know that it really is an answer people may have not heard. What a blessing to know how it may help people.
There is more truth to it as well. The fact is even the bad things matter. It hurts but it is good. Even in times which we can not understand. Ask the mother of a stillborn child her feelings on truth. And consider how much a life which never even breathed could change the face of the earth forever. Then lastly the memory of Satan. He was perfect before he sinned. All he understands is his own perspective. And is forever stuck in what some may call a curse. This is how we are greater than Satan and more loved by God. We are closer to him as the ability to be imperfect is also our salvation. A perfect evil can never change, luckily we are not perfect and therefore can potentially overcome the impossibility of accepting that we are not God in our decisions and thoughts. In other words our ego is like a demon which needs to be rebuked in order to even be brought into the light.
@@Ndasuunye Church in Germany is like: I will do all bad things in life, bc God will forgive me on Sunday anyways... Never met a Christian person who believed out of their heart.
As unfair as it sounds, it wouldn't be right to mess with certain people's free will. We've all said and/or done something bad so, He'd have to take away everyone's free will. God doesn't want robots. Robots can't feel any emotions. He wants us to be able to freely choose Him or not. Being a gentleman, He will never force us to do anything against our will. So, when things go wrong, and they will, it's not God's fault. It's yours. You made that choice. Even as Christians, He still gives us total freedom to make decisions. He may shield us from a lot of bad things but He won't shield us from every bad thing in this world. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean He has our world bubble wrapped for our protection. A lot of non believers think being a Christian is easy. If it is, why don't they try it?
Fun fact In Life of Pi, the ship that Pi is traveling on initially was called the tzimtzum, which is very closely related to the term tsimtsum When the boat sinks, that is the boats way of withdrawing its light. Being absent of absolute safety and certainty.
Crazy. I was up til 4 am last night, couldnt sleep. Ive had a copy of life of pi since grade 8 (33 now).. only managed to read a chapter or two.. i was thinking for some random reason to try agn… im christian also..
😂😂😂 just because a baby is newborn he / she perfect you think a demon will gonna have perfect baby/ angel baby 😂😂 humans are sinner you expect humans to have perfect babies angel like? No sins?😂😂😂 Human choose it so don't blame God... it's like you made a bread using pan with dint yet you expect perfect bread will come out?😂😂😂😂
@@nathanaburpeei1818 First, it's not a great metaphor, or analogy, the better would be once a father gives the keys to the truck he must let him take wheel himself, although both basically say the same thing: damage can be done to self and others in the process of having choice and free will.
But still, the important question is why ..? What is the point ? Why are we given a choice when there is a big portion of humanity that will choose the wrong path ... then they will be punished for it
@@z3tr_10what is the point of anything? I mean why God even created the universe? Only God knows the answers for these questions. But God gave humans free will and if big portion of humanity makes wrong choices its because they wanted to and not God made them choose that. God gave us free will but also gave us a gauge to measure those choices called conscience which always tells us when we are making the bad choice. Its just that we put it on silent every time and by time it dies off. So in the end its us who are to be blamed and not God for our choices.
@hellobaba70 why give us free will??? And do you really think humans are giving the same Opportunity ?? Like if the person born in the middle east in 1700 AD have the same starting point as a person born in Greece in 300 bc ??? Brother I really want it to make sense but it doesn't, life without religion is pointless and meaningless... but I can't lie to my self and say it makes sense
@@z3tr_10 why give us free will because that is what makes us as humans the best creation of all. In most religion God do claim that humans are the best of his creation and why is that what do we have that others dont? Free will! And thats is why we will be judged cause we made these choices on our own. And again according to many religions everyone will be judged or punished or rewarded according to the opportunity or surroundings they were in.
@2b.or.not2b but why can't I choose not to have free will .. I want to always do good and not sin ... I don't want to feel lust or greed , what is Beautiful about that .. but I don't have the choice ... God doesn't need us to do good yet he punishes us when we don't ... so is this just a game to God?? Again, I hate having this debate , I wish a had no doubts and no questions, but I do for some reason ,, is it my free will ? Is it my fault that I was born curious and always asking questions ?
Unfortunately, a lot of pain and suffering comes about from things outside of our free will and control. Things happen regardless of our choices. A young mother who has always lived and healthy life and never smoked gets lung cancer and dies. Who's choice was that? I was born with a developmental disorder which makes even typing this comment difficult, let alone holding down a job. Who's choice? In 2004 a tsunami wiped out multitudes of people.- once again, who's choice?
His answer begs the question, couldn’t an all-powerful god have made a world where he was hidden, but was filled with cruelty pain confusion and fear? Why was it necessary to create a world where countless animals suffer every minute of every day?
Funny how if you ask 10 people about the "nature of god", you'll get 11 different answers. Everyone just making it up as they go, or repeating the specific version that they were fed throughout their childhood.
@@DatHombre exactly, it’s all superstitious. People say you will see god when you accept him into your heart. He’ll come to you when you need him most… yeah no shit. When you’re desperate or searching for something to save you, you’ll have confirmation bias and find that. If you think you’re going to hell, you’re going to believe you’re going to hell.
I caught that too. I don't agree, because angels did have a choice, I don't know if they have one now after that fiasco🤦🏾♀️🤷🏽♀️. Perhaps knowing that they would go against their Creator and what the punishment was, may have deterred others 😬🤔. But I still learn a lot from Mr Shapiro☺️👍
You don’t know that in Judaism Satan is just another angel, one that try to push us towards the evil part but Satan himself doesn’t have a choice, angels don’t have freedom
Except his first point is just wrong. The Talmud is filled with god intervening on multiple occasions. The New Testament is god also sending his son down and dying for everyone; this is an intervention of monumental proportion.
Seriously? According to Shapiro, child rape happens because God respects free will of the rapist. And painful child cancer happens so that God can obscure himself.
@@cahtdoge4874 right. Religious people also always talk about miracles, and godly intervention. The whole concept of prayer is based on God's ability to intervene.
💯 I been saying this for years . If you can go out your door or look out your window everyday and see God sitting in the park on his throne. Ain't no way you'll be the you you are today and do everything you currently do .
@@KC.801 but it’s ok for me to be a dumb because I do believe? Maybe ur logic is messed up?! He’s free to believe in whatever he chooses, as well as I am.
So you’re okay with suffering and pain so your magic sky daddy can hide behind the curtain. Would you choose this explanation to comfort you if your child or lover died a slow painful death from disease?
Is God the one killing those babies or us humans? You may not do those things directly but as a whole, we are one race and us humans lean towards evil doing.
@@edwincorvera1156why does a girl who did nothing wrong in her life gets raped every now and then?. You might have seen 5 year olds getting raped why does God do not save them?
@@edwincorvera1156what about an incapable paralysed toddler why dies from cancer? His death did absolutely nothing good and in that case none of his free will went towards dying
@Jac296 I see your point, I ask tho8gh, am I God to know why those things happen? No. But let me offer you some comfort, with what I believe to understand from a situation like that. Why is there sickness? In my understanding, sickness became a part of the fall by sin. We were created to live and not to die. Yet that later was changed because of the disobedience of our ancestors (Adam) We came from the lineage of sinful humans, not before the fall. Cancer is no different than death itself. Death is the consequence of the action that we as a race committed against God. Cancer, along with any other sickness, can happen to anybody due to genetics, bad eating, irregularities in our system etc, etc. Things that are caused by death, think that from the moment we are conceived in a bigger picture, we are starting to live yet we are starting to die because the older we get the closer we get to dying. God is still in control of the world even if he allowed us to exercise the free will do and to choose him if we want to. But because he set rules out for us, there will also be consequences, and He will judge all of us according to our doing? Now, what did the baby do wrong? Nothing, but his life take away by cancer was merely a consequence of the previous generations. Is God the unfair? No, he will judge the life of that baby and find no fault in it? So in that sense accidental death such that, should be in a sense counted as a blessing too, just as much as living longer. For that person who did not suffer the things of this world, their consciousness was not developed to have sinned against God. Which is that sense my mind rest that God will judge that situation justly. As for the parents? God will work in their hearts according to the plans He has for their lives, which are different than yours and mine.
Been asking this question for a long time, still can't wrap my head around it when we're supposed to be loved. The only answer that I could come up with that makes sense in a religious standpoint I suppose is that regadless of what happens to us here, in the now, no matter how bad we suffer, once we die all suffering ends and God will pick us up on the other side, assuming we stood firm in our beliefs of him while we were here. Kind of like even if a baby dies, obviously it's fucking tragic and painful to even consider, but that baby just got a free ticket to the *best* place any of us could possibly go in the afterlife. That's really the only comforting thought I can think of to combat the complete lunacy of the world we're living in right now.
My question would be why does God hide but then expect to be believed in or else you will burn for eternity even if you lived a kind, humble sin free life..? How does that make any sense ?!
@@shanesawyer5103 Very assumptive advice, having zero knowledge of what that person meant with their statement. Do you have powers, to see inside her mind?
@@shanesawyer5103 Ahhhh. yes. Do you not know, of what she knows? Do you known, of what she does not? . Have you seen no evidence of the creator? You have seen evidence there is no creator? How should one explain what water is to a fish? . I'm suspiciously thinking that you and OP have much in common concerning the subject. 🧐🤔🤐
What Ben effectively said is: God is a maniacal psychopath who lets a parasitic worm bore into the eyeballs of a starving child in a sub Saharan tribe so that he can prove a point about ‘faith’. And subsequently he inspires missionaries from Europe to come down to Sahara and preach the dead child’s tribe about his kindness & mercy.
@@peanut_toast999 So God created something imperfect since he ended up sinning. Plus God would have to have created sin for Satan to sin since you can't sin without sin being a thing
I have an amazing story. One day I was driving home and I felt the presence of the Lord, come down to me from above. It was as real as anything and I felt so comfortable with Him. I knew if I asked Him to play a song on the radio, He would. So I said "Ok Lord, play Come as you are..." I didn't know what station it was on or anything, but I turned the radio on and the song started playing right on the spot, perfectly... I started getting flooded with chills inside, trembling, and crying tears of joy. When I got home, He stayed with me for 10 minutes till I got out of the car. I've been getting amazing prayers answered for around 5 years since, because that experience made me stop doubting when I pray, and I follow Biblical instructions, best I can.
@@issho8885 I didn't even know what that was until I just looked it up. I live a pretty clean life. I hadn't taken anything that day. I mainly quit drinking and all that 8 and a half years ago, and other people have been a part of my prayers plenty of times There have been 3 people at one church I used to go too, who had stage 4 cancer and the church prays for them and they've been healed over night. I had a woman call me not too long ago and she told me she was healed from schizophrenia after I prayed for her a long time ago. We had a deaf woman at my other church who was healed by church prayer and can hear. Last year, I told a co-worker 2 stories and asked if I could pray for him and he said yeah. I grabbed his hands and prayed for his family, finances, and things. I came to work 4 days later. He said he had gotten promoted to GM Manager over a bunch of different stores. Getting paid from 900 to 1600, max tips on reg, and his wife was getting insane overtime money. I mentioned that we prayed and he looked at me like he saw a ghost.
I was pondering this same question this morning, so it's very interesting this video came on my feed today. I thought to myself, "I understand why suffering at the fault of humans exist. But what about suffering that is no one's fault? Infant deaths, and terminal diseases?" Mr. Shapiro provided a pretty interesting explanation to my inquiry.
I used to think about this a lot. I was raised strict catholic which made me Atheist real fast. Then I became agnostic bc I figured faith in nothing is just as dumb as faith in something. Then, tradgedy and turmoil ensued and my life completely fell apart. Eventually I was shown God's existence through various NDEs and suffering. When I'd get through the suffering, I'd always be better off and look back and not only not see the suffering as "bad", but actually appreciate it and udderstand its necessity. I began to welcome suffering bc I saw it as stepping stones to get me where I'm supposed to be. We just live in a world of duality and can't have good without bad, it literally just could not exist. We're also strengthened by difficulty and it's up to us to find the lesson. The longer we take to learn it, the longer we suffer.
Atheism isn’t “faith” Atheism is the idea that logically god doesn’t follow from a single argument, both philosophically and empirically from anything religion or “faith” puts forward. The natural world has far more wonder than a magic sky daddy who commits genocide, pedophilia, xenophobia, is cruel, and cares what you do in your bedroom. Notice how religious people adapt different arguments and water down their religion the more and more science explains things the Bible can not?
Are you open to sharing your NDE(s)? I think it's a profound experience to have, especially since we will all die one day. It might help the rest of us somehow in ways we can't predict?
Like when a new born baby suffers for a two days then dies. Ain’t no good in that no matter how you twist it. Come on……. No reason to believe in anything without evidence. It’s only called faith because there is no evidence. Religion (God) is just comfort against not knowing, you wouldn’t believe in any other thing without evidence.
The same people that ask why God allows evil are the ones who get mad when told not to do evil things. We only want God to stop the evil that hurts us, but would not be happy if he stopped us from doing evil.
@@Yogideepeople who ask that question are the people who doesn't believe in God. They only believe in God Wen bad things happen then try blaming god for it 😶
@@signin5117 I disagree. That’s a common question people ask that has also led people to religion. “Why do people do evil things” is a common question people ask when they look at the world objectively.
The Bible itself takes Ben Shapiro's excuse and throws it in the trash. According to the Bible then is wrong.according to the Bible you are lying. It says specifically that God knows every hair on everyone's head. He has named and knows the grains of sand on every World. It says that he knew you before you were even born. And it says he knows the hearts and minds of men. So yes there is no such thing as free will according to the Bible. Also all of God's prophecies in the Bible should be thrown out if he cannot foresee the future. Which he adamantly admits to being able to do. Then when Ben Shapiro said that God if he showed himself to people would allow for no room for Faith. That's been disproven by the Bible as well because Satan knew God full well in the Bible and decided to do what he wanted anyway so there goes that bullshit excused. Your own holy book destroys your arguments.
I've been saying this all along, you can't have free will without exercising free will and I wish Richard Dawkins could understand why for that reason belief is special.
@@seanfernandolopez9139 I did why do little kids who never did anything to deserve cancer get it? I get it’s free will if people smoke their whole life but some people are barely out of the womb and get fucked
@@bigtrip6344 if everything was perfect there’s no reason for belief, no testimony without a test. God had to leave reasons for us to believe I suppose, other wise his son died for nothing
I know you said this is what you needed to hear but unfortunately for you your Bible says the opposite.according to the Bible you are lying. It says specifically that God knows every hair on everyone's head. He has named and knows the grains of sand on every World. It says that he knew you before you were even born. And it says he knows the hearts and minds of men. So yes there is no such thing as free will according to the Bible. Also all of God's prophecies in the Bible should be thrown out if he cannot foresee the future. Which he adamantly admits to being able to do. Then when Ben Shapiro said that God if he showed himself to people would allow for no room for Faith. That's been disproven by the Bible as well because Satan knew God full well in the Bible and decided to do what he wanted anyway so there goes that bullshit excused. Your own holy book destroys your arguments.
@charmed0009 here's the problem with what you're saying. Sometimes God does things that God himself deemed immoral. Stealing killing and destroying being a few. So if God is going to teach us that stealing killing and destroying is evil and then he perpetrate that evil what does he expect us conclude? That would be like me telling my kids that bringing harm to any living being is evil. Then I walk outside and start shooting birds out of the trees with a rifle. Thus my children would believe that I'm evil. Because I'm doing the evil thing I said evil people do.
Something I have very rapidly come to realize over the past few years, a lot of the suffering we endure we are responsible for due to our sin. No matter how big or small, sin brings suffering. It of course isn't the only source of suffering, but our sinful lives put us through much more suffering than I believe is necessary.
I have a very decided opinion on this.. I was abused horribly as a a child... I turned into an alcoholic and drug addict and in my early 30s I got sober and went into therapy.. it wasn't sexual abuse it was physical and mental abuse by my father. I had the best therapist and after years of therapy, she taught me one very important thing. That God is not responsible for human frailty... It was an incredibly important lesson. Hitler and all the atrocities known to man and what I experienced was Ashley man's atrocities to man... This has helped me my entire life! I'm so grateful had a great therapist who taught me the difference! God I just got choked up writing this thank you
@@1BuFo They still have the free will to chose how they will react to the situation. They may be pushed into a corner where any reaction besides the abusers intended one leads to pain and or death, but the choice remains none the less.
These are Ben’s thoughts on the question he was asked which is very well articulated. No one can truly explain why things are the way are or why things happen the way they do
Plenty of examples of highly intelligent men who believe in a faith, doesn't have anything to do with your IQ, but it's absolutely a delusional state of mind to be in for someone to sacrifice and dedicate their life to something based on nothing but the hope that it exists
Exactly...it is not. Evidence of stupidity is seen where God is not involved...I don't think I have to give an example there. Only people that have not read the Bible, would be calling it a fairy tale. You must be reading the wrong book😂 You are missing out on a lot!!That book, contains truth, facts and prophecies. We are still Christians because we have seen proof that what it contains is true. Evidence is also all over the internet. First read the Bible and then seek out the proof e.g in New Testament, we still have those healings happening today...you just need to look it up!❤❤
Spiritual improvement is an important aspect of self-improvement. Even if you aren't religious this discussion is thought provoking. Subscribe for more: ruclips.net/channel/UCzsDdY6NzSJ69WwhWwjZ9KA
No, it isn't... it is mind numbing & delusional. It is also a weak spot in Shap's Harvard armor. A plebeian with rudimentary knowledge could kick his buns in a debate if he went with the religious take on this... it has no merit
God wants us to see how bad of sinners we have become . He warned us so now we have to see us
There’s nothing thought provoking about this you obviously like Ben & this topic you ate it all up because to you it sounds good but a fool can stay a fool or not be a fool that’s literally religion except you burn if you choose your own path 🤣🤣🤣
@@Ryan-vj6jn perfectly said. I love a lot of what Ben stands for but this is absurd.
@@Ryan-vj6jn LOL 😆
He allows FREE WILL. We create cruelty and suffering.
Not all suffering comes from the evil of humans. What about disease, natural disasters etc.?
@@tomoliver2112
Whom would you like to attribute blame for those things?
@@maryruckman252 Well God creates all things in this world how he wishes to, so I would say I heavily disagree with his decision to create disease and natural disasters that kill thousands indiscriminately every year, which I would find to be a reasonable disagreement to have, although I suppose theoretically I would be wrong in that disagreement due to the premise that if God existed, he would be in the right to kill all the babies he wants on a daily basis
@@maryruckman252 God
@@tomoliver2112
Free will a acceptance is both a blessing and a burden
Jeez that was a well articulated argument
How did Lucifer fall for rebellion against god if angels don’t have free will?
@@mfit7110 This exactly. We could KNOW that God exists and still choose not to follow, obey, or worship Him. There is nothing "well articulated" about this.
@@mfit7110 lucifer isn’t an angel . Surprise? Read Quran
@@ELD7MY94 like Islam is the only religion that exists.....
@@ELD7MY94 he was known as an angel hundreds of years before the Quran was written.
Theres no freewill
Exactly 💯 noone asks for cancer or to be a victim so yes free will is a lie and so is the bible
I'm an atheist, but that was the best answer to that question I've heard.
Actually, it is an ancient argument. Nothing new nor unique. As an atheist, it doesn't make any sense. But people believe and accept what they want.
im stupid af, and an agnostic, but i could counter his points in several ways.
@@Aethelhadassame
You won't be an atheist if you study the Hebrew Kabbalah.
The 2 types of "evil" are moral malevolence and natural suffering. Morality has NOTHING to do with natural suffering and it's inequality.
Free will is meaningless in a proposed afterlife, and that's based on the assumption that free will actually exists. Good without evil cannot be defined, and thus, omnibelevilence is a false concept. Ben's defined God is a fairy tale.
Even Ben's version of a Moral Commander is on the hook for natural suffering, which this God can not reconcile.
“Because you have seen me, you believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.”
Amen to that! My argument from the people who don't believe all the time well why is there not miracles why is it that we don't see these things every single day of our lives and how do you believe in something you can't see. I say to them there are miracles every day small ones not the parting of the red sea or great huge miracles when Jesus was on Earth but miracles people surviving disasters, People coming from poverty and abuse and anguish throughout their lives that are successful, Small insignificant miracles everyday the fact that you get up and breathe air and you are alive is a miracle. I love to say that to people quite often. I think that human beings live in a bubble they don't see what's outside that bubble the good the bad and the ugly. As human beings we need to see it all and we have to have a moral compass no matter what our beliefs are we still have to have that compass that guides us to be good human beings. We don't have to be taught to be bad how many people have children nobody taught them how to lie but they still lie. What you do as a parent to sit down and talk about that with your child and how it's not acceptable and the lesson that they have to learn is how you teach them to be good people. We have to be taught to be good
Such an easy statement to make when you want millions of people to be under your thumb
@@neamia3 If you’re referring to the organized Christian religion, yes, sure. But if you’re talking about Christianity, no. Christianity does not require to bend your will to anything but the teachings of God. You are not required to go to church, to participate in any organized event, or even to follow any religious laws. If you simply want to read the Bible and pray in your own home you can.
Actual Christianity is more like Morpheus from the Matrix.
“Not everyone believes what you believe Morpheus.”
“My beliefs do not require them to.”
so what I'm hearing is it's entirely possible for a person to be shown God and it didn't take away their free will or if it did it didn't bother God.
So gods just choosing to let millions of people burn in hell, when they'd gladly have this same conversation with God if he wanted them saved.
some people such as myself would not feel like my will to choose is hindered by showing his existence, I could still choose to not be his follower but I am not going to believe this nonsense just cause a cult on earth says its true 🤣🤣
chew on that believers. clearly God can show himself so what's the holdup.
@@kathovik7658 forget miracles, why not just have this talk with the atheists considering his existence is what is questioned and the best absolute way to show it is to have a face to face with anyone that doesn't believe.
*My boi gave a better answer than all the priests I've asked this question throughout the years*
The power of satan that's why 😂
Agreed
@A Z makes sense to me
these responses sound like an anime. its even crazier when this is truth and life for some people.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
- Isaiah 9:6-7
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
- Isaiah 53:1-6
(This is about Jesus, the Messiah. Therefore, Jesus had to face God's wrath on our behalf, though He went willingly. It shows that the idea of simply being a prophet is nonsense, along with other verses such as Isaiah 9:6.)
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
- Zechariah 12:10
These are all about Jesus.
His second point was literally: it would be too obvious that god was real if he was good. I am absolutely furious with that answer, please someone try and justify that to me because I think that is an atrocious argument
Check out " howdie mickoski" he answers this pretty well..
@@gstroyce ok that sounds good, what video specifically?
literally like he doesn’t want the majority of people to be saved
I have never heard this explained so brilliantly! It actually cleared up a few things for me! Thanks Ben
Babies get bone cancer. 1 god did it =evil god. 2 god can’t control it= not a god
You know what really clears it up? If the earth was perfect with no suffering tell me where God could show you his mercy and his grace?
I have never understood the logic behind why it is required to believe. Someone could have gotten for example through awful, unspeakable abuse as a child and gotten dissociative identity disorder, and I feel like I would have serious trouble trusting God's benevolence or his existence after such experiences. Nobody in this video is adressing that 😓 This video didn't clear it up for me, unfortunately.
@@GgFffh-jy3lmbut by proxy thats evil, its conceited. He made the world and allowed cruelty to show grace and kindness to a select few ? Just cause he wants you to know ? That makes no sense
Except it does not clear anything up. The kids in Africa who are dying of starvation and AIDS did not end up in that situation simply because "freewill" exists. And even if that was the case that does not mean those kids shows to be in that situation so either way freewill is irrelevant
"When the Author of the play walks onto the stage, the play is over." C. S. Lewis
If angels have no free will, how did Satan deceive Adam and Eve? God punished the devil for what he had done. Angels therefore have freewill.
Have you not heard the devil and a third of all the angels fell from heaven on mount Sinai?
@@InTheNameOfGodIHaveComeyeah Ben got that part wrong.
@@InTheNameOfGodIHaveComeAngels perhaps can choose to defy God or obey God. They cannot choose to *love* God in a similar fashion to how God loves us. They have only the option of a professional relationship with the Almighty. God made us for Him to love and to be loved by.
@@Finraen and yet if we die, won’t we become as angels? Serving God in heaven? So then should we seek Life or Death? For what good is it to gain the world if you lose your soul? And what is Life? It comes from within. From your heart and your mind. And from the soul that is responsible for those two. So with all of your getting, get more. Do not be afraid to Live.
@@InTheNameOfGodIHaveCome yea they do have a choice. the bible even says they will be judged on judgement day as well as humans
That is the first time I've heard someone make sense of it in any agreeable way. Well done Ben
No this doesn't even come CLOSE to answering the problem of gratuitous suffering. Which is to say suffering for no good reason. God has demonstrated in the old testament that he is perfectly willing to put thousands of children to death by the sword rather than rapturing them up away from harm. Either you admit that it was fucked up or you admit that he was not omnipotent. This choice ACTUALLY is yours!
@@tteabag91 I dont know the difference between the new and old testament. I am not a religious study whatsoever. So from a minor perspective this brought much to light.
@@tteabag91that’s free will of other humans and if there was no disease in the world then there would be overpopulation and we would run out of resources,and. If you say God could have just made the planet bigger than there would be a lot of gravity and we wouldn’t be able to survive
My question would be why does God hide but then expect to be believed in or else you will burn for eternity even if you lived a kind, humble sin free life..? How does that make any sense ?!
@@mistypedhi overall my question would be which God is "God" because there are so many alternative beliefs. However, I feel like that is a fair question and I have not heard many explanations that aren't more or less faith based and allowance of free will.
Believing is for the weak minded. Being able to accept and even reach for the pure cruel truth of this world, without deluding yourself, that’s strong.
In a Godless universe, strength and the will to overcome life's adversities are meaningless
@@user-yc3pb1ij7g Why would overcoming adversity ever be worthless? There is a very inherent worth in achieving your goals after pushing through hard times. I dont see why it has to be related with faith?
@@-Alexander-K What's the point of it all if you live in a universe that lacks purpose?
@@user-yc3pb1ij7g Achieving your goals IS the purpose. Being happy and fulfilled with what you accomplished in life IS purpose. Dont look for a hidden grandiose purpose thats rectifies your suffering during life. Do it now, do it for yourself, do it for your loved ones, do what makes you happy. Neither God nor the "universe" owes you a purpose. Create your own purpose.
@-Alexander-K My point is/was, in a Richard Dawkins type universe, things like purpose, motivation, goals, happiness, and of course morality have no meaning.
I have been through a lot of tough times in life and I hated experiencing these things but… When I look back I see that they brought me to where I am now… This allows me to accept my past to a large degree. If I could give advice to my younger self I would say that things will not be as bad as I thought they would be 😇
Goodness sakes my sister, that was well said. I also think the same when it comes to this topic. Great job with understanding you’re own pain and what it brings. It make’s beautiful people if you can know why it has to happen. I hate my trauma but I love it so much at the same time. To constantly overcome that much pain and not just give up and die, I know that I’m way stronger than I think I am while I’m suffering. This too shall pass is my best advice to myself. Easier said than done while you’re going through it. Hindsight is 20/20 for real. You’re great and I value human beings such as yourself. Never stop being your awesome self.
I’ve been searching for this answer for the past year, and this is a better answer than anybody I’ve ever asked. I am Christian but for some reason seems like nobody can ever answer this question in a clear way.
However, it’s clear that he can control you if he chooses, as he did with the Egyptian king making him stubborn. Also it’s clear he knows all things past, present, and future. When Abraham asked him to spare sodom and Gomorrah if he could find a number of good people, constantly recanting the deal. Also even with Adam and Eve, he knew what they did, but he asked. With Cain and Abel, he asked Cain what did he do, yet he knew Abel was dead. The choice is yours, the choices are his, but he knows where you will go/do/say.
Any Catholic theologian would answer this pretty much the same way. Except we don’t believe that God withdrew himself from the world.
It’s cause ur asking the wrong people, or god wanted u to wait for the answer
A lot of Christians are just Christians for show. Jewish people have to actual study a lot to be accepted as Jewish
But how u explain natural disasters like earthquakes
I never heard anyone explain that question so clearly.
He didn't explain anything. He essentially just said "god allows suffering (like children dying of cancer) so that you can have faith in him".
If that's true he's a cruel narcissist.
@@davidaugustine3686 This presumes you can justify what's right and wrong without God, which I don't believe is even possible on an atheistic view. Ergo, any moral critique is hollow and unjustified.
@@davidaugustine3686you’re misrepresenting and over simplifying what he is saying 😂 the main point of what he was saying is that in order to ensure that freedom, choice, and faith still exist, partial obscurity is necessary.
@@davidaugustine3686cancer wasnt around back then, people lived longer then somewhere along the timeline humans created materials that exposed them to cancer ,same thing with kids ,there are causes of cancer created by man ,and SOME people profit from suffering. I.e. governments,elites...
You being lied to. Think for yourself and a little deeper.
"He hurts us because he loves us! Hes hands off on suffering, but...uhh...he sometimes answers prayers? For his favorite stuff or something."
It makes me genuinly frightened that grown adults can fall for these arguments.
"the book is holy because it's the word of god"
"how do you know the book is the word of god?"
"it's written in the book"
I read the book of Job in the Old Testament as a pre-teen, back when I was a devout Protestant Christian.
At the end of the book, Job finally gets to talk to god in the whirlwind.
God’s answer to all of Job’s questions is basically:
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
Fundamentalist Christians and Jews have both argued before that if someone doesn’t believe the first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1), then those same skeptics are going to have a hard time believing the rest of it.
As an atheist, I couldn’t agree more.
Judeo-Christian theology is an entire system of thought; and its starting premise is that god created the universe.
Why people continue to believe in all of this nonsense is beyond me…
“The fool hath said in his heart, there is no god.”
^LOL 😂
Bible = logical fallacy times a million
@justsomeone412 Not even that. The often quoted 2 Timothy ("All scripture is inspired by God" etc.) can't pertain to the Bible as we know it today because the Old Testament was only partly canonized at the time Paul (or somebody else) wrote the letter. And the gospels Matthew, Luke, and John didn't even exist yet.
You are Lost
@@jayslomine4280you in some cult?
Props to Ben for taking on one of the most difficult questions that a person of faith could ever be asked. He spoke very clearly and eloquently, so thankful to hear his words!
Amen to that Shannon. Thank you for your comment.
Have a blessed Tuesday and Wednesday in the Christ YESHUA
you guys gotta be kidding me?? pls tell me your kidding? holy shit
@@yazariahlagmsthescattereds1785you good..?
C.S Lewis also covers this topic very well in his works.
"Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds."
- Dan Millman
Yes but how do I stop resisting or is this what being human is all about?
"Stress happens when your mind resists what is"
NOPE.
thanks it helps to see it like that are you buddhist😳🫢👍
@@keed4200 resistance is about control. If it's within your power to change something then change it. If it's beyond your control why fight it? Endure it and learn from it. Nothing is forever.
@@juanarevalo5282 nope but I take bits of whatever is useful from different sources and create my own philosophy.
I read the book "When bad things happen to good people" it truly is a good read and brings some peace and understanding to painful life experiences. 🙏
You think it would comfort a young mother in Rwanda that will watch her young child die today due to lack of food, water, or medicine?
@@brandtmaxwell8972 shh 🤫
@@brandtmaxwell8972but it would oh i dont know about whatever crap the op was talking of. But Christianity would comfort her hes. Everyone cries. You made a mundane point of human death. It's almost as if christians didnt suffer being killed. So whats your ultimatum of a point? Who cares.
But bad things dont happen to good people because we're all bad people and they dont!
“God could make you an Angel but you wouldn’t have free will”
*Lucifer enters the chat
@@dawnmckenzie1619how is he no longer an angel? If I kicked a person out of my house, they're still a person
Well see. Satan is not an Angel he is a djinn. Made of smokeless fire, humans from clay and angels from light. “Electricity, minerals, photons.
@@Erumyr you religious people believe some weird shit
@@dawnmckenzie1619 how does free will make Satan not an angel? Can I use my free will to stop being a human?
Wrong
We don't need faith to help us in suffering and evil times....What we really need in our lives is reality...someone real to be there for us and reach out when we call to him....not some intangible, angry God😢
A beautiful example of question-begging argumentation.
“How does that little hat stay on your head?”
It has four clips inside for a grip.. very small
He is part of the club, you have to join to find out!
The little hat 💀
@@richardmg9903 that's what it is lol
If the left has their way, you’ll be jailed for hate speech like that. It’s interesting that the people against racism are the most racist
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis does a great job explaining it but Ben did a very good abbreviated version right here.
C.S. Lewis is one of my biggest hero’s, I disagree with some of his theology but philosophically, he’s amongst the best there is.
C.S. Lewis has alot of good writings. I will have to look into that one mentioned about the Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis.
Thank y
CS Lewis was a copelord. He knew gods are an unlogical, untenable proposition
It’s actually a shit explanation by both C.S. Lewis and Shapiro
Ben speaks like a true restful mind
He's a sputtering engine, idk what you're smoking.
@@hirotheavitartf 💀
People don't want God to stop people from being evil, they want God not to create evil people since he saw their decisions before he created them
This is always so interesting about Ben. For someone who is so rooted in facts and logic, he's a big believer in God. But he never debates it because he knows ultimately it comes down to faith, so it no longer becomes a logical debate
Yeah I’m very much the same way different politics but I am Jewish too and in my experience a lot of us Ashkenazi Jews have the same outlook when it comes to things like this I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing just something I’ve noticed as a pattern with me and my family members
@The_m_dude I mean its perfectly fine obviously I meant no offense. I think its honestly smart to just admit that it does require faith. Which is fine when we acknowledge reality. I just appreciate his intellectual consistency. I mean im atheist/agnostic but im not militaristic I simply don't have faith. If I'm honest I wish I did
@@get_lucky6402 Oh i didn't think you meant offense I'm just speaking from my experience as a Jew that that kind of thinking is honestly part of the culture of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish families again in my experience
The Big Bang is Faith.
To look around at the complication of life it's clear Creation is the more Logical choice.
Plus we get to live forever in paradise.
@@bigzachful big bang isn't based on faith it's based on observable reality. Creation makes less sense. You're in your feelings about your religion and making you sound illogical as hell
The issue with this is that he punishes you for your choice or in cases of having never been exposed to him, your lack of choice. This is not someone who should be praised and worshipped. This is evil
Amen
Ben makes it look so easy to answer tough questions. Plus his answers are eloquent yet easy to understand.
You've been warned about false prophets. You're still not understanding. Do The Work Angles!!! He says we're not Angles, We Are! Wake Up Or You're Not Getting In!
It looks easy because the answers don't work in the slightest.
No, he doesn't. I listened to his answer. He didnt explain why God allows children to be raped tortured and murdered. I mean, rather obviously, there is no adequate explanation that any religious person could give. The correct answer, which you wont hear from a theistic sheep, is this. God, if he exists, allows children to be raped and tortured because he is evil and wicked.
He didnt answer is fully though, that's what i got from it. There are so many morally compromised things if you go off the logic of this explanation
“So it doesn’t deprive humans of their free will” is Literally all you need as an answer for this question even though it’s a lot deeper then this
That is an answer but not a good answer.
In the christian mythos, Satan had absolute knowledge that god existed and yet he STILL had the free will to chose to revel against good.
If god was to present himself without a shadow of a doubt, that wouldn't cancel out our free will.
Not really what about animals? They have to be tortured and killed over millions of years? Is that what a perfectly good being would do? I just don't really buy any argument besides that there if god is all powerfu and all good then there is some greater working behind how souls work between hell, earth, and heaven that must ultimately resolve what we perceive as unnecessary torture.
Or in other words what about a small child that was tortured and killed? It's really a ridiculous thing to try and justify obvious atrocities in human terms. Only God could properly explain how all of it is justified. Alas, the bible not only doesn't give us this justification, but the book of job confirms my view.
But not everyone is given the same level of free will. A person born into slavery who dies a slave has no free will to express their time on this earth. How is that moral or just that God allows them to wallow in misery under the guise of protecting their free will?
@@joefuentes2977Judaism affirms reincarnation as is hinted at in Job 33:29-30 "Behold God does all these, twice or thrice with man. To bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of life."
The Arizal, one of our holy and eminent sages, wrote books containing the secrets of reincarnation, and described how the souls of humans can be put into the bodies of animals for various temporal atonements, such as serving under someone whom you owe debt to, or being given as a sacrifice within the holy temple. This is relevant because the purpose of this world according to our faith is in uplifting "holy sparks", and enabling God's divine light and presence to dwell within a perfected and uplifted creation, this is why we obey the laws and precepts which God commanded to us. Ultimately, everything is for the sake of unifying the physical and spiritual world, and not to simply pass the test and go to "paradise".
Probably the best answer I’ve heard to this common question. On a smaller scale like why stuff goes wrong for us sometimes is sometimes not only because of those two reasons but also could be because it makes us stronger or rely on Him or look for Him.
Making us stronger and making us look for jim are opposites so which is it? It cant be "no matter what god is good right"? How much stronger do we need to be? And wouldnt the evil HE created be the only thing you need to be stronger for? wow
@@hayatefaith4273 God didn’t “create” evil thats something he states in the Bible that he hates along with sin and wickedness. Bro you gotta understand from what he saying it can be both. God just wants us to love him as much as he loves us
@@jalinjalin8665 so according to you God is NOT the creator of all things? Is that what you're saying
@@hayatefaith4273 he is the creator of all things
@@jalinjalin8665 exactly
His answer is priceless. God bless you.
He's not real, dummy
I‘m a medical student. During my Hem and Onc rotation I saw a young girl dying of bone cancer after her whole life suffering from pain. If god is almighty and good, why does he let that happen? That girl herself did not commit no sin whatsoever, she was pure and kind. To test her faith? If god is doing this, he is either not almighty or not good…
Ben is truly gifted. i just realized he just answered that question...beautifully, and he didnt utter a single "um" or "uhh" or pause ...or use a wrong word, and have to correct it. AND he speaks at a blistering pace. hes amazing.
EDIT: I feel like i should clarify my original comment. I'm athiest but raised catholic. i thought from a religious persons perspective, he answered the question thoughtfully, and correctly. I may not have faith in religion, but i was raised in a religious environment. so i feel like im qualified to comment on the substance of his answer, but thats not at all what i was doing.
My original comment was merely referencing his ability to speak his thoughts flawlessly..his pace is pretty amazing too. I wasnt making an assumption about how his speaking ability relates to his IQ, or if his answer was sound from a practical, religious point of view. sorry i wasnt more clear on that.
One thing i will say about Ben, is ..he a man of conscience. No matter which answer he gives, its based on his moral code, no agenda. Television personalities, media ...are mostly disingenuous. They speak out of fear, or compensation, or some other motive. There are far too many schills out there....and theyre wreaking havoc on this country. So i respect Ben for that. Conducting ourselves this way, according to our own moral compass, is maligned as conservativism these days. Which is a shame, because right and wrong shouldnt be politicized. The left uses that tactic to bully and influence people. Hopefully one day this nonsense will end so we can focus on our true enemy.
I think they just edited them out to get this down to 1 minute. He usually says um or err every second word.
I agree. He’s a very impressive young man. You don’t have to agree with everything he says to admire him. 👍🏻
except he's not talking about scripture.
scripture absolutely states that angels can sin. what about Lucifer in the third of the angels that shows with their own free will to sin against God by betraying him and leaving heaven with Lucifer? Lucifer said I will exalt myself above the Throne of God and be like God. That is outright sin. that's why the one thing that God hates above all things out of six things that he hates, that is a proud look. Second is a lying tongue. Third is Strife amongst Christian Brethren. 4th is a false witness telling lies on other people, the fifth thing is murder of the innocent and I can't remember what the sixth is
@SineN0mine3 umm, fun fact, most people with an err very high IQ say umm err very often
Please. He is highly educated in ignorance. Very good at it.
Ben is the only person who can make a 2 min short with only 1 min of time.
Chuck Norris taught him how
@@tonywhite3359 😄
Grown to like him more over time
Adderall taught him how
And somehow make as much sense as a 10 second video
They way he explained it.. it's just so perfect !
Ben's explanations are terrible. First, if I prevent child rapist physically from raping, he still has free will, he was just physically stopped. Why can't God physically stop every child rapist? Second, if God doesn't stop natural suffering because he wants to obscure himself, why was there suffering before humans existed (for example, at the time of dinosaurs)?
Asking a Sociopath about suffering. Brilliant Lex truly a genius. Smh
That was the most profound logical explanation I've ever heard on the subject in which I always wondered and could never come up with
most who disbelieve and dont know this because they DONT WANT TO
this is hardly "logical"
We never had a choice..we were FORCED into this existence.. freewill is in our head..
It's all in our head. The reality outside of us is processed into thought, identified and labelled using man-made language.
Do you think in Swahili?
Let go, enjoy it as it is or change what it is. A sense of freedom is right there if you stop looking for it. ;)
@@munkeeboi1982 Ah Yes, Swahili....
@@timothyscott3116 😆
"For many are called, but few are
chosen." Matthew 22:14 There is no TESTIMONY without a TEST! Trust Gods timing, HE will never ever fail you. Stay blessed my brothers and sisters.
Bro, Ben is a jew and they don’t believe in Matthew, let alone Jesus.. matter of fact in the Talmud he is boiling in feces. Christian’s need to wake up to this, like 1000 years ago…
Many are called but the chosen are few- POD
Ben believes your god is in hell burning for eternity bc he’s a false prophet… lol
Believing in timing is to justify random events at random times, then picking and choosing what to attribute to God. In other words, you are mind fkng yourself and you are too ignorant to realize this
Matthew 7:7.
"It would just be reality." Exactly! How do you not hear yourself?
He contradicted himself. When you inflict suffering, you're preventing the victim from exercising his/her free will. Namely the will to live..
Wow that is a perspective never went through my mind. Good one
Not really
Suffering and cluelty isn’t necessarily death
@@kroolini3678no but giving a person with bad intentions more power than a person with good intentions is a decision by God and that is a wrong decision in itself.
So either God is not all good or not all powerful
@@vb2806 God gave us free will. Some use this to gain power and to sin. They are punished in the end. Virtuous people are saved. There is lo contradiction, you think the material has any value, but it doesn’t
Through darkness, light can be seen.
Through sorrow, happiness can be experienced.
Through evil, good can be known.
It is the divine syzygy, the inseparable pair of the dichotomy of good and evil. the Buddhists understood this when it was said that “form/substance implies void and void implies form” in their ancient sutras. Because *Nothing* can be the only thing to exist, therefore everything exists.
But isn't heaven nothing but good and same with the garden of Eden? So why didn't god just have the universe start where Revelation ends except we are all in heaven because sin and evil never existed in the first place? Where did the devil come from? Why was the tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden? If God is all good, all powerful and all intelligent then by that logic, evil should never even exist. It's called 'the problem of evil'. Look it up.
@@secretagent4610 You are limiting the unlimited power of God.God is All Good; but,also,he is all powerfull; but,also,he has unlimited will. You can't ask God why he does what he does; but God will ask you why you do what you do.
Our life began on earth because of a famous event-the event in which humankind was thrown out of the Garden because he failed to pass the test.Yes!it was a test and an inevitable happening. We were supposed to live in this world; produce our species in it; cultivate it; and beautify it. However we will return where our deeds take us- Hell. or Heaven.
@@servantoftheexpander9688 I'm not limiting anything. Why can't I ask God what he does? Who says? God doesn't want us to know answers? Why god give us curiosity and the desire to learn if he doesn't want us to do those very things?
Sure, tell that to children born with cancer or aids. Kids who only know pain and suffering only to die a few short years later. Some good happiness and light seen there.
As a child and in my teens, I was searching for this answer. I grew up in Germany with catholic and protestant background and no one I've ever asked could answer this question. I never got a plausible answer like this, till now. THANK YOU BEN!!!
Amazing. God directly revealed this answer to me a few years ago when I was pondering the question, how to answer that if someone asks me.
It's amazing to know that it really is an answer people may have not heard. What a blessing to know how it may help people.
There is more truth to it as well. The fact is even the bad things matter. It hurts but it is good. Even in times which we can not understand. Ask the mother of a stillborn child her feelings on truth. And consider how much a life which never even breathed could change the face of the earth forever. Then lastly the memory of Satan. He was perfect before he sinned. All he understands is his own perspective. And is forever stuck in what some may call a curse. This is how we are greater than Satan and more loved by God. We are closer to him as the ability to be imperfect is also our salvation. A perfect evil can never change, luckily we are not perfect and therefore can potentially overcome the impossibility of accepting that we are not God in our decisions and thoughts. In other words our ego is like a demon which needs to be rebuked in order to even be brought into the light.
You never went to church and heard this before? What's church like in Germany?
@@joamar4032 that's pretty deep. I'll have to ponder over what you're saying there. Thanks.
@@Ndasuunye Church in Germany is like: I will do all bad things in life, bc God will forgive me on Sunday anyways... Never met a Christian person who believed out of their heart.
As unfair as it sounds, it wouldn't be right to mess with certain people's free will.
We've all said and/or done something bad so, He'd have to take away everyone's free will.
God doesn't want robots. Robots can't feel any emotions.
He wants us to be able to freely choose Him or not.
Being a gentleman, He will never force us to do anything against our will.
So, when things go wrong, and they will, it's not God's fault. It's yours. You made that choice.
Even as Christians, He still gives us total freedom to make decisions.
He may shield us from a lot of bad things but He won't shield us from every bad thing in this world.
Becoming a Christian doesn't mean He has our world bubble wrapped for our protection.
A lot of non believers think being a Christian is easy.
If it is, why don't they try it?
Such a compationate god, allowing us to believe in him throu suffering.
Ben is a verbal surgeon.
Incidentally his wife is a doctor, but he doesn't like to talk about it. 🤫😂
Fun fact
In Life of Pi, the ship that Pi is traveling on initially was called the tzimtzum, which is very closely related to the term tsimtsum
When the boat sinks, that is the boats way of withdrawing its light. Being absent of absolute safety and certainty.
Crazy. I was up til 4 am last night, couldnt sleep. Ive had a copy of life of pi since grade 8 (33 now).. only managed to read a chapter or two.. i was thinking for some random reason to try agn… im christian also..
Literal newborn baby: *gets life ruining or lethal disease*
Shapiro: F R E E W I L L
You didn’t watch the video. He was very clear that is the second example. Not free will.
@smwg4187 If you listen properly, that is not what he said.
@@VitotheKenobiExactly
Millions of people suffering, innocent lives taken, war, crime, the list goes on..
"Freewill" my ass 😂
😂😂😂 just because a baby is newborn he / she perfect you think a demon will gonna have perfect baby/ angel baby 😂😂 humans are sinner you expect humans to have perfect babies angel like? No sins?😂😂😂 Human choose it so don't blame God... it's like you made a bread using pan with dint yet you expect perfect bread will come out?😂😂😂😂
This is the first guy to tell me a really good explanation of his faith or faith . Thank you
“The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis, “He wants them to learn how to walk therefore he must take away his hand”
If only evil consisted of men merely learning to walk, the world would be heaven.
@@Falloutglitchyo yo is this your quote or what? This is great with the original comment. Great stuff, MindFuel
@@Falloutglitch love it
@@nathanaburpeei1818 First, it's not a great metaphor, or analogy, the better would be once a father gives the keys to the truck he must let him take wheel himself, although both basically say the same thing: damage can be done to self and others in the process of having choice and free will.
@@lalonguecarabine4952 Very well said!.."damage can be done to oneself or others when exercising choice and free will."
I feel like, someone explained something to me that I’ve been wondering for years
But still, the important question is why ..? What is the point ? Why are we given a choice when there is a big portion of humanity that will choose the wrong path ... then they will be punished for it
@@z3tr_10what is the point of anything? I mean why God even created the universe? Only God knows the answers for these questions. But God gave humans free will and if big portion of humanity makes wrong choices its because they wanted to and not God made them choose that. God gave us free will but also gave us a gauge to measure those choices called conscience which always tells us when we are making the bad choice. Its just that we put it on silent every time and by time it dies off.
So in the end its us who are to be blamed and not God for our choices.
@hellobaba70 why give us free will??? And do you really think humans are giving the same Opportunity ?? Like if the person born in the middle east in 1700 AD have the same starting point as a person born in Greece in 300 bc ??? Brother I really want it to make sense but it doesn't, life without religion is pointless and meaningless... but I can't lie to my self and say it makes sense
@@z3tr_10 why give us free will because that is what makes us as humans the best creation of all. In most religion God do claim that humans are the best of his creation and why is that what do we have that others dont? Free will! And thats is why we will be judged cause we made these choices on our own. And again according to many religions everyone will be judged or punished or rewarded according to the opportunity or surroundings they were in.
@2b.or.not2b but why can't I choose not to have free will .. I want to always do good and not sin ... I don't want to feel lust or greed , what is Beautiful about that .. but I don't have the choice ... God doesn't need us to do good yet he punishes us when we don't ... so is this just a game to God?? Again, I hate having this debate , I wish a had no doubts and no questions, but I do for some reason ,, is it my free will ? Is it my fault that I was born curious and always asking questions ?
God has given us free will. To choose to do right or wrong.
Unfortunately, a lot of pain and suffering comes about from things outside of our free will and control. Things happen regardless of our choices.
A young mother who has always lived and healthy life and never smoked gets lung cancer and dies. Who's choice was that? I was born with a developmental disorder which makes even typing this comment difficult, let alone holding down a job. Who's choice? In 2004 a tsunami wiped out multitudes of people.- once again, who's choice?
His answer begs the question, couldn’t an all-powerful god have made a world where he was hidden, but was filled with cruelty pain confusion and fear?
Why was it necessary to create a world where countless animals suffer every minute of every day?
God hides his face from those who reject Him. He helps those who surrender themselves to Him. I didn’t realize this until this year. peace and love
Why didn’t God help all the ppl in the church massacres? They were all there surrendering themselves to him and didn’t receive help.
Circular reasoning...
Funny how if you ask 10 people about the "nature of god", you'll get 11 different answers. Everyone just making it up as they go, or repeating the specific version that they were fed throughout their childhood.
What does he look like?
@@DatHombre exactly, it’s all superstitious. People say you will see god when you accept him into your heart. He’ll come to you when you need him most… yeah no shit. When you’re desperate or searching for something to save you, you’ll have confirmation bias and find that. If you think you’re going to hell, you’re going to believe you’re going to hell.
"god could make you an angel in which case you wouldn't have a choice but to do the right thing"
Satan: "am I a joke to you?"
Well he was wrong in that sense he had a choice but doesn't have any recovery from his choice
@@warriorgameing7937 dumb argument, didn’t even touch his point
I caught that too. I don't agree, because angels did have a choice, I don't know if they have one now after that fiasco🤦🏾♀️🤷🏽♀️. Perhaps knowing that they would go against their Creator and what the punishment was, may have deterred others 😬🤔.
But I still learn a lot from Mr Shapiro☺️👍
You don’t know that in Judaism Satan is just another angel, one that try to push us towards the evil part but Satan himself doesn’t have a choice, angels don’t have freedom
Even the evil is for His Glory. He makes hopeful situations out of these dangers... The dangers cause us to run to Him.. Our Source.
Damn 💀 that was the best explanation I’ve ever seen
100th like on the comment 💯😁
Come to God if you understood that. Serve christ with your full heart and soul. For God is a spirit and must be worshipped in spirit .
Except his first point is just wrong. The Talmud is filled with god intervening on multiple occasions. The New Testament is god also sending his son down and dying for everyone; this is an intervention of monumental proportion.
Seriously? According to Shapiro, child rape happens because God respects free will of the rapist. And painful child cancer happens so that God can obscure himself.
@@cahtdoge4874 right. Religious people also always talk about miracles, and godly intervention.
The whole concept of prayer is based on God's ability to intervene.
One of the best explanations I have heard.
God has blessed this man with wisdom
Ultimate wisdom is knowing, believing and accepting Jesus as Lord. Ben still needs salvation.
He broke it all the way down
Helping you understand is something that helps you believe
💯 I been saying this for years . If you can go out your door or look out your window everyday and see God sitting in the park on his throne. Ain't no way you'll be the you you are today and do everything you currently do .
Every time I see Ben I involuntarily go 'myeaaaa' like a stereotype of a nerd
I never heard it explained like this but it makes so much sense now 🙏
That's because you are dumb enough and gullible enough to believe.
@@Dollymix001 and u are dumb enough not to believe in something.
@@timhouser144what? So someone is dumb because he doesn’t believe a magic man in a the sky which there is no evidence for. Your logic is backwards.
You know their God is not the same as yours right? You know they absolutely despise the figure Christ. Read just a little of the Talmud…
@@KC.801 but it’s ok for me to be a dumb because I do believe? Maybe ur logic is messed up?! He’s free to believe in whatever he chooses, as well as I am.
This was the best explanation I could've ever heard for this topic.
It was
So you’re okay with suffering and pain so your magic sky daddy can hide behind the curtain. Would you choose this explanation to comfort you if your child or lover died a slow painful death from disease?
So innocent babies should suffer so others will be faithful. Makes sense
Like he said where there's free will, there will be cruelty and suffering, no free will then what's he human race
Is God the one killing those babies or us humans?
You may not do those things directly but as a whole, we are one race and us humans lean towards evil doing.
@@edwincorvera1156why does a girl who did nothing wrong in her life gets raped every now and then?. You might have seen 5 year olds getting raped why does God do not save them?
@@edwincorvera1156what about an incapable paralysed toddler why dies from cancer? His death did absolutely nothing good and in that case none of his free will went towards dying
@Jac296 I see your point, I ask tho8gh, am I God to know why those things happen? No.
But let me offer you some comfort, with what I believe to understand from a situation like that.
Why is there sickness? In my understanding, sickness became a part of the fall by sin. We were created to live and not to die. Yet that later was changed because of the disobedience of our ancestors (Adam)
We came from the lineage of sinful humans, not before the fall. Cancer is no different than death itself. Death is the consequence of the action that we as a race committed against God.
Cancer, along with any other sickness, can happen to anybody due to genetics, bad eating, irregularities in our system etc, etc. Things that are caused by death, think that from the moment we are conceived in a bigger picture, we are starting to live yet we are starting to die because the older we get the closer we get to dying.
God is still in control of the world even if he allowed us to exercise the free will do and to choose him if we want to.
But because he set rules out for us, there will also be consequences, and He will judge all of us according to our doing?
Now, what did the baby do wrong? Nothing, but his life take away by cancer was merely a consequence of the previous generations. Is God the unfair? No, he will judge the life of that baby and find no fault in it? So in that sense accidental death such that, should be in a sense counted as a blessing too, just as much as living longer. For that person who did not suffer the things of this world, their consciousness was not developed to have sinned against God. Which is that sense my mind rest that God will judge that situation justly.
As for the parents? God will work in their hearts according to the plans He has for their lives, which are different than yours and mine.
Been asking this question for a long time, still can't wrap my head around it when we're supposed to be loved. The only answer that I could come up with that makes sense in a religious standpoint I suppose is that regadless of what happens to us here, in the now, no matter how bad we suffer, once we die all suffering ends and God will pick us up on the other side, assuming we stood firm in our beliefs of him while we were here. Kind of like even if a baby dies, obviously it's fucking tragic and painful to even consider, but that baby just got a free ticket to the *best* place any of us could possibly go in the afterlife. That's really the only comforting thought I can think of to combat the complete lunacy of the world we're living in right now.
Ben is quite right. He understands this better than most
That was the possibly the dumbest cope, excuse, that could have possibly been made for the so-called almighty to allow cruel suffering.
@RenownedLlama81yes. The unit circle. Gotta remember those angles.
So I guess when he flooded us he wasn't intervening 🤣🤣...BS!!
My question would be why does God hide but then expect to be believed in or else you will burn for eternity even if you lived a kind, humble sin free life..? How does that make any sense ?!
If a 10 year old die due to cancer, who is to blame
I choose to align with and serve the Creator.
Then stop masterbaiting!
Bold choice!
@@shanesawyer5103
Very assumptive advice, having zero knowledge of what that person meant with their statement.
Do you have powers, to see inside her mind?
@@Thesaurcery4U2C I don’t need them, my literacy superpower allows me to do a thing called “read her comment”. 😆
@@shanesawyer5103
Ahhhh. yes.
Do you not know, of what she knows?
Do you known, of what she does not?
.
Have you seen no evidence of the creator?
You have seen evidence there is no creator?
How should one explain what water is
to a fish?
.
I'm suspiciously thinking that you and OP have much in common concerning the subject.
🧐🤔🤐
Absolutely the best explanation of faith.
Thank you, that’s the best definition I’ve ever heard
I need to type up Ben's answer and keep it in my purse for when a non-believer asks me. I couldn't have put it in such a clear and non-judgy way.
Good idea ❤
What Ben effectively said is: God is a maniacal psychopath who lets a parasitic worm bore into the eyeballs of a starving child in a sub Saharan tribe so that he can prove a point about ‘faith’. And subsequently he inspires missionaries from Europe to come down to Sahara and preach the dead child’s tribe about his kindness & mercy.
Who created satan?
@@toffeebeanzSatan use to be an Angel. He also had free will.
@@peanut_toast999 So God created something imperfect since he ended up sinning. Plus God would have to have created sin for Satan to sin since you can't sin without sin being a thing
I have an amazing story. One day I was driving home and I felt the presence of the Lord, come down to me from above. It was as real as anything and I felt so comfortable with Him.
I knew if I asked Him to play a song on the radio, He would.
So I said "Ok Lord, play Come as you are..."
I didn't know what station it was on or anything, but I turned the radio on and the song started playing right on the spot, perfectly...
I started getting flooded with chills inside, trembling, and crying tears of joy. When I got home, He stayed with me for 10 minutes till I got out of the car.
I've been getting amazing prayers answered for around 5 years since, because that experience made me stop doubting when I pray, and I follow Biblical instructions, best I can.
I need your plug's contact
@@issho8885 I didn't even know what that was until I just looked it up. I live a pretty clean life. I hadn't taken anything that day. I mainly quit drinking and all that 8 and a half years ago, and other people have been a part of my prayers plenty of times There have been 3 people at one church I used to go too, who had stage 4 cancer and the church prays for them and they've been healed over night.
I had a woman call me not too long ago and she told me she was healed from schizophrenia after I prayed for her a long time ago.
We had a deaf woman at my other church who was healed by church prayer and can hear.
Last year, I told a co-worker 2 stories and asked if I could pray for him and he said yeah. I grabbed his hands and prayed for his family, finances, and things. I came to work 4 days later. He said he had gotten promoted to GM Manager over a bunch of different stores. Getting paid from 900 to 1600, max tips on reg, and his wife was getting insane overtime money. I mentioned that we prayed and he looked at me like he saw a ghost.
I was pondering this same question this morning, so it's very interesting this video came on my feed today. I thought to myself, "I understand why suffering at the fault of humans exist. But what about suffering that is no one's fault? Infant deaths, and terminal diseases?"
Mr. Shapiro provided a pretty interesting explanation to my inquiry.
I used to think about this a lot. I was raised strict catholic which made me Atheist real fast. Then I became agnostic bc I figured faith in nothing is just as dumb as faith in something. Then, tradgedy and turmoil ensued and my life completely fell apart. Eventually I was shown God's existence through various NDEs and suffering. When I'd get through the suffering, I'd always be better off and look back and not only not see the suffering as "bad", but actually appreciate it and udderstand its necessity. I began to welcome suffering bc I saw it as stepping stones to get me where I'm supposed to be. We just live in a world of duality and can't have good without bad, it literally just could not exist. We're also strengthened by difficulty and it's up to us to find the lesson. The longer we take to learn it, the longer we suffer.
Come back to the Catholic faith man. There's so much for you to know :)
@@jesseruiz4192 No there isn’t, unless you want to murder children, commit genocide, or be a pedophile. Religion is evil.
Atheism isn’t “faith” Atheism is the idea that logically god doesn’t follow from a single argument, both philosophically and empirically from anything religion or “faith” puts forward. The natural world has far more wonder than a magic sky daddy who commits genocide, pedophilia, xenophobia, is cruel, and cares what you do in your bedroom. Notice how religious people adapt different arguments and water down their religion the more and more science explains things the Bible can not?
Are you open to sharing your NDE(s)?
I think it's a profound experience to have, especially since we will all die one day. It might help the rest of us somehow in ways we can't predict?
Like when a new born baby suffers for a two days then dies. Ain’t no good in that no matter how you twist it. Come on……. No reason to believe in anything without evidence. It’s only called faith because there is no evidence. Religion (God) is just comfort against not knowing, you wouldn’t believe in any other thing without evidence.
The same people that ask why God allows evil are the ones who get mad when told not to do evil things. We only want God to stop the evil that hurts us, but would not be happy if he stopped us from doing evil.
People don't want God to stop people from being evil, they want God not to create evil people since he saw their decisions before he created them
Nah it’s just a common question people have about life
@@prinka2096 doesn’t change what I’m saying. We are all evil.
@@Yogideepeople who ask that question are the people who doesn't believe in God. They only believe in God Wen bad things happen then try blaming god for it 😶
@@signin5117 I disagree. That’s a common question people ask that has also led people to religion. “Why do people do evil things” is a common question people ask when they look at the world objectively.
Can't have good without evil and evil without good it's just balance
Freewill. Bad choices😢
I’m not sure what I believe in these days, but damn that is well said.
I've said since childhood that God is real but humans are his twisted game.
That is the best explanation I have ever heard. Thank you.
The Bible itself takes Ben Shapiro's excuse and throws it in the trash. According to the Bible then is wrong.according to the Bible you are lying. It says specifically that God knows every hair on everyone's head. He has named and knows the grains of sand on every World. It says that he knew you before you were even born. And it says he knows the hearts and minds of men. So yes there is no such thing as free will according to the Bible. Also all of God's prophecies in the Bible should be thrown out if he cannot foresee the future. Which he adamantly admits to being able to do. Then when Ben Shapiro said that God if he showed himself to people would allow for no room for Faith. That's been disproven by the Bible as well because Satan knew God full well in the Bible and decided to do what he wanted anyway so there goes that bullshit excused. Your own holy book destroys your arguments.
He does what he wants... Just keep silent or get screwed Amen 😊☝️
I've been saying this all along, you can't have free will without exercising free will and I wish Richard Dawkins could understand why for that reason belief is special.
I'm not religious by any means and I must admit that was a really good response to that question
How is it freewill that little kids have cancer who haven’t done anything?
@@bigtrip6344 you should've watched the whole video, for that one to be answered
@@seanfernandolopez9139 I did why do little kids who never did anything to deserve cancer get it? I get it’s free will if people smoke their whole life but some people are barely out of the womb and get fucked
Shell game
@@bigtrip6344 if everything was perfect there’s no reason for belief, no testimony without a test. God had to leave reasons for us to believe I suppose, other wise his son died for nothing
Such Good Word! This man can go up against anyone.
Man this guy is naturally cool 😎! Knows his stuff!
BUT if all you have is pain and suffering, how is that justified?
This is exactly what I needed to hear.
I’ve never heard the question. Answered that way. Very thought-provoking for me.
Hopefully God keeps revealing the truth to you.
I know you said this is what you needed to hear but unfortunately for you your Bible says the opposite.according to the Bible you are lying. It says specifically that God knows every hair on everyone's head. He has named and knows the grains of sand on every World. It says that he knew you before you were even born. And it says he knows the hearts and minds of men. So yes there is no such thing as free will according to the Bible. Also all of God's prophecies in the Bible should be thrown out if he cannot foresee the future. Which he adamantly admits to being able to do. Then when Ben Shapiro said that God if he showed himself to people would allow for no room for Faith. That's been disproven by the Bible as well because Satan knew God full well in the Bible and decided to do what he wanted anyway so there goes that bullshit excused. Your own holy book destroys your arguments.
@charmed0009 here's the problem with what you're saying. Sometimes God does things that God himself deemed immoral. Stealing killing and destroying being a few. So if God is going to teach us that stealing killing and destroying is evil and then he perpetrate that evil what does he expect us conclude?
That would be like me telling my kids that bringing harm to any living being is evil. Then I walk outside and start shooting birds out of the trees with a rifle. Thus my children would believe that I'm evil. Because I'm doing the evil thing I said evil people do.
Something I have very rapidly come to realize over the past few years, a lot of the suffering we endure we are responsible for due to our sin. No matter how big or small, sin brings suffering. It of course isn't the only source of suffering, but our sinful lives put us through much more suffering than I believe is necessary.
@@Reiman33 How is suffering in any shape or form ever convenient? Your statement makes no sense..
@@Reiman33 wtf 😂 HOW CONVENIENT FOR YOU NOT TO BELIVE IN GOD AND SIN.
@@Reiman33 its good, people invented Criminal law for guys like you. 😂
But why do I wake up in pain since I was 13? Just turn off the pain receptors. Until my pain goes away I will not praise the God that could help
He said he would of make them an angel without choice. When a third of the angels fell.
Ben Shapiro’s intelligence and speed of articulating thoughts are remarkable. He is always direct and to the point.
I have a very decided opinion on this.. I was abused horribly as a a child... I turned into an alcoholic and drug addict and in my early 30s I got sober and went into therapy.. it wasn't sexual abuse it was physical and mental abuse by my father. I had the best therapist and after years of therapy, she taught me one very important thing. That God is not responsible for human frailty... It was an incredibly important lesson. Hitler and all the atrocities known to man and what I experienced was Ashley man's atrocities to man... This has helped me my entire life! I'm so grateful had a great therapist who taught me the difference! God I just got choked up writing this thank you
Think auto correct made you put Ashley when I think you mean to say actually in your message. But I'm glad you survived your ordeal
Bless you
Ben answered both questions in his answer to the first question: God allows suffering because of us.
"Free will cannot....I repeat CANNOT be given"
Tell that to child labour victims and child abuse victims
@@1BuFo They still have the free will to chose how they will react to the situation. They may be pushed into a corner where any reaction besides the abusers intended one leads to pain and or death, but the choice remains none the less.
These are Ben’s thoughts on the question he was asked which is very well articulated. No one can truly explain why things are the way are or why things happen the way they do
What he explained is what we learn in Judaism
GREAT EXPLANATION BEN. JUST OMIT THE "I THINKS" FROM YOUR EXPLANATION AND YOU NAIL IT.
Because we all have the potential to be a God if you believe in past lives it could be you never suffered your first time
This is a wise man..... This has been my belief (argument) i answer SO MANY of todays members of society with..... FAITH IS NOT STUPIDITY
Plenty of examples of highly intelligent men who believe in a faith, doesn't have anything to do with your IQ, but it's absolutely a delusional state of mind to be in for someone to sacrifice and dedicate their life to something based on nothing but the hope that it exists
Exactly...it is not.
Evidence of stupidity is seen where God is not involved...I don't think I have to give an example there. Only people that have not read the Bible, would be calling it a fairy tale. You must be reading the wrong book😂 You are missing out on a lot!!That book, contains truth, facts and prophecies. We are still Christians because we have seen proof that what it contains is true. Evidence is also all over the internet.
First read the Bible and then seek out the proof e.g in New Testament, we still have those healings happening today...you just need to look it up!❤❤