At UT Dallas, Christian Apologist Frank Turek from CrossExamined.Org has an enlightening exchange with an atheist named Carter. Frank discusses the following objections: The moral argument is offensive because it says atheists can’t be moral! Why can’t the universe be the uncaused first cause? If we don’t believe in God, He will send us to Hell!

yes sir what’s your name hello Carter

hey Carter and I very much like to in my

addressing your it’s a moral law

argument that without God’s an objective

moral standard eight years so do not

rest in peace okay let me stop right

there because that’s not the case I

never said that atheist can’t be moral I

never said atheists don’t know morality

in fact atheists know morality just like

everybody else we know morality because

it’s written on our hearts what I’m

saying is is that atheist can’t justify

morality that’s the point in fact I had

to say this several times to Christopher

Hitchens Christopher I’m not saying

you’re a bad guy

Christopher I’m not saying you don’t

know morality in fact I like Christopher

I thought it was a good guy what I’m

saying is you can’t justify why not

murder innocent people to get what you

want

that’s the point it’s a point about

ontology not a point about epistemology

it’s not a point about how you know the

moral law it’s a point about why does

the moral law exists behind dresses but

I really like to address the designer

okay as I usually argue that a painting

or a creation to use the term painting

implies a theme for a design classic

designer but I was that food design job

and if you don’t design God God’s

timeless spaceless immaterial and he

existed eternally in an uncaused fashion

then why can’t nature exist in the exact

same way and infernal unpoliced faceless

material fashion why can’t our onion

cause origins yes marvelous and precise

as God but in Africa

excellent question Carter that’s a very

good question you’re right that we have

two options here either the universe is

the uncaused first cause or something

beyond the universe is the uncaused

first cause the problem is is that all

the evidence points to the fact that the

universe is not the uncaused first

caused and i didn’t have time to go

through that evidence tonight that was

part one but I’ll give it to you very

briefly in an acronym Serge su are GE s

stands for the second law of

thermodynamics which says that the

universe is running down well if it’s

running down somebody must have wounded

up we’d have no energy left right now if

the universe was eternal the use to

answer the fact that the universe is

expanding Edwin Hubble detected that

back in 1929 and shows that everything

came from a single point a point

actually of infinite density the

singularity which is actually nothing so

the universe had a beginning the are in

surd stands for the radiation afterglow

that’s the remnant heat discovered by

Penzias and Wilson in 1965 which is

literally the smoking gun to the Big

Bang there’s heat remnant heat from the

Big Bang still out there which shows

that the universe had a beginning the G

Insurge stands for the great galaxies

seeds which were very fine temperature

variations in that radiation afterglow

that allowed the galaxies to form in the

early universe and the e stands for

Einstein’s theory of general relativity

which shows that time space and matter

are Co relative that they came into

existence together that space time and

matter literally had a beginning

Einstein knew this in 1916 then

observational evidence be Kant began in

1919 when Eddington did his test on the

set on the Eclipse and then Hubble

discovered the expanding universe in

1929 and then on to the radiation

afterglow in the great galaxies seeds

after that so the evidence points to the

fact that the universe is not the young

cause first cause so there must be

something beyond the universe that is

and that thing that’s beyond the

universe must be spaceless timeless and

immaterial and if you’re time less do

you have a beginning no so that God is

not he didn’t have a beginning he’s the

uncaused first cause

Aristotle Plato they all knew this they

knew there had to be an unmoved mover I

believe you’re drawing a false dichotomy

because we do not know the original

cause was God there is no reason to save

an intelligent designer was the first

cause the unpause first lost cause

everything else I do not have a training

or expertise review search science in

fact I set your conclusion that the big

bank advocate in space-time found an to

existence from unfortune but we do not

know that this point of origin is God

only God is to make a false assumption

another reason for the existence of

everything might simply be that other

dimensions have the power and the

marvelousness and complexity to create

the situation where existence could

where the Big Bang brought into

existence in space-time and abaca begin

to exist without an intelligent designer

well Carter what you just described

there is what we would call God God is

in another dimension that has the

ability to bring these dimensions into

existence so if you want to call it

another dimension you can call it that

but that’s exactly what we mean by God

then why is there

excellent point you don’t have to

worship God in fact Aristotle never

worship God in fact the Greeks never got

their theology and philosophy together

they knew that there had to be an

unmoved mover but they never put the two

together and worship the unmoved mover

so you don’t have to worship the unmoved

mover you don’t have to you can do

whatever you want that’s why you have

free will God loves you enough to give

you free will you can love him or reject

him that’s up to you on that point you

will to accept or reject God but the

obvious solution is a rejection God

believes for eternal damnation in heaven

reality we do not really have the choice

to accept or not accept God we must

ultimately accept God

assuming well if you want to avoid let

me back up for a second there’s only two

possibilities if God exists

in eternity you’re going to be with him

or you’re not going to be with him right

that’s logically the only two options if

you want to be with him

you will seek him out and be with him if

you don’t want to be with him God will

not force you into his presence against

your will in fact let me make the

objection stronger than what you’re

making it you’re very polite but I

debated an atheist who was a little bit

more direct and let me tell you this man

was a good man I like him his name is

Eddie – Bosh he’s an attorney from

Beverly Hills we debated University of

Michigan a number of months ago and he

looked at me during the Q&A and he said

Frank my mother was a survivor of the

Holocaust

she lived an awful life somebody

presented her with the gospel and she

rejected it is she in Hell right now

whew I said Eddie I don’t know where

your mother is I don’t know she made a

profession of faith in her last moments

but if she didn’t then God will not

force her into his presence against her

will God is too loving for that and I

asked the audience this question in fact

I’ll ask you as an audience this

question ladies is there anybody in here

who’s ever had a man pursue you

and you did not want that man to pursue

you you did not want to date him anyone

in here of course in fact some you’re

going yeah he’s sitting right next to me

right now he won’t be he’ll up I said

okay ladies suppose this man continues

to pursue you and continues to pursue

you and you say look I only like you as

a friend ladies why don’t you just take

the knife stick it in and turn it

because every man in here has heard this

I like you but only as a friend well

suppose he continues to pursue you

continues to pursue you and he gets to

the point where he says look I love you

so much I’m going to force you to love

me can he do that no he can’t do that

love by definition must be freely given

so if he truly did love you what would

he do he would leave you alone that’s

exactly what God does he keeps sending

us cards letters and flowers why we’re

here and if we keep rejecting him keep

rejecting him he gives us up to our own

desires and that ultimately what he’ll

is ultimately what hell is hell is

separation from God so you’re free in

hell you can continue to reject God in

hell but you’re confined to hell in fact

hell is a quarantine of evil that’s what

it is and heaven of course is being in

the very presence of God God loves you

too much to force you into his presence

against your will

thanks Carter

you