wait...william lane craig gave the best answer to suffering i've ever heard

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Alex Okconor presses William Lane Craig on the problem of of evil and he answered it in a way that will absolutely blow your mind. It's so amazing. Let's get into it.

[00:00:11]>> First, that God is the best explanation of why anything at all exists >> rather than nothing.

[00:00:18]>> Yeah.

[00:00:18]>> Second, that God is the best explanation for the absolute beginning of the universe at a point in the finite past.

[00:00:28]Thirdly, God is the best explanation for the uncanny applicability of mathematics to the physical phenomena. Fourth, God is the best explanation for the incomprehensible fine-tuning of the universe for embodied interactive life.

[00:00:49]Fifth, God is the best explanation for the objectivity of moral values and duties in the world. And finally six, the very possibility of God's existence uh implies that God exists.

[00:01:07]Now together I think these six arguments constitute a powerful cumulative case that God exists. If you were to ask me why I believe the Christian God exists, then we would need to go beyond these arguments to examine the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

[00:01:28]>> Who was this man Jesus of Nazareth? And I believe that he uh claimed to be um the long awaited Jewish Messiah, the son of God in a unique sense, and the divine human son of man prophesied by the prophet Daniel. And I think that God vindicated those radical personal claims by which he put himself in God's place by raising him from the dead. Now I realize that most people think that the resurrection of Jesus is something you just believe in by faith or not. But in fact there are uh four um wellestablished historical facts concerning the fate of Jesus of Nazareth that are agreed upon by the vast majority of New Testament scholars that have written on this subject. And these would include first uh his honorable interament by Joseph of Arythea in a tomb following his crucifixion.

[00:02:34]Secondly, the tomb was discovered on the first day of the week following the crucifixion by a group of Jesus female followers to be empty. Third, the uh uh uh rather various individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive after his death on various indivi uh various occasions and under a variety of circumstances.

[00:03:05]And finally, number four is that the original disciples suddenly and sincerely came to believe that God had raised Jesus from the dead despite every predisposition to the contrary. And I think that when the alternative explanations for those facts are weighed by the usual criteria that historians use for evaluating historical hypotheses, then the superiority and plausibility of what I call the resurrection hypothesis emerges. That is that the original disciples were right. that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

[00:03:51]>> It's a known fact without even reading the Bible that you can realize that Jesus did in fact live on this earth.

[00:04:00]There was a person named Jesus of Nazareth. He did in fact have 12 disciples. He did in fact get crucified by the Romans. He did in fact get buried. And then 3 days later his body was missing. So then you look at, well, how did the disciples react after the body was missing? Either Jesus did really rise from the dead, hang out with his disciples for 40 days, or the disciples made it up and they lied. But how do people interact based off of a lie and they have nothing to gain? They have nothing to gain if Jesus is dead and they lied about it because they were all killed for it. They were all tortured and and persecuted for it. Now, people will die for a lie that they don't know is a lie, but they believe it to be true. But these disciples would have known that it was false. They would have known. But they literally saw Jesus. They ate with Jesus. They talked with Jesus. And that's what gave them amazing confidence. So now one of the biggest objections that was brought is about suffering, specifically animal suffering.

[00:05:13]>> The question here is whether or not the existence of animal suffering in the world is more plausible given naturalism or atheism than it is given theism.

[00:05:28]And I would argue that animal suffering is vastly more improbable given naturalism >> or atheism than theism. And therefore, even if our inability to penetrate divine psychology and say what reason would have God, God would have for choosing an evolutionary process. U which I think we can speculate about.

[00:05:54]Nevertheless, the balance of probability is overwhelmingly in favor of theism.

[00:06:01]Animal suffering is more plausible probable on theism. Now, why do I say that? Well, the reason is because if naturalism were true, >> then it is incomprehensibly more probable that there wouldn't even be life, >> much less sentient life, >> right, >> that could experience suffering. And of course, we're back here to the old fine-tuning argument, aren't we? that given the finetuning of the universe, this is vastly more probable given theism than given naturalism. And so in a sense, the existence of animal suffering as well as human suffering is actually evidence for theism because if naturalism were true, it's overwhelmingly more probable there wouldn't be any sentient life and hence no suffering.

[00:06:58]>> Yes, I understand this line of argument.

[00:06:59]Um, pardon me. I I understand this this line of argument. I understand what you're getting at.

[00:07:06]>> The issue is I feel like it kind of sidesteps the concern.

[00:07:10]>> It sidesteps.

[00:07:10]>> It sidesteps the concern.

[00:07:11]>> Yes, it does. There are many people there are many people who believe, for example, that there is some kind of naturalistic explanation for fine-tuning, even if we don't know what it is. There are people here who who disagree with you, Dr. Craig that that think that those arguments aren't sound, aren't strong, at least to the point where they remain agnostic about the existence of a god such that the only data that they can really touch and feel that really sort of strikes them as the most sort of important and plausible is the existence of animal suffering. So I suppose I could frame it this way.

[00:07:39]Suppose it were the case that all else were equal.

[00:07:42]>> That what >> that all else were equal.

[00:07:45]>> That though that that otherwise apart from this piece of data >> Oh. Oh. apart from this piece of data.

[00:07:51]>> Oh, but why why should we make such a hypothesis that all else were equal when it's not?

[00:07:57]>> So that we can isolate this particular point of data and see if it at the very least decreases the probability of God's existence.

[00:08:03]>> Uhhuh.

[00:08:05]So you're saying what if animal suffering were just as probable on naturalism is on theism? Then what? I'm saying let's grant the existence of animal suffering and say given that fact about the universe like okay let's grant that there is a universe that exists let's grant that there's a universe exists that abides by physical laws now if if you want to say that we can't have the conversation about why animals would be allowed to suffer until we've addressed the finetuning argument then we'll probably need a bit more time but also I don't think that that functions for people who simply are willing to say well I just don't agree with the finetuning argument I still want to know why it is that God would allow >> if that's to be more than just an opinion or psychological >> autobiographical comment, they need to give some good arguments.

[00:08:53]>> Yeah. One thing that I will say is no other god answers the question and the problem of suffering unlike Jesus. Jesus is the only God to step into this world and suffer alongside with us. All people suffer in some way, shape or form.

[00:09:13]Animals suffer in some way, shape or form because eventually we will die. The Bible says is it it is appointed once for a man to live and then to die. And that's the same with all animals. So eventually you technically suffer because you die. Dying is suffering.

[00:09:29]Sometimes it's worse than others. But Jesus came and died the worst possible death possible.

[00:09:38]He knows what suffering is on the greatest level because he loves you so much. We live in a world that is dying and falling apart because that's what God's plan is.

[00:09:55]It's been answered.

[00:10:00]Fine-tuning argument. And my impression um from reading the literature is that today this fine-tuning argument is the argument for the existence of God that is taken most seriously by non-theists.

[00:10:17]>> Can you can you take uh that Alex is just looking at the systemic problem of evil, the problem of evil against theism from evolution by natural selection ignoring the others? Does that argument itself count against it? Alex, because I did say I think we can speculate about God's reasons for allowing an evolutionary history to the world.

[00:10:40]Um, it seems to me that God's overall purpose for creating life on earth um is for the purpose of human salvation.

[00:10:54]>> Yep. And that his goal is to create a world in which the optimal number of people would freely come to know and embrace eternal salvation which is an incommenserable good to which the suffering in this world cannot even be compared. And I don't think it is at all improbable, not in a wit improbable, that only in a world suffused with natural and moral evil that the optimal number of people would freely come to embrace God and his salvation and so find eternal life. And that could well be the reason for creating the world with an evolutionary >> that's what I said >> involved as you say a lot of animal suffering. So the suggestion would be that an animal like a zebra which gets its wind pipe caught in the jaws of a lion which is how they're often predated upon that no human ever sees that no human's ever aware of that no other animal is even ever aware of is somehow necessary the conditions under which that occurred are somehow necessary to bring people to salvation in Christ. You know, this is the interesting.

[00:12:17]>> Well, here's the thing, though. If that lion if that lion does not eat the zebra, then that lion suffers. That lion dies of hunger. Everything will be brought to God's knees. That's the thing. Jesus still suffered. And you could say even for the animals cuz he's going to make a new heaven and a new earth where the lion will lay down with the lamb. That's the goal. And the Bible explains that. Here's a fascinating point that William Lane Craig brings up.

[00:12:50]>> Animals like sheep and goats and dogs and cats, while they have pain awareness, they do not have that second order awareness >> of knowing that they are themselves in pain >> which human beings as self-conscious subjects do. And that makes human pain and suffering qualitatively distinct from animal suffering.

[00:13:14]>> Jack, I'm sorry. I'm putting I have to put my foot.

[00:13:16]>> Can you can I get have two can quick brief reply because there's and we're taking the question from the lady in the cool jeans for for this idea that animals suffer but they're not aware that they're suffering is to me a self-contradictory statement. To suffer is to be aware that you are suffering.

[00:13:35]You cannot be in pain without knowing you're in pain. That is the same thing as not being in pain.

[00:13:40]>> And if it is not the same thing, >> how do you know that an animal knows that it's in pain or that it's in suffering?

[00:13:47]>> If it turns out if it turns out that it's fine because these animals, although they suffer, they don't know that they're suffering. So, it doesn't really matter. I don't know if any of you are pet owners. You would believe that your animal when it's in pain doesn't somehow know that it's in pain.

[00:14:02]But good news because it doesn't matter too much.

[00:14:04]>> It's a great I'm going to put my foot down. take a question over here.

[00:14:08]>> Sorry. Then you should be able to do >> question from this young lady.

[00:14:10]>> You should be able to do whatever you want.

[00:14:12]>> I miss Johnny so much.

[00:14:15]>> That is a great point. It's a difficult difficult question. Can animals feel pain like humans can? Seems like they do. I don't know about how humans do, but that's that's a crazy question. So guys, William Lane Craig just argued that only in a world of suffering would the optimal number of people freely come to know God and embrace salvation.

[00:14:40]Here's what they didn't say, though, and I want to make sure that you guys hear this. The God that allowed suffering didn't just watch from a distance. He entered it. He was born in a stable. He was betrayed by a friend. He was beaten, mocked, and then worst of all, crucified. The cross is the answer to God's problem of evil. It's not an explanation. He didn't explain suffering from the outside. He experienced it from the inside. Romans 8:18 says, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us." And if you're watching this right now and you're in pain, physical pain, maybe emotional pain, the pain of unanswered questions, the God of the Bible is not indifferent to your suffering. He wept when his friend Lazarus died. He sweat drops of blood, literal blood in the garden. He cried out to God while he was on the cross. He said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And he has not left you without hope. If you want to know Jesus today, fill out the form in the description below. It will be the best decision you could ever make and accept him as your Lord and Savior.