William Lane Craig, though often held up as an undefeated Christian apologist, does not even attempt to conceal the fact that the core of his religious worldview is rooted not in logic or in evidence, but in private experiences of the heart. He appeals to the "inner witness" of the Holy Spirit, which he has called "self-authenticating." See this video here for an example: https://youtu.be/cC3q3qYIhdI. In this video, Craig answers a question about how he knows that the Holy Spirit is present with him. And his answer is thoroughly illogical. If you haven't watched the video, viewing it before reading this post further will let you see what parts of his answer I am specifically referring to in my dissection.
First of all, skepticism about the inner witness of the Holy Spirit is not refuted at all by simply asking the same questions Craig was asked about the accuracy of sense perceptions. Second, Craig's answer implies that if I am a brain in a vat then I am deceived into merely "perceiving" an external world--but an external world still exists if I am a brain in a vat, as matter would still exist. There would be a brain my consciousness resides in, and also a vat! In fact, the existence of an external world of some kind is something I know with absolute certainty [1]. I don't have to know that I am perceiving the external world as it actually appears to know that an external world exists. Third, Craig holds that "in the absence of any defeater" for the position that our immediate sensory experiences are reliable, we are somehow justified in simply assuming the reliability of our sensory perceptions. This is not true, for it does not follow from sensory skepticism.
Then there is the fact that the followers of any religion--any religion whatsoever--could claim that an inner sense of the divine validates their own religion. Craig has said at miscellaneous times, rather openly, that he would believe in Christianity even if all external evidence for Christianity did not exist or was unknown to him. At its core, his worldview rests on an assumption. He assumes that his introspective experiences confirm the existence of God in a way that actually negates the need for logical proof or evidence beyond the experiences. Likewise, when Craig talks about moral knowledge he assumes that the existence of his conscience somehow means that morality exists or that he is, at the very least, justified in believing in morality. Conscience is a purely subjective thing, and moral truths, by their very nature, cannot be self-evident. Conscience can only prove that conscience exists.
As newer videos and articles evidence, Craig has not changed these positions in recent times. There was a point in my earlier life where I deeply respected many Christian apologists. Now, I recognize the fallacies and errors that thoroughly permeate some of their epistemologies. Some of the most blatant errors on the part of contemporary apologists show themselves in the beliefs these apologists have about ethical knowledge, the veracity of logic, and their assumption that it is rational to believe in things without absolute certainty. It is rational to believe, short of absolute certainty, only that something seems probable if there is evidence for it, but this is something very different.
The difference between me and some other apologists is that I am not a Christian for reasons that do not pertain to evidence. I am only a Christian because of the evidence, and I would abandon Christianity at the first legitimate contradiction or impossibility found within it. If I was born into an era or geographical region that isolated me from the evidence I would not be a Christian (though I could still know through logic that an uncaused cause exists). People like Craig may not like or understand this, but their fallacies and assumptions do not belong to me as well. I care nothing for subjective inner comfort if it means I must sacrifice logicality and truth.
[1]. See here:
A. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-external-world.html
B. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/11/closing-my-eyes.html
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