Questions on AI, UFOs, and Church Attendance

KEVIN HARRIS: You just know that we are going to get a question about artificial intelligence. Here it is.

Dear Dr. Craig, With all the AI hype, several experts are saying that we are only a few years from the development of AGI, that's artificial general intelligence, which is a hypothetical computer program that can perform intellectual tasks as well as (or better than) a human. How should Christians react to all of this, and what would it mean for the biblical worldview? Hector in Chile

DR. CRAIG: I have recently begun to read in the area of cognitive science which is a broad array of disciplines that attempt to model the human mind (or human brain) on a computer. According to the reading I've done, it has now generally been realized by cognitive scientists that a computational model of the brain is, in fact, incorrect. Computers can mimic certain unconscious or automatic features of human cognition, but it cannot reproduce human inferences that rely upon the meaning of certain sentences – what is called the semantic contents of the propositions being considered. So I think it's generally recognized now that this computational model of human thinking is inadequate and incomplete and that therefore we never will be able to have mechanically-based minds.

KEVIN HARRIS: This question is from Germany.

Dear Professor William Lane Craig, I'm a great admirer of you and your work. My question is whether one has to reject everything an atheist says, or can one still find parts sympathetic and right even though this person rejects Jesus Christ? Thank you very much. Respectfully, David in Germany.

DR. CRAIG: I certainly think that we can learn a great deal from atheists, and so I read atheist philosophers all the time and find them sometimes insightful. This will be especially true if you're working on an area that is relatively neutral religiously. For example, in my study of the philosophy of time, this is an area where Christians are very underrepresented and done little work so most of my reading in philosophy of time was of secular philosophers and physicists. And it was very, very educational and a source of great insight. Similarly, in my work on abstract objects, this is another area where Christian philosophers are underrepresented. In learning about the various anti-realisms like fictionalism and neutralism and pretense theory and so forth, most of the authors I read were secular, and I learned an enormous amount from them. It was wonderful. I've even been able to become friends with some of these philosophers and corresponded with them. So I think David should avail himself of the truth wherever he finds it. My philosophy professor at Wheaton College, Arthur Holmes, had a saying that was a favorite of his, and that is that all truth is God's truth, and therefore we can avail ourselves of truth wherever it is to be found. All truth is God's truth.

KEVIN HARRIS: We have a few questions from Facebook, and these are from various Christian and apologetics sites.

Dear Dr. Craig, What do you make of all the hoopla in the news over UFOs? Would the existence of ETs undermine the Christian faith? Do you think it is in any way indicative of end times? Charmaine

DR. CRAIG: I certainly don't think it's indicative of end times. There's nothing in the Bible that would suggest that making contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life is a sign of the end, nor do I think the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life would undermine the Christian faith. The Bible is God's revelation to humanity – the inhabitants of the planet Earth. If God has created somewhere in the far-flung universe a race of intelligent extraterrestrial life then undoubtedly he loves them as well and will have provided for those persons a way of salvation and finding eternal life appropriate for them as well. However, having said that, I've got to admit that when I heard on the news lately about the supposed existence of a spacecraft in the possession of the Pentagon and that they even had corpses of these extra-terrestrials, it really did send a chill up my spine. It occurred to me that if, say, next Tuesday the Pentagon were to make public such a craft and display the remains of such an extraterrestrial person, this would be emotionally devastating. It would be unbelievable. I think that it would be the greatest natural event in the course of human history if this were to transpire. I say “natural event” because I'm not comparing it to the incarnation and resurrection of Christ, but in terms of natural events I think for us to have contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life would be the greatest event in human history.

KEVIN HARRIS: We'll wait until next Tuesday and see what happens then! This next question.

Dr. Craig, even though the pandemic is over and many Christians have not returned physically to the local church, however they are “attending online.” Do you think this is biblically or practically acceptable? Russell

DR. CRAIG: I don't think that it is biblically acceptable, Russell, and I sympathize with those who have found it difficult to go back to church. We quit attending church for months during the pandemic and simply watched online. It was really difficult to get back into the habit of attending in person, and I actually understood for the first time why some people don't attend church. It's so much easier to just stay at home in your pajamas than to go to church. It takes real effort. But I think that biblically the author of the book of Hebrews is very clear. He says, “Do not neglect the assembling of yourselves together.” We need to be together to engage in corporate worship, corporate singing, and prayer, and fellowship with one another. So I think that as difficult as it might be, we need to attend personally these kinds of corporate gatherings.

KEVIN HARRIS: Well, I hope churches don't start going to: the traditional worship followed by the contemporary worship followed by the pajama worship and adding that in! Next question,

Dr. Craig, In one of your questions of the week you said that you hoped you would be with God in heaven. While it may have just been a semi-amusing or humble comment, don't you feel assured that your salvation is secure? Winthrop

DR. CRAIG: I wasn't meant to be semi-amusing. I take it that I was expressing the same sort of modesty that the apostle Paul expressed when he says, “Brethren, I do not consider that I have attained it, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind I press on toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” And Paul says he did all these things so that, “If possible, I might attain the resurrection of the dead.” So this represents not a lack of confidence in God, but as it were a lack of confidence in my own abilities and perseverance. The error of the apostle Peter was overconfidence. When Jesus said, “You will all deny me. All of you will fall away,” Peter responded, “Lord, I will never deny you. Even if I must go to my death for you, I will do so.” And we all know how that led to Peter's multiple denials of Christ. So my comment was simply to say that while I have assurance of my salvation and the witness of the Holy Spirit is born in my heart, nevertheless, I do not want to be presumptuous. My prayer is that I might persevere to the end and finish well.

KEVIN HARRIS: Final question today.

Dear Dr. Craig, Do you ever read fiction, poetry, or biography? Or is your position such that you only have time to read philosophy, theology, and perhaps history? If you do read outside of your profession, do you have any favorite novels or other writings? Linda

DR. CRAIG: Much as I enjoy reading poetry or fiction or biography, I just don't have time for those things anymore. I'm consumed by my studies that I'm doing, and so I can't take that sort of pleasurable reading in hand. Now, one might think, well, what about when you go on a vacation and you're at the beach or in the mountains or something? Can't you bring along a book to read? Well, you see, the problem with that is that if I've got my nose in a book then I'm not connecting with Jan, and that defeats the purpose of the vacation. So when we go to the beach, we don't sit around on the shore. We're out in the ocean swimming. She's like a cork, and she can stay out there for an hour and a half in 20-foot deep water swimming around. I found that it's not a good idea to bring along things to read unless maybe it's reading it on the airline while we're en route. Then that might provide some opportunity to read. But basically, unfortunately, I'm in a position such that my studies really consume all of my work day.

KEVIN HARRIS: I want to invite everyone to be sure that you check out the question of the week which is a feature on ReasonableFaith.org. You might find your question (or a variation of it) right there. Dr. Craig, we'll see you on the next podcast.

DR. CRAIG: OK, Kevin. Thank you. I've enjoyed it today.

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