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[...] here: Atheist/Magician Penn Jillette Describes Remarkable Encounter With Christian Fan Filed Under: Latest News VideoTagged: pcu [...]
This is a great example of why I love Penn Jillete. I disagree with him on many things but I have always thought he was rational and forthright, not moved by emotion as much as by logic.
He is confident in his beliefs, able to discuss them without feeling threatened.
I believe he will one day meet his maker and say, “…guess I was wrong, now tell me what I don’t know,” with absolute humility.
Could this dude be any uglier? Sheeese!
Yes, it’s difficult to look like that and still believe in a benevolent creator.
Penn, there’s plenty of Christians who fall short of living the way our faith indicates we should. It’s easy to classify some of us as “bad” or “insane”, and I readily agree with you that some Christians are just that. We are all imperfect, though, even the “good” ones. I will say that a “good” Christian will always hope for your salvation, and I do, too.
Please, don’t just read the book you received; it’s also very helpful to engage Christians in a thoughtful dialogue. Any Pastor can help you learn about what we believe, and it will be an eye-opener to see how what you may have been informed about our faith is not an accurate picture (i.e., cherry-picked phrases from the Bible that are always mentioned about slavery or “unclean” foods, etc.) It may or may not change your mind, and yes, you can be certain that Christians will try to persuade you. Even if it doesn’t, though, at least you can get to know about our faith and the people in it, so many of whom are also “good”…even the imperfect ones (and that’s all of us, unfortunately).
You have it pegged, though; non-believers are not “the enemy” of Christians. Non-believers should be the most important people to us Christians because we are supposed to care about what happens to your soul. God bless you, and by the way, I enjoy your work.
Penn! Get out of the street! There’s a truck bearring down on you!
Penn I know your heart was touched by God even though you still say you don’t believe. You’re a very lucky man to have felt the true love of God through this man. Who know’s he could have been an angel sent just to you from God. That’s pretty awesome. I thank God for always being there for me through good and bad times. He’s always there Penn.
breaking news?
the mixture of racism, christian propaganda, idiotic comments are what make this “news” source an outstanding departure from the real world and journalism.
i love it.
That was a good man because that was a man living his life for Christ. Plain and simple.
Only God can change a man’s heart.
[...] Breitbart, a palate cleanser to wash away all the bad vibes of the past few [...]
MY DEAR PENN,
I’M SURE I WON’T BE THE FIRST TO TELLER THAT THE BOOK OF PSALMS IS NOT PART OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
THEY WERE CHIEFLY WRITTEN BY KING DAVID, WINK, WINK, HE BELONGS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT…
A MAGICIAN YOU ARE ~ A BIBLE SCHOLAR YOU’RE NOT.
SMILES, EARL MANN
Give Penn a break.
He met someone pure of heart and is obviously at a loss for words . . . feeling perhaps that he was touched by an angel.
This may not be the end of the story.
I have a lot of respect for Mr. Jillete, he has been on Glenn Beck’s show a couple of times and is at least intellectually honest.
Good man.
There are no athiests in the trenches.
HOW FRIGHTENING IT MUST BE TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS ALL THERE IS. CHRIST DIED AND PAID YOUR SIN DEBT MR. PENN. ALL HE ASKS IS THAT YOU PUT YOUR TRUST OF SALVATION IN HIM ALONE…..AND YOU WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
What Penn describes without knowing what he experienced is a conversion. Through the crack in the armor comes light. Good luck & God bless,
I like people that are up front and don’t hide what they think, believe, or feel. Penn tells you what he thinks, he doesn’t post his opinions anonymously on web pages.
Like him or hate him he has obviously thought about his beliefs and he treats people with respect. A lot of people could learn from him. He is using the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights as the Founding Fathers intended. America would be a much better place if we all did this.
At first I thought this video was just a long walk for a short glass of water, but clearly he was profoudly moved by this experience.
Um, Earl?
A Bible scholar you ain’t.
The Old Testament is part of the Christian Bible, Psalms included, just as the New Testament is.
Jesus was Jewish, and the Last Supper was a Passover Seder.
Throughout the New Testament Jesus is addressed as “Rabbi” by his followers.
Jesus is a descendent of King David.
Penn, I will keep you in my prayers. God is always with you whether you want him to be or not. Think about how a loving parent worries and watches over their child. A good parent lets their child make mistakes so they will learn from them. That is why GOD gave us free will. We are here to learn about life. So God will be walking beside you, your whole life because he loves you, like it or not. Then to top that off he blesses you with salvation from your sin and stupidity by sending his only son Jesus to teach us the word and die on the cross to pay the price for our sins so we don’t have to. We are set free by the greatest gift of all. It is free for the taking. Just tell got thank you for that amazing gift. Jesus loves you and so do I. Merry Christmas
What Penn is describing is receiving a Gideon New Testament from a fan. They’re small, pocket-sized booklets with the Christian New Testament, as well as Psalms and Proverbs (from the Hebrew Old Testament) included. Penn doesn’t need to be a Bible scholar to describe what he received.
It would be nice, however, if commenting believers and skeptics could respect this. Penn has challenged religious people to live out their beliefs, and rightly so. Perhaps skeptics can return the favor with decency and honor, as Penn has just demonstrated.
I am curious about one thing, however: how can Penn be so certain that God does not exist?
[...] Atheist/Magician Penn Jillette Describes Remarkable Encounter With Christian Fan Quick Read: Read Entire Story: Atheist/Magician Penn Jillette Describes Remarkable Encounter With Christian Fan Discuss This Story, Post a Comment… [...]
Let me preface this by saying I was raised Catholic and survived 12 years of Catholic school. Wed in a church by a priest too. OK? Now…
What frightens me a little (just a little) is all the comments on here from obviously, deeply religious people and the fact that they can’t make a point with saying “God” every other sentence and throw in a “salvation”, “soul”, “eternal”, “Christ” or “Saviour” for good measure every few lines. Reads a lot like a cultist or brainwashed individual. Not saying you all are, but it surely comes off that way.
You ask Penn how can he be so sure there isn’t a God, well how can you be sure 100% there is? The answer is simple to both- neither of you can.
All I know is one of you will be right when you die.
My point with “His” existence is this – how come there’s no consensus on who’s God is the true one? Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindis all proclaim their faith to be “the one”. All of you can’t be right. One God through “His word” says its OK to beat your children to death or sell your daughter in slavery (The Bible), while another God says through “His word” that one should kill all “non-believers” (The Qur’an). For a supposedly “loving” God as you both claim yours is, they sure do advocate a lot of killing, humiliation, and slavery of their fellow man.
hmm, makes one wonder.
Would it not be entirely appropriate that such tolerance and understanding be extended by the left to Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church as the pastor chosen by Oboma to give the Invocation at his Presidential inauguration? Both the individual and Warren are good men as Penn Jillette Describes in his Remarkable Encounter With Christian Fan.
“I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe–that unless I believe, I should not understand.” — St. Anselm of Canterbury
It is kind of ironic that the “voice of reason” jumps in with trite agnostic comments followed by a claim, referenced (the Bible), that Christianity advocates “killing, humiliation, and slavery of your common man”. Thanks for looking out, I think you successfully demonstrated your intellectual superiority and free thought, and added a lot to this video…
This is a beautiful witnessing story! It makes me want to cry. The Holy Spirit is workinng on Mr. Jillette and he doesn’t know it. Please, all genuine Christians out there, pray for this precious man and thank our Heavenly Father for sending this witness to Mr. Jillette. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.
Aithiests are morons who don’t know know anything excepting calling Christians names. They are fat stupid slobs like this jerk who is going to h3ll as sure as God made little green babies. Well Gods no dummy Mr, Penn, he is going to smote you azz from here to Chicago and back again until you except Jesus Christ as Your Personel Saviour, step away from the magic, there is no magic except the magic of Our Lord Pure in Our Hearts you fugly moron. I hope you flesh falls off in strips and you are eaten by rats, that would be too good for you you make me sick
It kind of makes me smile that people villify Believers as a group and yet that fail to remember that all the phony religious people are villified in the Bible. Jesus had no patience for the money changers and the leaders who thought themselves so perfect. A lot of “ordinary” and “good” people are Christian. I’m fascinated that Jillette just found that out. I like the feeling of being free now.
[...] Breitbart, a palate cleanser to wash away all the bad vibes of the past few days. [...] Read the rest [...]
5 minutes and 11 seconds of each of our lives just were WASTED on this poorly groomed jerk!! Thought he would eventually say something that would make the investment of minutes worth while, but he never did.
Amazing that that “good man” took the time and energy to “TOUCH” Jillette, but it was probably a big waste of HIS time & energy as well. :-(
“Luv The Lord”, are you serious?! How can you possibly say you believe in the teachings of Christ when you’re obviously so full of hate? As far as your argument goes, you’ve just shot yourself in the foot. Do yourself a favor and go read the New Testament again–it looks like you missed a couple things.
Sometimes it takes many small encounters such as this over many years to lead someone to God.
Hearts are not won over by just a few minutes of magical words and testimony.
Penn,
Don’t allow this fellow to sucker you into believing that christians (or any other religion) are anything more than scoundrels. He should use his free time to feed the poor or give solace to the destitute sick rather than attempting to turn you into a christian.
This guy only wants to convert you to what he believes is the only “true” religion. He gives no mercy to those who disagree with him, and he arrogantly knows they will go to hell because they don’t believe in his god. He’s only nice to you because you’re well known.
If you or others want some good insight into religion, read George Bernard Shaw’s “The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God (and Some Lesser Tales)”.
Here’s the Wiki link to what the book’s all about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Girl_in_Search_of_God
” Do Not harden your heart when you hear his voice, like those during the rebellion”
I let people believe what they want until they start head-lopping or trying to shove what they believe down anyone elses throat.
When that happens I tend to get “fighty.”
Organized religion has a bad track record of starting too many wars.
A very honest insight into seeing THE SINCERITY of those who CARE ENOUGH to share the urgent message of salvation to a dying world.
Many (tho not all) questions WILL BE ANSWERED when you reach out IN FAITH to embrace and receive Jesus Christ as the true Saviour and Messiah of the world.
excellent video.
btw: I’m praying for you. I believe you have had an initial ‘touch’ from the power of God’s Love and His blessed Holy Spirit. … once it happens: you can never ever ever be the same.
GOD IS LIGHT, … and The Moral Center of the universe.
all the best to you.
– from a Christian who KNOWS the meaning of GRACE. … AMAZING Grace.
You say you know ther is no God…..Well, that is your opinion, and you are entitled to it. But very few athiests have the ability to recognize goodness in their fellow man without disputing the existence of God in a agressive manner. I hope one day you might see, hear, feel, or experience something that changes your mind about believing in God. Religious belief is not dangerous, but man, who interperets, and infringes on others with their own belief is the problem, and the media who sensationalizes it…
God Bless You Penn!
I think he got the message.I’ve met him before and he would be the first to yell Bull*&^% if he didn’t feel something. Whoever the guy was accomplished his task.
I agree with you Penn,..I WOULD be a weak defeated Christian if I were to hide my faith from you. That is why I, as the Bible commands in 1st Peter 3:15, am ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks me to account for the hope that is in me.
But the question YOU absolutely must be honest in answering is, ‘Do you REALLY want to know if there is a God?’.
If you DO,..then watch these DVD movies.
1.) Unlocking the Mystery Of Life
http://www.amazon.com/Unlocking-Mystery-Life-Jay-Richards/dp/B00007KLDW
2.) The Privileged Planet
Notice the comments / reviews given for each of these movies. If they do not motivate you to watch them,….perhaps you don’t want to know if there really is a God?
Man, that was so great! I’m so excited about your honesty. You encountered the real deal – a truely humble guy who knows the real joy and peace of knowing Jesus Christ. You’re right, there are so many Believers who either hide, don’t live it or who want to argue and be critical of those who just don’t believe. I’ve been a tv fan of your’s for years and actually have asked God to speak to your heart so that you can have what I have. Philippians 4:7 speaks of the peace that passes all understanding. It just takes childlike faith. If you can see it, it isn’t faith. It’s so simple. That’s why it’s a stumbling block for intellectuals. You’re very intelligent and it doesn’t seem logical to you – that’s where faith comes into play. If you read the New Testament I believe eventually you’ll be able to step out in faith. I do believe the Bible is the Living Word of God. I’m very glad you finally met a nice Christian! There really are a lot of us!
Why is it so newsworthy that he met a Christian who wasn’t a big jerk?
I am glad he met that ONE. LOL
Penn doesn’t know the difference between the Old and New Testament, but he “KNOWS” “THERE IS NO GOD”??!??
WHAT was the *point* of this 5+ minute video? (Other than to take a swipe at Christians who do NOT proselytize?!? AS IF Penn welcomes people coming up to WITNESS to him, when he does not even believe in God?! This guy is as hollow as a dead tree stump.)
And why was the camera at the awful angle and “in your face”–Penn is NOT PRETTY to look at, so why did they produce this thing in such a way that it is really nothing but a FREAK SHOW? (Maybe because almost everything Penn does is FREAKY.)
Fail to see the point or value in this video…
Someone wrote, “I believe he will one day meet his maker and say, “…guess I was wrong, now tell me what I don’t know,†with absolute humility.”
That is NOT what the Bible says about “how it works.” It says that HE THAT BELIEVES WILL BE SAVED. It does NOT say, “After you die, you can meet up with God and say, ‘Guess I was wrong, now tell me what I don’t know’ with absolute humility.”
It also says, ‘MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.’
If he and many others were intellectually honest as they claim he could only say that no one knows the truth until they die.
[...] Have a look. [...]
Mr. J,
There are good believers & bad believers just like their are good non-believers & bad non-believers. You don’t need to be an expert on the Bible to know God, but reading the Bible is helpful. You don’t need organized religion to know God or to be good. If you want to know God, sincerely pray everyday. God will test you. When tested, do what is right. God will test you again. Do what is right again. The reward of a relationship w/ God is that you will be given knowledge that other people do not possess. Don’t worry about people or religions, just pray and do what is right.
C S Lewis was an atheist. One must distinguish between an honest atheist, such as this man, and a God hater.
Faith is a graceful gift from God. The problem with many psuedo intellectuals like Penn is they can’t stop preaching to us how “smart” they are, I find this type of preaching the most offending.
To believe in nothing higher than yourself is the untlimate form of vanity so common in todays world. And if they want to hold to being edgy or hip, than they need to recogize that the true radicals of today believe, unbelief has no cache anymore…Get it Penn….
Penn you are going to make it my friend-you have years to go and you are already teetering on the brink of Christianity. Is God’s existence anymore improbable than your own Mr.Gillete?
I was moved by Jillette’s experience. He has just been drawn closer to the Lord and to the gift of salvation. It is awesome to see the Holy Spirit at work. Jillette does not know that yet, but I believe he will and when “it” happens he will be SHOCKED to know that in fact there is a GOD and he now believes. Pray for Jillette and his voice will tell the world!!
This is a lesson for all of us Christians out there. Each Christian has there own “style” or way of doing things and we ALL must pass the Good News around because there is someone that we will affect.
My question is, if Jillette and others who don’t believe in God, how do they think we got here? Is all of this perfection just a random accumulation of molecules? The earth turns exactly at a precise speed, time? Birth? existence? Seasonal cycles are so precise. Even if a man could have bubbled up out of the mud, how could another creature randomly bubble up and be a FEMALE to exactly compliment a male and produce offspring? If ONE thing is off in the process a baby cannot be born. WAKE people there is a GOD and he CREATED YOU.
Pammy, you are correct. This is a lesson for all of us Christians as to the proper way to present the Word to a non-believer. We should all be praying for Mr. Jillette.
In this day and age, probably nobody on the planet has NOT heard THE GOOD NEWS about Jesus and Salvation. So WHY is it necessary for people to “witness” and “proselytize”? Isn’t it really a case of the individual involved either accepting Jesus or NOT accepting??
Penn Jillette knows about Jesus; this was not a sudden “revelation” to him by this Christian. It is UP TO PENN whether or not he accepts the EXISTENCE of and SALVATION by Christ…
Just don’t see the rationale behind all the “witnessing” and “pep rallies” trying to encourage (or goad) anyone into “accepting” Jesus. Isn’t this whole thing between the individual soul and GOD?? The soul needs no middle man in recognizing and accepting his Savior and God.
Dear Penn,
Thank you for sharing about this man giving you a New Testament and his kindness. Please read the gospel of John, when you get a chance. It’s an amazing “True” story of Christ’s love for you and I. As I was listening to you talk, I thought, how wonderful it would be if some day, Penn, would be in heaven, because he believes. Each morning I pray. I call them my “pool prayers”, because I swim and begin with the letter A and go to Z to remember those that I want pray for. Now, I will add Penn, when I get to the letter P. I’m praying that God will touch your heart. Merry Christmas. Beth
Very nice and kind comments, Beth. and that is a great way to remember certain people in prayer, btw.
In answer to the question previous to that: “Why all the pep rallies & witnessing?” … let me just say this: some of this kind of stuff is a bit silly and unnecessary. THE MATURE CHRISTIANS witness the Truth by their life and manner, … and also by reaching out when they are led by the Holy Spirit to do so insofar as sharing their faith and the truths of the Gospel.
St.Francis put it this way: “preach the gospel at all times, … use words when necessary.”
[...] Avenue Presbyterian Church « Stop it! Faithful witness December 21, 2008 This is an instructive testimony to the power of a humble, confident, and compassionate witness. Penn [...]
lenbenhere wrote: “MATURE CHRISTIANS witness the Truth by their life and manner, … and also by reaching out when they are led by the Holy Spirit to do so insofar as sharing their faith and the truths of the Gospel.”
BEAUTIFUL! THANKS!
To “Why… Pep Rallies..?”
If you are a Christian you KNOW that at the end of the book of Matthew Jesus makes the request that we “go out and tell the world.” This is known as the Great Commission.
The other practical reason is that like children you may “hear” but you don’t understand. But “Why” this is serious business. If you believe there is Heavan to gain and a Hell to shun then you can’t talk enough about Jesus. This not a joke or a movie or a game. We are told by Jesus to make sure ALL hear the Gospel. You really can’t ASSUME that someone has heard the Word.
Even Jillette noted that, “if you really believe in Jesus, how much do you have to HATE someone NOT to tell them.” Now that is a wise word coming from a self proclaimed atheist.
If you are a Christian and don’t understand about spreading the Gospel perhaps you should go back and read the parable of about burying the talents. If you are not a Christian, as Jillette said, “LOOK OUT THERE IS A TRUCK BEARING DOWN ON YOU!!!!”
[...] Penn Jillette, relating an encounter he had with a Christian fan after a show. View it here. It is incredibly heartfelt and [...]
Couldn’t even watch the whole thing who cares? Religious people are weak. Penn makes fun of Christians all the time. He must have been high when he recorded this.
“God is dead and no one cares, if there is a hell, I’ll see you there.”
Wow.
Penn was moved by a guy who was just being himself. Sincere and non-judgemental.
I was stirred by Penn’s recollection of this encounter…
When are people, believers and atheists alike, going to wake up to the true nature of God. God is everything and everything is a part of God including all of us. Even if you are an atheist you are still a part of God. You can live a perfectly fine life denying God’s existence, but you are essentially living a lie and not acknowlegding the true nature of your existence and therefore will never be able to transcend human existence. There is no hell other than being separated from the glory and infinite possibility that is God. Love your neighbor as yourself, because we are all one and the same and each of us separate but equal equal parts of something greater, god our true nature which we will return to upon our deaths. Of course, we don’t have to die to achieve enlightenment, only seek if with a open heart and mind.
[...] to keep silent about something so important? I started thinking about this post after listening to this video the other day. In this video you will hear Penn Jillette, a very outspoken, oftentimes crude, but [...]
Everyone who has seen “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has heard Linus read the scripture…”for unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord..” Until Penn and everyone else realizes that we all, do in fact need a savior, we will never give our lives to Christ. And, consequently will never be saved to spend eternity with Him. Sad.
I have many, many great friends and family members (all of whom I love very much)who believe
in God. I still think religion (ALL RELIGION)is stupid.
Yeah, he was “sane”…..’cept that part about believing in that ancient sky god stuff….
Even if you don’t believe in God, the Psalms can be a moving book when in difficult times. Many of the songs were written by people going through extreme duress: personal betrayal, national catastrophe, you name it, it’s in there.
It can be worth a read no matter what your beliefs.
[...] of Penn, I saw this the other day and was quite [...]
Penn can be certain that your god doesn’t exist the same way you can be certain that Thor, Osiris, Zeus, Nivana, Vishnu, and the 72 virgins don’t exist.
[...] vocal Atheist and enjoys making it known on his cable show (whose name is a curse word). And yet, this video is something that all people of faith should watch. God has pursued harder cases than Penn and this [...]
[...] on: breitbart.tv :Atheist, interesting, Theology No comments for this entry [...]
Interesting video. Some of the best apologists of the Christian faith are former atheists. Example: CS Lewis. Penn, if you actually read all these comments, may I suggest a very logical book to you, in addition to the Bible? Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. I would describe it as a very thorough explanation of true Christianity for the thinking mind.
“Penn can be certain that your god doesn’t exist the same way you can be certain that Thor, Osiris, Zeus, Nivana, Vishnu, and the 72 virgins don’t exist.”
aaamen to that brother!
Someone recommended a work by George Bernard Shaw, who liked Lenin and Stalin and was hep to the show trials and Holodomor. I’ll take the Christian over the Red Terror sycophant any day.
But Shaw could write, I certainly grant him that. I think the Bible still outsells him, however.
[...] Good story to listen to especially for Christians. [...]
Someone said ” You ask Penn how can he be so sure there isn’t a God, well how can you be sure 100% there is? The answer is simple to both- neither of you can. All I know is one of you will be right when you die.”
Why would a loving God let us wait till we die to find out if He really exists or not? That is why there is the Bible. So we do not have to guess.
Here’s the thing. If there is indeed no God, no afterlife, what does it matter what we believe while alive, since it all comes to nothingness anyway. Under atheistic beliefs, Hitler and the innocents he killed in concentration camps all went to the same nothingness. Atheists are pushing something that has no reward for choosing it, an empty glass. They can’t even say “I told you so” to the believer after they both die. But the believer can say to tthe atheist, “I told you so”! So if there is not a God, why should an athiest be so concerned about what others believe. Let people believe what they want.
And why hide behind hypocrites as a basis for not believing in God. Do you give up plumbing in your house because you heard someone else had trouble with a plumber who failed to fix their toilet leak? “I am going to throw out my toilet, rip out the faucet, I will never use plumbing in my house again because that idiot plumber messed up someone else’s plumbing!”
I really pray for Penn and Teller and hope someday they will be saved. Eternity in hell is a long long time.
Mr. Penn Jillete, God is as real as you are. Don’t be angry at pastors who show your skype video in their churches. I don’t think that you met a genuine christian believer before at one of your performance shows. you’ll never see anything fake or insincere in a true believer. perhaps you have met one in your private life though. You’ve shown an atheist can be a respectful person and not a jerk like Richard Dawkins or condescending like the atheist writer at ” Vanity Faire magazine”. Keep an open mind. Steve
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This must be a very powerful person indeed to know “there is no God” since the only way to know that is to have died. Since he is not dead then he must have died and come back to life to be able to tell us “there is no God”.
Only a person who has died can know that without a doubt. No mortal collection of water and minerals can know what lies on the other side of death or if there is even an other side at all.
Islamists that are waiting for 72 virgins if they die a hero’s death and atheists who claim “there is no God” both suffer the same problem – they claim to know what cannot be known without passing through death.