The Folly of Atheism, Part 5
Reflections on Psalm 14:1
You don’t have to be a student of philosophy in order to dialogue with an atheist. There are some basic questions you can ask to undercut the atheist’s arrogance. Rather than enter into a nuanced philosophical or scientific discussion I generally start off with the following line of questioning.
Christian: Ok, so you’re a professed atheist. Let me ask you a question. How much would you say you know of everything there is to know?
Atheist: Very little.
C: Of course, I would admit the same. So, is it possible that God exists outside of your personal knowledge or experience?
A: Well, you haven’t proven that God exists.
C: No, I just asked a simple question, is it possible that God exists outside of what you know?
A: Yes, it is possible.
C: Well, if you’re willing to admit that, then you’re not really an atheist are you? You cannot say conclusively there is no God. So where does that leave you?
A: I suppose I’m closer to an agnostic but I don’t see how anyone could know for sure if there is a God.
C: Now wait a minute. A moment ago you granted that you didn’t know everything there is to know. It is one thing to claim, “I am unsure if God exists” and another to dogmatically assert, “No one can know if God exists.” In order to make that latter claim, you would have to know everything there is to know in the universe before that statement could be verified. Is that what you are suggesting?
A: No, but I don’t believe you’re going to convince me.
C: I never said I was going to convince you. Actually, you and I don’t need convincing. The Bible says deep down everyone knows God is real but given our adversarial disposition toward him we naturally repress that knowledge in a quest to live autonomously. That was certainly true of me before my conversion. If I may, I would like to propose a simple challenge. My challenge to you is to read the claims of Jesus Christ for yourself. This is what intellectual integrity demands, that you investigate before you repudiate. My recommendation is to begin with the Gospel of John and I would be happy to discuss it with you or answer any questions you may have.
Then take it from there — hopefully, some biblical conversations will follow. You see, I want to get the person into the Word of God because the Spirit works in conjunction with the Word to move people to faith: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Don’t feel pressured to say everything you can in defense of the faith in a first encounter. Make them curious. In some cases, it may be best to go on the offensive – to shake the foundations of the non-Christian’s belief system. If a person claims to be unsure then it only makes sense that he or she would be open to examine the claims of Christianity. So agnosticism is not grounds for rejecting Christianity but rather for exploring Christianity.
Given his built-in bias the skeptic may return saying, “Well, I read some portions of the Gospels and reviewed some articles about Christianity online but remain unpersuaded.” That is a real possibility but don’t be alarmed. It only shows God has yet to lift the scales from their eyes. At this point, we want to help the non-Christian see that his worldview cannot account for the way things really are or the way he actually lives. The fact that unbelievers have to borrow categories and values from the Christian worldview to make sense of reality only goes to show the inadequacy and irrationality of their beliefs. The initial aim, at least for me, is to get them into the Scriptures trusting the Holy Spirit to work through the gospel.
Remember, the Bible denies that anyone can truly be agnostic for God has clearly revealed himself to all through creation and conscience. Every unbeliever is a closet theist, for everyone knows God exists. At the same time, the unbeliever is inherently “anti-God” for he seeks to stifle this knowledge and live according to his own principles.
As John Frame notes, if someone were genuinely agnostic he or she would be frantically trying to find ways of hedging bets; at least giving lip service to God, who after all might judge him or her one day. But the fact is, most professing agonistics do not hedge their bets in this way. Rather they totally ignore God’s Word in their decision-making. They never go to church, never seek God’s will, never pray. In other words, they behave exactly like atheists, not as if they were in some halfway position between atheism and theism.
In the scenario presented above, the intent is to move the non-Christian one step over in his thinking. It’s a process and you must start somewhere. Now if a person refused to talk further or was unwilling to read one of the Gospels, I would point out that they were in fact acting as an atheist and could not justify their position. Remember, there is no halfway point between being God’s friend and being his enemy. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). And again, “He who is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). Either we’re following Christ graced with the Spirit’s ability or we’re following our sinful impulses seeking to escape responsibility.