Let’s face it, nobody likes to lose. Regardless if it is a sport, a game, or a debate, we all want to be on the winning side when it is all over. However, when it comes to an argument or debate, the decision of who won is often left to the perception of the people involved. Meaning, if I debate a topic with you, unless one of us manages to change the other person’s opinion, we will both likely walk away feeling like we won. As Christians, when we debate anybody concerning God, Jesus and the Bible, we need to be really careful in deciding what our intentions are. Are we just trying to prove how smart we are, make ourselves feel better, show off our biblical knowledge or are we genuinely trying to bring them to know Jesus Christ? Since I believe the goal of all Christians should be to bring people to Christ, which is the type of winning I am going to cover in this article. If you are simply attempting to show you know more than your opponent, you may not find the contents of this article all that helpful.
You shouldn’t expect to personally bring these people to Christ in the span of one talk.
Before I get into this, I need to clarify a couple things. I am not claiming to be any type of expert on atheistic beliefs. I can’t tell you every argument they will bring up nor can I tell you specifically how to respond. However, I do have some insight I would like to share that can give you a pretty good set of guidelines of how to proceed in these types of conversations. The last thing that I want to bring up is how we measure our success. Honestly, you shouldn’t expect to personally bring these people to Christ in the span of one talk. If you are honestly just trying to bring them to Christ then you shouldn’t feel defeated just because they walk away from you still having an atheistic view. Chances are the best you will be able to do is give them something to think about. An idea or thought that they have to wrestle with, which hopefully will give the Holy Spirit the opening He needs to finish the job.
Try this: Instead of telling them what it means to be a Christian for the 100th time, try showing them what it means to be a Christian by simply living it out in front of them.
The first rule of debating an atheist is, don’t argue with an atheist. You may think you are going to bring them some type of profound knowledge that is going to turn their life around, but the reality is they have probably heard it all before. The problem is they have heard it as part of an argument from “Christians” while hurling insults at them through gritted teeth. It is kind of hard to convince somebody of the love of Jesus Christ when you, as His representative, are getting more and more involved in a heated argument. I have yet to meet an atheist who didn’t at least have some knowledge of Christianity. They have likely been told and reminded of the Bible many times but it hasn’t been effective. You may think you are going to present it in a way they have never seen it, but trust me, to them it will be the exact same thing. Try this: Instead of telling them what it means to be a Christian for the 100th time, try showing them what it means to be a Christian by simply living it out in front of them. All too often that is the part they have been missing. They have heard it over and over again, but they have never actually seen it lived out, which understandably has left a bad taste in their mouth. If they can see you don’t just claim to be a Christian, but there is actually something different in the way you conduct yourself on a daily basis, chances are it won’t be long until you start to get genuine questions about what you believe.
Once you start getting questions, answer the questions. Seems simple enough, but I have been amazed at how many people have gotten this wrong. Don’t answer the question in a pious manor. You aren’t better than them or smarter than them; so stop acting like it. You aren’t going to win over anybody by acting like you are superior. If you don’t know the answer, just say you don’t know the answer to the question. If you know them well enough, offer to find the answer and get back with them later. And don’t just “wing it,” you will do more damage than good.
Don’t get defensive and don’t attack them. If you do that, you have just become like everybody else they have talked to and in their mind they have won, because they just revealed your hypocrisy.
Be prepared to get an incredulous response. You have to remember they don’t believe what you believe. They may be intrigued enough to ask you a question, but that doesn’t mean they are prepared to accept it. If they give a response that seems like an attack, you need to stay calm. Don’t get defensive and don’t attack them. If you do that, you have just become like everybody else they have talked to and in their mind they have won, because they just revealed your hypocrisy. You can respond to what they said, but you need to do it with respect and love even if you aren’t receiving it from their end. Again, don’t start making stuff up. If you don’t know the answer you will be better off just by being honest and saying, “that is just what I believe” and letting the debate end.
Don’t get mad at them and please, I beg you, don’t respond by telling them, they are going to hell.
Remember, if they managed to stump you or bring up a point that you can’t answer, that is your fault, not theirs. They asked a question, perhaps, they did it with the intent of confusing you, but you are still the one that doesn’t know the answer. Don’t get mad at them and please, I beg you, don’t respond by telling them, they are going to hell. This is one of the worst responses a Christian can ever give to an atheist. In a religious debate, it is the intellectual equivalent to a 5 year old telling another 5 year old “my dad can beat up your dad.” It may be true but the statement isn’t helping at all. It only proves to them that you don’t know what else to say. If they are an atheist, they don’t believe in God, Satan, heaven or hell, so that statement holds absolutely no weight to them. It just sounds like a superstitious threat. I don’t believe in ghosts, so you can’t keep me out of a house by telling me that it is haunted. The same is true for bringing up hell to an atheist. I’m not saying your statement isn’t accurate; I believe that it is. I’m just saying that it isn’t at all effective in this situation.
Scripture is great and I believe in its accuracy and authenticity, but it isn’t helpful as a debate tool when your opponent doesn’t recognize it as a valid source.
Another issue I see when Christians attempt to debate certain topics with atheists is their over reliance on scripture. If you are talking to an atheist who is questioning your creationist beliefs and your response is Genesis Chapter 1. You didn’t help at all. Again that is basically just saying, “I’m right because I said so.” They don’t believe in the authority of scripture, so you can’t use it in your debate. The only way you can use it is if they ask what the Bible says or if you are giving scientific facts and then correlating those to the events in scripture to show its accuracy. Scripture is great and I believe in its accuracy and authenticity, but it isn’t helpful as a debate tool when your opponent doesn’t recognize it as a valid source. Atheists by definition don’t recognize it as the word of God and therefore, don’t see it as a valid source of truth.
As Christians, if we really believe that God is the creator of all things then why would we be afraid of what his creation will reveal?
I feel this is an area where a lot of Christians are lacking. We say we believe in the Bible. We say we believe in the creation story and that evolution isn’t true, but we can’t answer why without relying on scripture. We may say we believe the Bible is historically accurate, but have no evidence to support our claims. We attempt to have these scientific and historical debates without the knowledge in these fields and wonder why they don’t take us seriously. You will never be able to successfully argue against evolution by only using the Bible. You have to know the holes in the theory and the scientific studies and theories that stand in contrast to evolution. The world thinks that Christians are afraid of science and history, but we have no reason to be. Satan has given non-believers plenty of theories, studies and facts to account for their beliefs. God has given us the same thing. Actually, once you really look at it you will find that the scientific studies and beliefs that align with the biblical narrative are actually much more compelling. We shouldn’t be afraid to look into these things ourselves. As Christians, if we really believe that God is the creator of all things then why would we be afraid of what his creation will reveal? We don’t need to be afraid of what we will find as long as we are willing to keep digging until we find the truth.
We should be able to not only tell people what we believe, but also why we believe it. We should be able to use widely accepted scientific and historical evidence to create our arguments for God, the Bible and Jesus Christ.
Don’t misunderstand me. I understand that the Bible is a source of truth and if you tell me that you believe something because it is in the Bible, I am perfectly ok with that statement. However, The Bible tells us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). We should be able to not only tell people what we believe, but also why we believe it. I believe this means not only through scripture, but also through an understanding of the world. In other words, I think we should be able to argue against evolution from a scientific point of view. I think we should be able to argue against faulty logic without having to resort to scripture. We should be able to use widely accepted scientific and historical evidence to create our arguments for God, the Bible and Jesus Christ. In fact, one of the best sermons I have ever heard was a sermon that proved the Bible’s authenticity and accuracy without ever using scripture itself.
If you are going to try to talk to atheists about God then you should walk into it prepared to receive questions about science, history, and your foundation for your beliefs. If you want your answers to be taken seriously, they have to be based on scientific and historical facts that support your beliefs. Another question you will likely come up against is actually very simple, but yet so hard for a lot of Christians to answer. “Why?”
Stop giving, the “it’s all about faith,” answer, because that isn’t what it is all about. Blindly following an idea without any evidence isn’t faith; it’s idiotic and lazy.
Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you believe the Bible is true? Why do you believe in God? Why do you think Jesus died on the cross? It may not be a question that we like to get, but let’s be honest with ourselves. “Why” is a perfectly valid question to ask. If you are asked that question, “It just is,” or “that’s what my parents told me” is not a valid response. If you can’t actually give an accounting for what you believe then I would seriously have to question if you really believe it. Despite what people like to say, following God is not about blind faith. It is about following the truth and accepting the truth when you see it. Faith is what we have once we recognize the reality of who God is and choose to live accordingly; it is not what brings us to know Him in the first place. The Bible tells us that God’s existence is made obvious to us and that all creation points back to Him (Psalm 19:1-4). Actually, the Bible makes it out to be so plain and so obvious that you would have to walk around blind and deaf to not be able to recognize God (Psalm 115:5-6, Jeremiah 5:21). Stop giving, the “it’s all about faith,” answer, because that isn’t what it is all about. Blindly following an idea without any evidence isn’t faith; it’s idiotic and lazy, which is exactly what non-believers think when you give that answer.
O.K. Now for the part where you need to know scripture; don’t be surprised to get questions that directly attack Christian beliefs. The world has been taught that Christians hate all people that don’t think and act just like us. You need to have a strong foundation in scripture to be able to navigate through the misconceptions and lead them to the truth. You don’t need to beat them over the head with scripture, just explain to them the misconception. A simple “I know a lot of people think the Bible says that, but this is what it actually says,” is just fine. If they ask for something more specific you can start quoting actual scripture. The world has been shown a hateful, perverted version of Christianity and you may be the first one that has a chance to reveal the fallacy in what they have been shown.
Pray that their eyes and ears will be open to be able to see the evidence of God all around them and hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them.
The last thing you should do when you are talking to an atheist about God is pray for them. After they leave you, pray they will come to know God. Pray the next person they meet on their journey will be able to lead them closer to God. Pray that their eyes and ears will be open to be able to see the evidence of God all around them and hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them. Pray for the next person in their journey that they will be prepared to speak to them and ready to pass along the message the Holy Spirit gives to them. You may not ever see somebody give their life to Christ after you talk to them, but you are still a part of their journey. God has chosen to use you to bring somebody closer to Him. So make sure you are letting God do the talking and then praying for their journey to continue. Don’t expect to save anyone through academia, because it isn’t a head issue, it is a heart issue and the heart is God’s territory. All you can do is allow God to use you to open up their heart so He can finish the job.
Personally, I don’t ever get into a conversation with the goal of proving to someone that God exists. I will attempt to answer any questions they have about God, the Bible and dispel some of the myths surrounding Christianity.
You can’t walk up to an atheist immediately judging their life based on biblical standard. They don’t believe in Jesus Christ and therefore have no reason to live by His standards. Personally, I don’t ever get into a conversation with the goal of proving to someone that God exists. Honestly, I don’t think I can do that, because, they are blinded to the truth. I will attempt to answer any questions they have about God, the Bible and dispel some of the myths surrounding Christianity. My hope to is make them question what they have been told about Christians. I want them to wonder if the image they have in their head is accurate. I want them to begin to see that maybe the narrative they have been shown isn’t as bulletproof as they have come to believe.
Can you prove the Bible without using scripture? Can you prove Jesus is real without ever using the Bible? Can you substantiate your beliefs using secular studies and reasoning?
Before I go I would like to present you with a challenge. Can you prove the Bible without using scripture? Can you prove Jesus is real without ever using the Bible? Can you substantiate your beliefs using secular studies and reasoning? If not I would like to challenge you to find out how to do just that. It is a powerful tool not only when dealing with non-believers but also it gives us a strong foundation when we deal with doubt and uncertainty. I promise you this is a challenge worth doing. You will be amazed at the things you find when you start looking into it and how much stronger you will become in your faith. There are several books that can help you with this Case for Christ by Lee Strobel is a really good one, but I would recommend that you read more than just one book and do some research on your own.
