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Answering When the Atheist Asks

 

So, you have just asked your atheist friend the three questions from last week’s post. But then the inevitable happens. He asks you the same questions back. Are you ready? This is one of the instances where scripture calls us to be ready to give a defense of our hope (1 Pet. 3:15). While the context for that verse is suffering, it doesn’t have to be limited to that. You may be asked to give a reason for your hope by someone who has just had their “hope” challenged by those three probing questions.

What is the reason for our Christian hope? Let’s answer that by having the atheist walk us back through our own questions.

Question #1

Of all the knowledge of the universe, what percent do you know with certainty?

As the humble Christian that you are (right?), you can concede that your atheist friend is way smarter than you. If he knows 5%, we could be in the .5% category. It is very possible that he does know more than us and we know even less than we think.

Question #2

In the 99.5% that you don’t know, could it be possible that there is knowledge that invalidates what you think you know?

Here is where the reason for our hope comes shining forth. Is it possible that we could be wrong about God, Christ, and the Bible? The answer is a humbly confident “no.” Your friend will now demand the reason for this shocking assertion. Will it be science that grants such certainty? Will some archeological find give this bedrock of truth? The single reason for our hope is that the all-knowing Triune God has revealed truth to us in such a way that we can know it for sure, as well as changing us so that we embrace it wholeheartedly. Let’s examine this reason for our hope.

First, we freely admit that our knowledge comes from God. Only he has 100% absolute knowledge of all things (omniscience) and therefore He only knows what is true.

Secondly, we freely admit that God has revealed it to us primarily in the Bible. God also has revealed partial knowledge to us through our conscience and creation. That partial knowledge is enough to make all people accountable and without excuse (Rom. 1). Your atheist friend has this knowledge. Your atheist friend also probably has a Bible, and therefore he has access to God’s mind and absolute truth. God’s revelation is the only foundation for knowledge. Without God and His revelation, you can’t prove anything else to be true. God’s perfect knowledge, made accessible to us in Scripture, is the necessary pre-condition for our knowledge.

Lastly, you can tell him that you also once rejected God and His word, but in a wondrous act of grace, God gave you eyes to see and ears to hear. With new “eyes” and new “ears”, you saw the depth of your sin and the glory of Christ’s death in your place. You humbled yourself before God, repented of your sin, trusted in Christ, and embraced His word as your very life.

Will your atheist friend balk at this? Probably. He is enslaved to his lusts and wants no part of an old book directing his life. Yet, if God is gracious, you will have created a fracture in his foundation. The Spirit of God may make that fissure in his sandy foundation grow until he feels the weight of his rebellion against the One who created him and allows him to keep living. Eventually, he may bow before the saving Lord of Lords.

May we be faithful to speak God’s truth with a humble boldness and reverent gentleness, and then stand back and let God do what only God can do.

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