11/19/16 Charles about 35
In this short series I've written about several different reasons
atheists have given me for their unbelief and how we might answer them. They've included (1) the pride of being good
without God; (2) the perception that Christians are just avoiding
responsibility for our actions; (3) the
criticism that God can't exist because there is too much suffering in the
world; and (4) the man who said he wants to believe, but can't. Underlying most of these excuses, I believe,
is the reality that most atheist simply don’t want to believe in God, and they
find what they are looking for.
Yesterday we started a conversation with a father watching his three
kids at the playground, not expecting our conversation to go on until after
dark. We asked what he believes happens
to us after we die, and he (Charles) quickly answered "I don't have any
beliefs personally but I'm open to being persuaded if you have a good argument
one way or another".
Our conversation with Charles went on so long because he wasn't being
honest with us and actually was not as unbiased as he first described himself. He remained very evasive about his beliefs,
but I gradually recognized many of the common arguments against Christianity
found in the latest atheist manuals. We had
told him up front that we are Christians from a church nearby and that the
Bible is our reference point for truth. But
Charles claimed to be an impartial investigator of truth, and that based on the
evidence Christianity was not credible.
The problem is, if one eliminates God and any possibility of supernatural
events, then of course one must dismiss all evidence for God claims such as miracles,
Jesus’ divinity, or the inspiration of the Bible.
We weren’t claiming to be able to “prove” Christianity, but that it is
possible to have a reasonable faith based on the evidence that is
available. Charles demanded overwhelming
evidence, using the familiar claim that “extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence”. But is it that “extraordinary”
to claim that God exists? Isn’t it even
more extraordinary to claim that nothing created everything?
In the end, the best we could hope for was the ability to challenge
Charles’ requirement for proof or overwhelming evidence of God’s
existence. I told him about the truths of
Romans 1:18-21 – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all
the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible
qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Charles doesn’t have the proof he demands,
but he has all the evidence he needs, and he will be held accountable for
rejecting it.
Charles didn’t disagree when I guessed that he has focused only on
evidence that discredits Christianity. I
challenged him to give attention to evidence in support of Christianity, and
gave him a copy of Josh McDowell’s “More Than A Carpenter”. I think deep down he doesn’t want to believe
in God and doesn’t even want to consider evidence in support of His existence,
so I believe it will be a miracle if he reads it. But, then again, I believe in miracles.
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