For those of you who do not know, I try to make a habit out of talking to atheists and other non-Christians online, at least whenever they aren't hurling insults. I believe that we should discuss our beliefs with those who do not share them. After all, in what other way are we going to spread the Gospel? If we as Christians do not start talking to non-Christians, the spread of the Good News is hindered. Not only that, but we are commanded to give a reason for the hope that is in us. So, if we do not share our beliefs, and why we believe what we believe, we are in violation of one of Scripture's commands. There is one recent incident, though, that sticks out in my mind.
I have been talking to someone on Twitter who calls himself, "NooYawk Atheist," though it seems he is really an agnostic. He initiated a conversation with me when I tweeted a quote by John Lennox, where Professor Lennox discusses the definition of faith. This lead to a new post titled, "Is Faith Blind", since I felt the reply was too lengthy to send on Twitter. We had about a day's worth of dialogue back and forth, with most of it being very productive, although I was quite confused at his last reply, in which he stated,
"So then you're claiming to know that God exists, aren't you? If the evidence is strong enough to warrant the claim, you wouldn't need to employ [blind] faith at all. In which case, share the evidence and accept your Nobel Prize & fame & fortune."
What confuses me is that he seems to assume that anyone who would be able to show the existence of God would have received a Nobel Prize and be rich and famous. However, there are a large number of people who have made amazing discoveries who have not received Nobel Prizes. He also seems to assume that it would be widely accepted, which is not the case. There are still people who honestly believe that the earth is flat. Despite the confusion over this, however, I feel that the conversation was very productive.
As our conversation drew to a close, I started thinking that there is one thing the both he and I could agree on: That whatever we believe, we should not believe it blindly. This became more apparent to me after our conversation, and I think there is a lesson in it. Christians, honest non-believers want us to have a reason for our beliefs. The world is looking for answers, and we have them. We should be ready to give these answers to anyone who asks us for them. There are far too many misconceptions of Christians out there, such as:
"They all just exercise blind faith."
"Science has shown that God is not needed."
and,
"Christianity is the cause of most of the world's problems."
It seems to me that we must be willing to stand up and correct these misconceptions. We must be prepared with an answer. If we aren't, we will lose souls.
I have been talking to someone on Twitter who calls himself, "NooYawk Atheist," though it seems he is really an agnostic. He initiated a conversation with me when I tweeted a quote by John Lennox, where Professor Lennox discusses the definition of faith. This lead to a new post titled, "Is Faith Blind", since I felt the reply was too lengthy to send on Twitter. We had about a day's worth of dialogue back and forth, with most of it being very productive, although I was quite confused at his last reply, in which he stated,
"So then you're claiming to know that God exists, aren't you? If the evidence is strong enough to warrant the claim, you wouldn't need to employ [blind] faith at all. In which case, share the evidence and accept your Nobel Prize & fame & fortune."
What confuses me is that he seems to assume that anyone who would be able to show the existence of God would have received a Nobel Prize and be rich and famous. However, there are a large number of people who have made amazing discoveries who have not received Nobel Prizes. He also seems to assume that it would be widely accepted, which is not the case. There are still people who honestly believe that the earth is flat. Despite the confusion over this, however, I feel that the conversation was very productive.
As our conversation drew to a close, I started thinking that there is one thing the both he and I could agree on: That whatever we believe, we should not believe it blindly. This became more apparent to me after our conversation, and I think there is a lesson in it. Christians, honest non-believers want us to have a reason for our beliefs. The world is looking for answers, and we have them. We should be ready to give these answers to anyone who asks us for them. There are far too many misconceptions of Christians out there, such as:
"They all just exercise blind faith."
"Science has shown that God is not needed."
and,
"Christianity is the cause of most of the world's problems."
It seems to me that we must be willing to stand up and correct these misconceptions. We must be prepared with an answer. If we aren't, we will lose souls.
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