An atheist is someone who claims “I know for a fact there is no God”.  That is my definition and that is the view that I held when I was an atheist.  No doubt many will quibble over the exact definition.  Many who I consider to be agnostics will claim to be atheists.  Some will claim to be both agnostics and atheists.  Whatever the case may be, they will claim to not believe in God with varying degrees of confidence unspoken or not.  Many Christians ask me what it was that brought me to Christ.  If you find yourself asking this question then I have two questions for you.

1.      Are you looking for an answer that is easy to understand?

2.      Do you need to know because you know an atheist?

If you answered yes to either question, then shame on you!  If you answered yes to the first question, then you are guilty of failing to love God with all of your mind.  If you answered yes to the second question then you are guilty of failing to love your neighbor as yourself.  The greatest encouragement to me as an atheist was Christian’s total inability to give a reason for the hope that was within them.  They could not answer the objections I had.  If you are going find the elect brothers and sisters that have not yet received Christ and who are currently atheists then you are going to have to take the greatest command seriously.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone tell me to “put the cookies on the bottom shelf.”  I have news for you; the bottom shelf is six feet high.  But I have good news for you also.  If you are a Christian then you have the Holy Spirit.  Even if you are not gifted academically you should note that this is an entirely different situation.  You are not preparing for an exam; you are preparing to share your faith.  We are called to share the Gospel and to defend the faith.  You are not called to do something you are not equipped to do.  This is not to say that all will be used in the same manner or that everyone will be able to give an answer in as eloquent manner.  Perhaps you have done your due diligence and you still feel like the deer caught in the headlights.  That’s OK.  Not all are called to be apologists.  This is a good thing because it causes us to be dependent on one another and foster healthy relationships.  I would love it if more of my brothers and sisters in Christ asked for help.  With that said, how much do you love yourself?  Did you go to college, learn to play a musical instrument, learn to drive a car, or exercise?  If you did these but are not willing to read a few books on atheism from an apologist then you do not love your neighbor as yourself.

What’s it like to be an atheist?  Many people just can’t understand how one could be an atheist.  Atheists are often very intelligent, not always but frequently.  Universities are chalk full of atheists on the payrolls.  Some of the most brilliant and renowned scientists are atheists.  These men and women will use their intellectual reasoning capacity to autonomously judge the evidence and determine for themselves what is true and what is false.  And why not, it has served them so well in academics.  Success after success has bred confidence, confidence that has extended to other areas of life such as questions like: “What is the nature of reality, or what is real”, otherwise known as metaphysics.

So, what is my advice on dealing with atheists?  First of all you have to know the word of God.  If there are parts of the Bible you have not read, then you need to read it.  Furthermore, if you have not read through the entire Bible in one year then you need to do so.  If you have not done these things then you are simply too immature and still need spiritual milk to be dialoguing with an atheist.  Second, you need to study systematic theology.  You need to have a solid foundation in how all the doctrines taught in the Bible fit together.  You don’t have to become an expert or get a PHD but you should read at least one book/textbook on systematic theology.  References will be given in a later thread.  Part of apologetics is communicating knowledge of God to unbelievers, so it is imperative that you have a cohesive understanding of theology so that you don’t teach error in trying to reach others for Christ.  Only after these are done should further study in apologetics be done.  Apologetics will be discussed informally here in other Blog posts and formally in the main website later.