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I had a challenging yet brief encounter with an atheist that I want to share. He noticed my shirt. To be honest, I almost lost my patience in the end. Thoughts please.
“I see you’re a Christian, well I have a question for you”
“Ok, go head”
“Why believe in an evil divine dictator who murders innocent people committing genocide as the Bible clearly says & commands us to worship him or else we go to hell to be burnt forever. You call that fair & loving. Plus look at all the evil in the world, so he’s not good. What do you say?”
“Well, so much I can say, but I can clearly see that you’re relying on your own understanding as from Proverbs 3:5 of who God is and putting that on to the God presented in this book in order to attack him like that. what you just described there is definitely not the God I worship. When I read this book I see something completely different in fact the very opposite.”
“How so?”
“ I see a perfectly holy and righteous God who in the face of our hateful rebellion against him decides to offer us the invitation to be right with him In a trusting intimate relationship with him. He gave us his very best in Jesus Christ who chose to take on the debt we owed so that we could live forever with Him. He lovingly told us the consequences of the decision we make so that we are without excuse. None of us are in control of the choices we have, but we’re in control of what we choose”
“Do you have any idea the terrible things have been done in the name of religion of your God & Jesus Christ?”
“Do you know how many terrible things have been done in the name of just about everything, such as, every form of religion, equality, freedom, peace, & atheism? As far as I see it, it’s not religion that’s bad, it’s bad people who abuse it as we see so plainly in the world.”
“So, do you approve of God sending innocent people to hell just for not believing in Him?”
“I would say your asking the wrong question. Rather, how could a perfectly Holy & righteous God bring guilty sinners into Heaven unless He justifies them fairly? Which in fact He has done in Jesus Christ. We’re limited & finite, & He’s eternal & omniscient so what right do any of us have to say He’s unfair? Also, those in Hell are there fairly.” Then I asked “why are you an atheist?”
“Because I started thinking for myself & I am a free thinker & it’s a splendid freedom. What could you have possibly gained from being a Christian consider that you’re listening to how someone else demands you to think, & not for yourself? It’s really pathetic.”
Got a little agitated from that for a few seconds, Then I said “I have gained something greater than atheism could never offer.”
“What’s that?” As he looked surprised
“Freedom, Hope, joy, fulfillment, & purpose that can’t be explained by human reasoning nor experienced without the Holy Spirit in you. At least that’s the way I would put it along with historical evidence. Btw, what would take you to believe this book.”
“More Evidence”
“That’s actually not the case.”
“Excuse me”. As he lean forward a little
“What you need is an open mind to the evidence already there. I’ve learned from Lee Strobel & J. Warner Wallace who were atheists at first & they were reasonable”.
“Well, a loving God wouldn’t allow all this evil in the world.”
“A loving god in your image wouldn’t, besides, if you’re not appealing to an objective moral standard above Mankind then what’s good & evil is just your opinion. So, you have no right to me that I’m wrong in what I believe in.”
Then he finished off with this “so, just a straight yes or no. You do believe in virgin birth, that the sun stood still, feeding five thousand people, & about this coming kingdom with streets of gold?”
“My short answer Yes…”
He interrupted “I rest my case. Such wishful thinking. You refuse to get in line with reality. What a pity”
I felt really down at this point, but replied “you had a philosophical bias against this before coming to me.”
then he got up & said “good day sir”
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