What is the Christian perspective on those who don’t believe in Christianity? On those who believe you should question things?
Does not believing a claim about Christianity or believing it to be a lie and wanting to stop it make someone a troll? Or does saying you should question your beliefs make you a troll?
How should Christians respond to those who don’t believe? What should they think about them?
“What is the Christian perspective on those who don’t believe in Christianity?”
Since you are asking for Christian perspective, I’ll give you what the Bible says about them and what should be the attitude of Christians towards them:
Ephesians 4:18 ESV
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Jude 1:17
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They[f] said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[g] stained by the flesh.
Please take note of verse 22 to 23. That’s should be the attitude of a Christian towards those who have doubts.
“Does not believing a claim about Christianity or believing it to be a lie and wanting to stop it make someone a troll?”
Paul claimed something about Christianity and Bereans verified it. They didn’t call him a troll.
There are those who are honestly asking questions/having doubts, but there are also those who just really want to troll, just as there are real Christians, and there are those who say they are “Christians” but you can’t see Christ in them.
as the bible says ” it is a fool who says in his heart ” there is no God ” and clinging to an idea like the universe just springing out of nothing, knowing it is scientifically impossible, is very foolish
I think there will always be the debate between atheists and Christians whether it is true or not…trying to convince a non believer from a religious point of view is not going to help at all…being religous dont set you apart from any other religion…but having a real relationship with God makes the difference and it is difficult for a non believer to grasp it until they experience it for themselves…so I hope all can experience it…only then scripture has real meaning…that is what makes the Gospel so beautiful…anyone can experience it if they choose to…intellect and science has no effect or ground there
You should check out the book The Case for Christ written by Lee Strobel. He was an atheist who set out to disprove Christianity and ended up becoming a believer and follower of Jesus Christ through his investigations into Jesus and the gospels. He writes about it in his The Case for Christ.
Recently, CBS reported that every day 20,000 new people join a website that links married people with other married people, so that they can secretly commit adultery. The CBS report began with a surprising quote:“It is the only commandment repeated twice in the Bible, right? Once for doing it, and once for thinking about it,” said psychotherapist Esther Perel, who has been studying infidelity for more than a decade.2The quote is “surprising” because the last place this world wants to look for instruction is the Bible. This is because the Scriptures say that the reason we want to rid ourselves of God is the same reason criminals want to rid themselves of the police. Criminals don’t like the law telling them what to do or not do, and threatening them with punishment. The Bible puts it this way:The mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot. (Romans 8:7,Our sinful mind’s active hostility is seen in how it despises the God of the Bible. We hear this daily when His name is taken in vain and is used to cuss. What greater contempt could I have for another person than to use their name to express disgust? But the human contempt for God is there for a reason, and it’s the same reason criminals hate the police.The hostility is there because of His moral Law (the Ten Commandments). The atheist believes that if he can get rid of the thought of God, he gets rid of the moral Law. If the Law can be removed, it then opens the door to the pleasures that come from adultery and everything else that our sinful mind desires.
But there is still the annoyance of the conscience. Despite the massive societal shift in the perceived acceptance of adultery, the still, quiet voice of our conscience tells us that it is wrong.
The relativist’s conscience is seared, so with the help of God you must awaken it. Say to him, “Let’s just assume that there is a Heaven. Do you think you would be good enough to go there?” He will almost certainly say that he is (see Prov. 20:6), so take him through the Good Person test. You are simply moving from the intellect (the place of argument) to the conscience (the place of the knowledge of right and wrong), so that it will do its God-given duty.
If someone questions you most likely they have doubts about their own beliefs.
Matthew Kennedy, you asked several questions, so let’s attempt to answer them one at a time.
1. What is the Christian perspective on those who don’t believe in Christianity? A Christian’s on non-believers should be the same as Christ. Jesus said, ”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). Therefore, we should reflect God’s love towards others and meet them wherever they are in life. Our job is to love God will all of heart, mind, soul, and strength. Next, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus commanded us to share the Good News (Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:8). He will take care of the rest.
2. On those who believe you should question things? Are you asking if people I share the Gospel with should question me? Absolutely! The Apostle Paul said, ”So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Without ever asking questions or seeking for the truth, how are we to ever mature in our faith? Until we are on the other side of glory with the Father, we will never completely know everything. I have three Masters in Theology, and I learn something new almost every day.
Does not believing a claim about Christianity or believing it to be a lie and wanting it to stop make someone a troll? This is a complex question that has both yes and no answers. Let me explain. First, I would say no. Disagreement on a particular subject does not make someone a troll. I agree and disagree with people all the time. What makes someone a troll, in my opinion, is when a person actively seeks out another person’s posts for the sole purpose of trying to dispute everything he or she says. But at the end of the day, it’s just FB. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
4. Saying you should question beliefs does not make you a troll. Every believer at some point in their walk with Christ will experience doubt. Questioning one’s beliefs is normal. It’s where we find what core convictions are. More often than not, true believers are made stronger by questioning what they believe.
5. Let me ask you some questions. If you were to die tomorrow, where would you spend eternity? Why?
My response is based on their response.
6. Are you asking what should Christians think about non-Christians? Christ died for them just like He died for me. I am no better than they are.
You alone cannot. Gather as many people as you can to support you.
So why are you here ?
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
Romans 2:4-11 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.2.4-11.NIV
Never allow a skeptic to set the terms of your argument. Let God’s Word do that. It cannot return void.
You’re just smaller than a DUST… A FOOL… DUMB PROUD JESTER… all people and individual that spoke such BRAGGING AND BOASTING ARE GONE AND CURSED…
You should ask questions.. Blind faith is empty..
It’s a shame what the Roman Catholic Church made out of Jesus, who was an actual person and really was crucified at Passover..
The question we should ask, is he what he eventually came out to be? Are the NT reliable since was the same catholics that picked out the books they want out of hundreds they had on that period?
Those are valid questions, by the way, his name was never Jesus in the first place.. He was a jew, he didn’t came to build up a new religion..
It’s a mess, I hope I can find my answers…
Use the Socratic method to reduce the discussion to a fine point.
Then once you have found the exact point that the Athiest disagrees with you explain the biblical perspective with verses for context. Once that happens you work backwards from that point through the reasoning they stated as you asked specific questions and logically remove the doubt that Christianity is a lie.
Respect and understanding are critical.
According to your worldview, morality is relative. It that’s true, what’s wrong with a “lie”? You don’t hold to an absolute moral standard. Nothing wrong with it.
None. Not my problem.
An avowed atheist whose wife was a Christian went out of his way to prove his wife’s faith was foolish. As an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune if I remember correctly, he had the know how as to how to dig deep and get to the truth, unlike reporters today. His journey took him to a number of intelligent people in their fields and he questioned them extensively. At the end of his journey his questions were answered to his satisfaction. He accepted Jesus as his Savior and published the book “The Case for Christ”.
There is nothing wrong with questioning, the problem comes when someone rejects an answer because it’s not the answer they want to hear.
Matthew what does Atheism have to offer?
1. Will it extend my life?
2. Will it comfort me when my loved ones die?
3. Will it give me hope when it is my time to die or will I have to sniffle my way to the grave like Voltaire?
3. Will it make me kinder to my fellow man?
4. will it make want to kill babies in the womb?
5. Will it make me for Eugenics?
6. Will it guide me if I am tempted to cheat on my wife.
7. Will it guide me when I see something that I can’t afford … but I really want it?
8. Will it free me to lie?
Those who don’t believe are lost. Not lost as in a lost cause, I mean in ther literal sense, the same way hikers get lost in the woods. Our jobs as Christians should be to find those who are lost and show them the way, the same as other Christians have shown us the way. It is not our job to force them and it’s only fair for them to question what we know. For those who do not believe and activity try to promote that christianity is a lie, we can try to refute their claims.
I absolutely pity anyone who doesn’t share the cup of my King with me, that they may have eternal life, rest now, and absolute joy looking forward to reigning in all creation with the King and creator of Life itself.
I feel so sorry for those who don’t enjoy the treasure i have been given, and guilty for how precious and exclusive it is, that I am considered worthy to hold this in my palms and speak with my God, our Father, of all those who believe and keep His word,.and supping, fellowshipping in reality here and now, with His Spirit. Amen, can I get any. Who’s family here with Christ as the head? Amen
The key question is, “What is your motivation in attempting to dissuade Christians from their faith?” It seems to me that the atheist rails at the world of religions, not just Christianity.
No, it doesn’t make them a troll. But trolling may be the method they use to stop Christianity. Either way, the Lord is Sovereign. He will decide to let you mock Him and for how long, not us.
As for the better Questions you asked at the end, all Christians started as Non-believers, before we were Christians.
As far as evidence there is 4 kinds of Evidence for Christianity in life.
Philosophical/Theological:
There is the evidence of the Bible when properly understood of how accurately it talks about the world around and ourselves.
History:
There is the evidence of the Bible’s historicity, we can’t verify EVERY single event, but enough to know it is trustworthy when we do find something. The Bible always outlives its pallbearers.
Scientific:
Then the scientific evidence of Biblical passages that do touch on areas that intersect science and that it is accurate.
That’s the 3 kinds of evidence that’s available to anyone, on top of what Scripture calls the inner knowledge (conscience) of God everyone has (even suppressed knowledge) and the evidence from Creation around us so that no one has an excuse before God.
The last kind of evidence is available ONLY to those who know God, and that is the evidence that comes from experiencing God by walking with Him.
Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me”. If you reject this you are not a Christian, and your eternal destination is Hell if you continue thinking this way.
Simple: He is wasting his time and yours.
St. Francis of Asissi said, “Preach at all times. When necessary, use words.” We Christians are called to be Christ-like in our actions. If sincere, God will lead non-believers to a change of heart.
I see no desire on your part to learn or discover the truth claims of Christianity. You have clearly indicated it is a lie.
What then is your purpose?
My perspective on those who don’t believe is… it is their choice. According to Scripture they are dead in their trespasses and sins. Therefore, their default position is to disbelieve. However, that can change if you are sincerely willing to ask God to reveal the truth of who He is and His Son who died and rose again for your sins.
The path leads people in different directions.
My path by asking tons, and I mean TONS of questions 30 years ago lead me to God.
The same people who do the same also leads some away from God.
It all depends on how much faith the individual believes.
When people ask me, “Do you really believe he died on a cross and rose three days later?”
I answer “YES!” without any hesitation.
Why? because of the questions and research I did.
The reaction should always be this: love and concern. That’s is what Christians are called to do.
Believe what, specifically?
questioning is good Matthew, I am a christian and I question things. but I think I probably ask different questions than you, but still, being critical is good if done with the right motives.
Oooooh Matthew you will be a great convert someday. Saul to a Paul. I was once like you. Once you open your heart and forget trying to out think God we will be glad to celebrate with you regardless if you had “religion” before or not. I will wait and be glad to hear the news when it happens God bless you
Matthew, why do you view christianity as untrue? historically speaking, quite a lot of the new testament has ben valadated by the sciences.
The truth doesn’t mind questioning. It has nothing to hide. Tell them to do some research. Encourage them to read A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel who questioned and wrote about what he found out.
If you’re a Christian, you can confirm your belief by reading the Bible.
You appear to be inauthentic in your attempts. Also, your questions reveal you haven’t thought very deeply or researched very thoroughly. I have spoken with many Atheist that have much more thoroughly considered the issues.
Honestly, from what I have seen on this page, I would guess you heard some arguments and are mad a Christians you’ve met. You don’t really own any of your thoughts because they have all been given to you.
If you want to persuade someone of the truth, then you need to have better thought out arguments.
Believe it or not, it actually takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian. Imagine believing everything just magically creates and sustains itself – how crazy! That’s like a computer running by itself without an intelligent coder. I absolutely pity those choose to live in ignorance. Nothing sadder than a person who knows the truth will set them free but refuses to believe it. Praying for you.
Just my 2 cents on this, but assuming they’re an atheist or something related, a good question could be why they care to stop what they presume to be the lie of Christianity from spreading. I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” That said, what is the importance of evolution, assuming it is correct? The answer is that there is none. Because aside from current pleasures, there is no higher calling, nothing to live for after this world. In short, morality, truth, justice, everything our society stands on is irrelevant.
If atheists have to lie then its automatically over. Atheism is thoroughly discredited through demonic behavior because it proves Satan exist. Atheists are great creationists when it comes proving Satan’s existence. The following is a quotation from Issac Bourne taken from the Creation VS Evolution, A Discussion In Truth group.
“There are many atheists that love to go on Christian pages to act like believers, and many do it well. What is their goal? It’s 2 fold.
1) To teach compromise to the believers who are not well versed and do not have a strong foundation of faith. Their goal is to teach compromise of the word of God, then allow that to destroy their faith. Then convert them to either a compromised version of the Christian faith, or atheism. And they keep score on how many believers they convert, and go back to their pages, forums, and blogs and brag about it. they converse on what works, and what does not.
2) To infiltrate the christian pages. To obtain a moderator or administrator position so that they can pass off information on how the page works. To warn their friends who work with them to cool it when they are about to get banned. etc…
How do I know these things? After over 25 years of defending creation against evolution, owning and running 2 forums, and helping run 3 on the creation vs evolution subject. I’ve seen about everything there is to see on the atheist lies and tricks. And even though atheists here think they are asking me questions I’ve never heard, or using debate tactics I’ve never seen There’s nothing new. The atheists tactics remain the same and so does the arguments.” ~ Issac
Matthew, you have a lot of questions. I can not answer for all Christians, however, I can answer from my Christian perspective.
As far as people who do not believe in Christianity, I have a lot of friends that do not believe in Christianity. Some friends just live their life, they do not care about Christianity one way or another. I really do not look at them one way or another.
As far as people questioning things, Acts 17:11 “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Of course, these were Christians. As far as non-Christians if it is asked respectfully then I answer respectfully, if not, leave. I do not wand to waste my time.
As far as being a troll, I guess it depends on were you are trolling. If you are questing here then, no. That is what you are supposed to do here. We will not change our mind, and neither will you. What will happen is we will sharpen our positions.
I think Christians should respond to nonbelievers with the love of Christ. Christ said, “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Therefore, I am of the truth.
What do I think about them? I care for them. I want them to understand that everyone will live forever. I see it as where they are going to live forever.
You stated Christianity want to save people from what we believe to be a lie. Well, we only should be focused on telling people about Christ. So, we should only tell people about the truth, about Jesus. We should not worry about any other lies.
And as far as you trying to stop the spread of Christianity. Good Luck. It started with one man 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ. And them John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, according to a 400-year-old prophecy. Then 12 called disciples, who became apostles. These were ordinary men. A tax collector, fishermen, zealots, and one He knew would be a trader. Then a Pharisee would become an apostle. Soon it would be all over the known world.
I find people like you, hate Christianity. So, I have a question for you, why do you hate Christianity?
We are born into sin, your not going to hell for not believing, your not being saved for not believing. If you don’t believe Jesus you are in actual fact calling him a liar and calling him satan. Then because you don’t believe the truth you, believing a lie as truth, making satan the truth,you have turned the truth upside making God a liar And satan God. …….which is blasphemy
It looks to me you have a problem with religion. True Christianity is a faith in Jesus Christ. It is a Relationship with the Creator and Savior, not a religion. Jesus Christ himself hates religion. Also remember that we live under Grace, not Law. God never promises a better life in the way humans would conceive the word “better”. We are fallen, we desire sin. We deserve death. Yet through God, He gave us the answer to that in Jesus Christ. Obviously you still search for truth as you are still hear asking… if you really did give up on God, you wouldn’t care, and you wouldn’t be here searching for Answer’s. I believe many great answers have been laid before you, it is now between Jesus and you. No one else can make up your mind for you. I pray you find what you are looking for Matthew!
I think it’s ok and healthy to question what you believe in but know that if you seek Jesus with your whole heart you will find him and he can reveal his truth to you
Christians might lie sometimes, but the way of Christ always leads to eternal life.
PrrhPs question your beliefs Matthew. Pray tell us what is the big picture from your perspective?
The difference between truly questioning to seek the truth and being a troll is how you present yourself. I’m guessing the issues you’ve faced with Christians stems from the fact that you seem to be very sure of your position that you’re the one grounded in truth and that Christianity is a lie like somehow this is a proven undeniable fact, which leads anyone to reasonably assume you’ve no interest in finding out what Christians think or believe from their perspective, but to demean and argue and bicker for the sake of arguing and bickering at the very least and at the very most browbeat them into believing your way. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it’s reasonable to come to these conclusions when someone flat out states that the entirety of someone else’s beliefs are a lie and they seek to dismantle their very beliefs, without actually truly seeking to understand why a Christian has come to the conclusions they’ve come to. This is tantamount to what pop secular culture accuses Christians of doing to every other belief system(a fallacy btw) including ATHEISM. I’m a Christian and I don’t find problems with questions especially really hard ones that require deep introspection, research, and thought to answer. If you’re looking at what a Christians biblical directives are in how to answer people it really depends on the situation. There’s plenty of scripture on answering fools. There’s plenty of scripture on answering seekers. There’s plenty of scripture on how to approach a mocker, a scoffer, and the genuine searcher. It does state that Christians should be a witness so this can definitely be taken as a directive to communicate with non-believers. If however, we have shared and can discern that the person is not interested in listening or truly understanding, we’re also told to respectfully move on “dust off our sandals” and not “sit in the seat of the scornful” and uselessly disclosing our beliefs to those who would just mock us (pearls before swine). At such a point we’ve respectfully and politely let this person go and affirmed healthy boundaries…
The fact that you don’t believe in Christianity doesn’t make it false or unreal, God is God irrespective of your unbelief, the fact that you don’t believe in the law of gravity doesn’t mean that when you climb a tall building and jump down will not kill you because you don’t believe in the law of gravity or you can choose to say you don’t believe in electricity but when you put your hands on a live wire your unbelief cannot save you.
If you take Christianity by believism you miss the whole point of God’s sovereignity and of His grace in redemptive act of God…
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