Hello everyone, my name is Pat Flynn, and I’m delighted to present Lesson 2 of Module 2 of our Basic Online Evangelization Training. The module is One Good Reason and the lesson is One Good Reason for Atheists. Let’s begin.
People who don’t believe in God are called atheists. The term literally means “without God.” However, people who consider themselves atheist often apply the term ambiguously. Some atheists say they positively believe there is no God or anything like God (we might call that “strong atheism”). Other atheists are more agnostic, saying they don’t feel convinced about God’s existence one way or the other (we can call that “weak atheism”). The only way to know what sort of atheist a person is, would be to ask questions.
People become atheist for various reasons and it is necessary to cover the primary reasons. They can be enumerated as follows: 1) emotional, 2) intellectual, and 3) indifferent. Emotional atheism is often rooted in an unpleasant or even traumatic experience that the atheist has had either with religious people or in the experience of some evil that caused him or her to question God’s existence. Intellectual atheism is generally about the atheist concluding in his or her mind that “God” is an irrational or incoherent concept, or that certain religious beliefs are incompatible with a modern, scientific perspective. Indifferent atheists simply don’t care either way about the existence of God.
To this list, we can add a fourth category of atheism: the practical atheist. This kind of atheist lives as if there is no God, even if he or she still claims to believe in God. In other words, the person professes with his or her lips but not in practice. Again, the only way to know where the atheist is coming from, is to ask them questions.
Remember: The point of evangelization isn’t to win arguments. The point of evangelization is to save souls. The goal of evangelization, then, is to enter into dialogue, not debate. After all, people won’t always remember the arguments you gave; but they’ll certainly remember the impression you made as a person, whether you seemed to really take an interest in them, or not. So, maintain a spirit of charity, and try to listen as much as you speak.
Finally, a note about presentation. People tend to be more receptive when you embed your reasons for belief into personal experience. For example, instead of saying to someone who doesn’t believe in God, “Oh, no, atheism is wrong. Here’s why God exists,” try something like, “You know, there was a time that I really struggled with belief in God myself. Honestly, I think that happens to everybody at least once in their life. Would you mind if I shared one good reason that helped me to see that God is real?” Remember: people want to be heard. Even more, people want to be understood. By couching reasons for belief into a relatable experience, your apologetic efforts are bound to be more effective and less “pushy.”
Here’s how I would recommend getting the conversation started with atheists.
First, we listen. Start with questions, not arguments. Discern where each person is coming from. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so try to listen twice as much as you speak, at least at first.
Next, we befriend. Search for common ground. After all, people like people they can relate to; people they feel have had similar experiences as them. So, address each person’s concerns in a personal, empathetic way. Share your own struggles with faith. Let them know they’re not alone in their concerns.
Then, when the opportunity is right, deliver your “One Good Reason” for believing in God, and maybe also share your personal experience of God’s love and mercy. Depending on the person and the conversation, you might even go so far as to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the atheist at this time.
Finally, after the initial conversation, invite the person to take the next step, whatever that is.
Now, any one of these stages of evangelization could be very short or very long, and you’ll need to make a judgment call on when to move the conversation along. But don’t feel the need to rush. We’re after genuine, personal dialogue.
Let me share a pro-tip. If someone is open to hearing “one good reason” for believing in God, I’ll often begin by saying how I find God to be the best and simplest explanation for the exceedingly wide range of human experience. Specifically, how God is:
- The best explanation for why anything exists instead of nothing
- The best explanation for why the universe began to exist
- The best explanation for the fine tuning of physics for intelligent life
- The best explanation for our perception of objective moral values and duties
- The best explanation for religious experience, mystical experiences, near death experiences, and miracles
- The best explanation for why consciousness is not reducible to mere physical processes alone
- The best explanation for the order, stability, and intelligibility of the universe — not to mention the uncanny applicability of mathematics
- And the best explanation for the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, including the rise of Christian belief.
Oftentimes, people are surprised to hear how God can offer a complete, simple, and all-encompassing explanation for so much of what we experience and know. And simply listing the arguments—without even going in depth!—can frequently arrest a person’s skepticism and possibly cause them to reconsider belief in God. It also invites the opportunity to engage deeper. But while it’s helpful to “shotgun” reasons for believing in God, you should also be ready to provide a deeper defense of whatever you list.
While this lesson can’t offer a thorough study of every argument for God’s existence (that would take an entire academic semester, at least!), what follows are some of the most powerful and (relatively) easier-to-present arguments, especially in everyday conversation.
A word of warning — I don’t mean to imply that these arguments are necessarily easy to understand well or share effectively. It takes some real work to understand the philosophical arguments for God’s existence. Even professional philosophers invest years of study in order to master them. That said, most people can understand the general thrust of these arguments enough to present a convincing case in everyday conversation.
OK, with these stages in mind, we’ll now spend the rest of the lesson studying arguments for the existence of God, so as best to equip you to deliver that “One Good Reason” when dialoguing with atheists.