Combating the Atheist- Part 1
- bravethebattle
- Apr 7
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 10
The heart behind atheist’s belief might be easy to see, but how are we supposed to counteract them? It is one thing to realize why they might be saying those things, but actually knowing how to approach them is a completely different story. I remember my first time trying to share the gospel, I understood what the problem was and knew they needed God, but I had no idea how to give them the remedy.
Something to note, this article is for a Christian audience, and I am not expecting anyone to be converted by reading this article. I also wanted to make something clear. Even though I wasn’t sure how to counteract the atheist views scientifically the first time I shared, it didn’t mean that it was a mistake to try and tell them. We don’t need to have an abundance of knowledge to tell someone that Jesus loves them. Even if there is a newer Christian, they can still share the gospel just by saying it as it is. If we have knowledge, or not, it isn’t our job to convert people. That role belongs to God. Our only requirement is to tell them the good news.
But what exactly is a good way to tell the good news? This is the first in a three-part article that will dive into the details, but I just want to take a moment to outline how to share the gospel so it makes sense. An important thing to remember is the Bible is one big history book that tells one big story. And when you're reading a story, you always start at the beginning. There are only four points you need to hit to share the gospel in under thirty seconds. That’s it.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God gave us free choice, and we choose sin. We choose it every time we lie, steal, gossip, etc. The punishment for sin is death.
But God loves us and didn’t want to see us die, so He sent His son Jesus to die for us.
But Jesus didn’t stay dead, but rose again on the third day. If we put our hope in Him and accept His payment and forgiveness, we will have eternal life.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Now I can hear the skepticism. Yes, sharing the gospel as it is can be that easy. But what if they have questions? What if they have objections? How are we supposed to answer them? Sharing what we said is enough, but knowing what we believe and how to defend it is vital. We should always be increasing our knowledge. By clicking the button below, you can find an article where I outline street-preacher Ray Comfort’s gospel-sharing outline if you are nervous about how to start and finish conversations. In the meantime, I compiled some commonly asked questions atheist’s have. This is just barely touching the issue, but there will be a part two next week out of three articles. And like I said above, we’re going to start from the beginning.
Are they really an Atheist?
This question might seem weird. I certainly thought so originally. Until I realized that most people just claim the title of atheists.
Atheism is the denial of the existence of God or spiritual beings, and the rejection of religion
So basically, it means that by claiming atheism nothing is objective, everything is just someone’s opinion, there is nothing supernatural, we are all germs, or weeds, depending on how you look at it, there is nothing to you except for what is material, etc. That is an extremely sad way to see the world. And most people agree. According to Phycology.com, only 7% of people in the world are actually atheists. But there are a lot more who when asked what they believe, just throw the term out there hoping the questions will go away.
Believe it or not, this is one of the best things that could happen in a conversation besides the situation where someone just hasn’t EVER heard of the gospel. (That’s happened to me a few times and those were some of my favorite conversations.) Why? Because it means that the person isn’t sure what they believe. So by just using logic, and simple proof, we can point them in the right direction. What are those proofs? I will talk about those below and in the next articles!
The Beginning of the Universe Explained
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Question #1: The universe is eternal. It doesn’t have a beginning.
This was a common theory for a long time that was the atheist’s trump card. But that theory came crashing down with the second law of thermodynamics. The law states that perpetual motion is impossible. Making an eternal universe a scientific impossibility. And scientists have recently discovered that our universe is constantly expanding. I encourage you to do some more research on this subject!
Question #2: The Big Bang? Nothing created everything?
The big bang theory goes like this: There was nothing. Then something happened and BANG there was the universe. I think someone got lost in the science fiction section. Scientists might try to use flowery words, or skeptics might use long run-on sentences, but if you ask them to narrow it down to the simplest terms, this is what they believe. Suddenly believing in a God that has left much proof, including a written word doesn’t sound too bad.
If someone tries to sell you this argument, state it back to them with the facts of their argument. Make them define what ‘nothing’ is. Make sure you both are on the same page with the definition of ‘nothing’. They are saying that absolutely nothing created everything. Nothing created the stars, our atmosphere, trees, rivers, oceans, grass, birds, animals, fish… and you? In what world can you take nothing and create something? And why isn’t that still happening today? Why don’t we see something appearing out of nothing all around us? And even if there were atoms, all of them connecting and forming to create everything would be like shaking a puzzle box and expecting all of the pieces to form the picture on their own.
Question #3: Quantum theory
Some scientists decided that if people kept saying that nothing created nothing, that the only explanation for why the big bang was possible was quantmatics. Basically, he was saying that the big bang happened at a quantum level. Uhhh…. I hope I’m not the only one seeing the problem here. Something at a quantum level is still something. And I thought they said that there has to be a creation for everything and that creation came from nothing?
Ask the person you’re talking to this: “Why is it more reasonable to believe nothing created everything, than someone creating everything?” And if they say someone had to create God, this is just a desperate attempted to find footing. The God of the Bible is not a being, something that needed to be created. He is eternal, unlike our universe, and didn’t, and still doesn’t need to have a beginning.
Question #4: What about evolution?
Consider asking this: “If evolution were true? Why don’t we see half evolved things wandering around? And why have we found no prehistoric evidence for evolution either?” Also, how is evolution possible if everything in our bodies are perfectly aligned for survival? What had to evolve first, the heart or the veins pumping the blood to the heart? There are many other ways to prove evolution wrong, and I encourage you to keep doing your research using a website I mention at the end of this article!
Subject of Sin
“"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
Question #1: Why does a good God send good people to hell?
I challenge you to ask this question back: Why does God send anyone to hell? What is hell for? Hell is a place where those who have done evil exist for eternity. “"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. Should people who do evil get punished? I hope that they say yes. If they need a stronger example, mention some of history’s mass murderers. Should they go to hell? Then what is the standard for evil? The Bible says that any of the ten commandments (listed in Exodus 20) are broken, it is an evil against God and is punishable by life in hell. If they want to know why the Bible is the standard for evil, keep reading because I list them in the evidences for the Bible and why we should believe it.
Here, you can ask another question if they find an issue with that: If someone breaks the law, they should go to prison, correct? No matter how small the crime is compared to a larger crime, both end up with imprisonment. Both deserve to be punished. Now I do believe the Bible implies there will be different intensities on how people are punished in hell based on their evil, but no one that sins can escape the punishment of hell. We are all sinners. With that statement and verse, now is a good time to lead back into the gospel message by showing them their sins can be forgiven through Jesus. (See the gospel sharing outline to see this played out clearly.)
Question #2: How can a good God allow sin?
First, God did not create sin. Sin is evil. Evil is not a thing, thus cannot be created. Evil is merely the absence of good. If you don’t have evil there is good. And if you don’t have good there is evil. God allows sin because without having the choice or freedom to sin, we wouldn’t be able to have a relationship with him. We would just be a bunch of robots.
Let me explain further. Is it really love when you force someone to love you? No. Relationships thrive in love because people choose to love the other person. It isn’t something that can be forced. Sin tears us away from God, because God is good, but since He wants us to choose to love him, He gave us the option to live without Him. Ask the person you’re conversing with this: “If God took away your ability to sin, you would no longer have a choice with how you live your life. Would you like that?”
Question #3: Why doesn’t God just end sin?
This question goes with the two mentioned above. We are all sinners. So if God ended sin, it means He would have to destroy all of us. I bet the person you're talking with doesn’t want that to happen.
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I think this has to be one of the longest articles Brave the Battle has ever posted, but I hope it proved beneficial to you and made you more confident that you can share the gospel. I know that there is a lot that I am not covering in these articles, but there is just not enough room to talk about them this week. But if there is anything you would like to add to this, or maybe you want to mention something I didn’t say, please throw it down in the comments!
Like I mentioned before, you can see these evidences being played out in a conversation by checking out our gospel-sharing outline! I also encourage you to check out the website linked below, alwaysbeready.org. This is an amazing resource that you can use to find more answers to these much asked questions!
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